Mindy Hardwick's Blog, page 37

INDIE-pendence Day Blog Hop and Giveaway

Happy Independence Day! I’m participating in the INDIE-pendence Day Blog Hop.

This INDIEpendence day, the Indelibles would like to celebrate indie authors (self-published and small-press) by holding up examples of outstanding indie works. We believe that amazing works of fiction can be found in indie novels. By highlighting and bringing greater awareness to quality indie books, people will find great books to read, indie authors get support, and we continue to change hearts and minds about the gems that can be found among self-published and small-press novels.

The novel I would like to celebrate is THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS AND THE ARCH OF ATLANTIS by Sharon Ledwith, published by Musa Publishing (Euterpe YA Imprint).

BLURB:

When 13-year-old Amanda Sault and her annoying classmates are caught in a food fight at school, they’re given a choice: suspension or yard duty. The decision is a no-brainer. Their two-week crash course in landscaping leads to the discovery of a weathered stone arch in the overgrown back yard. The arch isn’t a forgotten lawn ornament but an ancient time portal from the lost continent of Atlantis.

Chosen by an Atlantean Magus to be Timekeepers–legendary time travelers sworn to keep history safe from the evil Belial–Amanda and her classmates are sent on an adventure of a lifetime. Can they find the young Robin Hood and his merry band of teens? If they don’t, then history itself may be turned upside down.

THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS AND THE ARCH OF ATLANTIS is available in all ebook formats. You can find out more about THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS AND THE ARCH OF ATLANTIS at Musa Publishing here.

GIVEAWAY: Now, to add to your to-read pile, I am giving away one $10 Gift Certificate to Musa Publishing. Musa Publishing is home to debut YA novelists and NYT/USA Today bestselling authors,  award-winning books and literary chapbooks, the latest in speculative fiction to the lost treasures of an American science fiction pioneer—and all at reasonable, affordable prices.

You can find out more about Musa Publishing here.

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave me a comment and tell me what genre of book you would like to read at Musa Publishing. Please leave an email address in the comments so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to both International and U.S. readers.

Please one comment per entry. I will pick the winner on July 6 and announce on this blog.

To find more blogs on the INDIE-pendence Day Blog Hop, go here.

Happy Independence Day!

Blue Gate–Writing Prompt

We’ve been having a little bit of a heat spell in the Pacific Northwest and this weekend, I was inspired to paint my garden gate blue. I don’t actually mind the heat. I grew up in St. Louis and spent my summers at the pool or working at Six Flags. When we have heat, I usually pull out my paint brush and get busy. It’s not often that we get a string of sunny, hot days where the paint will actually dry within a reasonable time period!

I was also inspired to stain my back wall fence and benches for my fire pit and potting shed, but those pictures aren’t nearly as inspiring!

In the Southwest, blue gates are very popular and are believed to guard against evil spirits. And as I was painting, my mind was making up all kinds of story ideas. Stories with fairies. Stories with beautiful romantic gardens. Stories with gates that opened up to other worlds.

So, then I thought, AHA! A blue gate writing prompt.  Where does your blue gate take you and your story? For some inspiration to help you think about blue gates, I set up a Pinterest board with a lot of great blue gates here.

Have fun!

Shoreline Arts Festival Workshop and Book Signing

I’m spending the weekend at the Shoreline Arts Festival. On Saturday afternoon, I’m volunteering in the Kids Art Room. And then, from 4:00-5:00 p.m., I’ll be presenting a Poetry and Flash Fiction Workshop for Teen Writers (Ages 12-18).  I’ll have copies of both STAINED GLASS SUMMER and WEAVING MAGIC to sell and sign after the workshop.

If you are a teen writer, and looking for places to submit your work, check out these two resources:

Publication for Teen Writers Handout

Publication for Young People Handout

On Sunday, I’ll be back in the Literary Room for helping with the children’s story hour. I will also have books available to sign and sell on Sunday.

It is a great weekend of the arts. Come on out and join in the fun! You can find all the information including a schedule of the two day events here.

Summer Reading

Although it doesn’t feel like summer in the Pacific Northwest and we’ve been having days filled with heavy rain, I know most of you are enjoying hot days, air conditioning, and swimming pools, right?

So, that brings up…what are you reading for summer?

I am usually not a productive writer in the summer–at least not in June and July. By August, I’m usually back to working on a holiday story (such as ELF SHOES--free short story companion to STAINED GLASS SUMMER or LOVE’S CHRISTMAS GIFT which is the third story in the sweet, contemporary, sailor romance series)

At the end of May, I finished up a six-month post-graduate semester through Vermont College where I wrote two drafts of my memoir, KIDS IN ORANGE: VOICES FROM JUVENILE DETENTION POETRY WORKSHOP. I also submitted my chapter book, LUCY LAVENDER LUCKY JEANS, to a publishing house on a requested full, and then Dad died. And well, about at that point, I felt the energy to write drain away.

So, I did what I always do when I’m not writing–I read. And, as a writer, I’m never really just reading for pleasure. I’m always looking out for what works or doesn’t work in the story I write. Reading gives me a lot of insight into my own writing.

This summer, I’m working my way through two cozy mystery series by Laura Childs. The first series (with twelve books in the series) is The Scrapbook Mystery Series. The series take place in New Orleans and main character, sleuth Carmela owns a scrapbook shop. The cast of characters includes Carmela trying to solve the mystery (which usually takes place at the end of the first chapter–but the thing I like about cozy mysteries is there is no blood and guts, the murder takes place off stage!), also in the story are a colorful group of women who move in and out of the scrapbook shop as Carmela’s students in her scrapbook classes.

Laura Childs’ description of New Orleans is rich, detailed, and it’s what I love the best about this series.

Then, after I finish that series, I’m planning to read her Tea Shop Mystery series which take place in a tea shop in Charleston, South Carolina.

These are quick and fun books to read and I can usually download them onto my Kindle and have them read within a twenty-four hour period or so.

I’m preparing for my Fall trip to Georgia to attend the romance writers conference by indulging myself into the delicious reading world of the South.  But I’m also reading this series of books because I’m playing around with drafting a three-story novella young adult series that has a little bit of romance and a little bit of mystery. I don’t want to talk too much about that idea because it’s in the early forming stages and I think talking about it starts to defuse some of the energy around the story.

So, what’s on your reading list for the summer?

Sizzling Summer Reads Party Giveaway

Today, on the Sizzling Summer Reads Party, sponsored by Romance Reviews, you can find questions about my sweet, contemporary, short, Sailor Romance Stories. There is a giveaway to one lucky winner of the first story in the Sailor Series, LOVE’S STORMS.

Have fun!

Sandcastles

On Saturday, my sister and I attended the 49th Annual Sandcastle Day in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

Sandcastle Day began in 1964 when a tsunami washed out the bridge into Cannon Beach and residents were relatively isolated until a new bridge could be built. That spring, families from the community gathered for a Sandcastle contest to entertain their children and attract visitors willing to brave the difficult access. Today, Sandcastle Day in Cannon Beach is one of the biggest Sandcastle days on the West Coast. Competitors of Sandcastle Day include both professionals, amateurs, and kids.

Sandcastle Day starts early in the morning when teams head out to the sand to begin building their masterpieces. The teams work all morning until judging starts at 1:00 p.m. By 2:30, the tide is quickly moving in and the fast tear-down begins. Cars are moved off the beach (It is the only day cars are allowed to park on the beach), port-a-potties are whisked away, and flags marking the areas are yanked out of the sand by a large team of volunteers. And then…the tide comes in…and those magnificent creations are washed out to sea.–left only in picture and memory.

Here are some of the finished Sandcastles from this year’s event:

 

Fathers in Young Adult Books

There is a great blog post on the STACKED blog today: Complicated Father Relationships: A YA Reading List.

Kelly J writes….

There have been a lot of really good dads, especially in contemporary YA lately. 



But, father’s day conjures up less-than-awesome feelings for those of us who didn’t grow up with cool dads or even present dads. Some of us like to read books where the relationship between the teen and his or her dad is complicated, troubled, or absent all together.



The following are recent releases — published in the last couple of years — which feature those fathers who aren’t winning dad of the year. And it’s not that they’re all villains (though some are). Some are just missing. Some are not good at developing relationships with their teens. Sometimes they become better in the end and sometimes they don’t.

You can see the post, Complicated Father Relationships in YA here.

This post caught my eye because my own book for tweens (ages 9-13), STAINED GLASS SUMMER, is about a complicated Father/Daughter relationship.

In STAINED GLASS SUMMER, Jasmine wants to be an artist, but her Dad’s shadow follows her at every turn. Dad has set the bar high for Jasmine. He’s a successful, award-winning photographer and works for the Art Institute of Chicago. Jasmine wants nothing more than to be like Dad and believes that in order to call herself an artist like Dad, she must also win awards. However, Jasmine’s Dad and Mom have a tense relationship, and when Dad leaves Jasmine and her Mom, Jasmine must find out how to call herself an artist by her terms.

Cheryl Klein in in her talk, “Essentials of Plot” references two types of plot: The Action Plot and the Emotional Plot–both of which should be in stories.  (Cheryl Klein is an amazing editor at Scholastic and has a wealth of information about writing for children. You can find talks she has given here.)

The Action Plot: The external action or conflict; what physically changes for your characters in the course of the book. The action plot is easy to identify in a book because it is the “what happens.”

The Emotional Plot: The internal action; or, the moral and emotional development of your characters as a result of the external action. The emotional plot is not so easy to identify, but at the end of the book, it is the arc of the character and how they internally change. How does the character see the world differently at the end of the story than they did at the beginning? How has the character grown? The emotional plot is also what motivates your character to make the choices they do in the action plot.

In STAINED GLASS SUMMER, the action plot is Jasmine’s move to the island, learning to live on the island, and becoming an artist.

The emotional plot is the letting go of the illusions she holds about her father and discovering how to call herself an artist by her own terms.

When I read a book, it often falls flat because the emotional plot is missing. The book may have great action, but without that key emotional plot of how a character changes, the story doesn’t work for me.

What is your action and emotional plot of your story?

Markets for Short Pieces

Recently, I was asked about where to find markets which are targeted toward an adult audience for short stories, essays, and poetry. The following are some of the places I would recommend if you have a shorter piece you are submitting.

Hope Clark’s Funds for Writers: I can’t say enough good things about this resource. Each week, Hope Clark sends out a listing of various markets including everything from magazines, grants, and contests. It’s free to subscribe to the shorter version (which is usually all I need).  Sign up here.

Christian Writers Submission Information: Sally Clark provides this helpful resource. It’s is a great list for finding submission opportunities for not only Christian stories, but also heartwarming stories and essays. One of my short romances, “Morning Light” was published with one of her listings. You can find Christian Writers Submission Information here.

Duotrope: This is the huge data base which lists markets for poetry, short story, and short, non-fiction submissions. You can enter your story criteria, word count, topic, and the search engine will generate a list for you. There is a free trial period, and afterwards the subscription costs $5 a month. You can find Duotrope here.

Cindi Myer Market News: Cindi Myer is an amazing romance author who emails a listing every week of places looking for submissions. A lot is for romance, but she just did a whole series of posts about places looking for short fiction. You can sign up for Cindi Myers Market news here.

Jim Harrington’s Flash Fiction Markets: If you are writing anything in flash fiction, the best resource to know about is Jim Harrington’s Flash Fiction Chronicles. He posts articles about flash fiction and keeps a list of places looking for flash fiction submissions. You can find the whole listing of flash fiction markets here.

Verla Kay’s Blueboard: This is a wealth of information for children’s writers. There are boards for short story markets, article markets as well as for book publishers–all in children’s market. I believe Verla Kay’s Blueboard has recently merged with SCBWI. So, if you are a National Member of SCBWI, you can access all of her boards through the SCBWI website.  You can find out more about Verla Kay’s Blueboard here.

Summer Reading Prize Pack Giveaway

It’s summer! Time to grab that good book and go sit by the pool!

In honor of summer, I’m giving away a Summer Reading Prize Pack!

One lucky winner of the Summer Reading Giveaway Prize Pack will win:

One copy of signed, Limited Edition, Print tween novel, STAINED GLASS SUMMER.  STAINED GLASS SUMMER was a 2013 EPIC Finalist in Children’s. You can find out more about STAINED GLASS SUMMER on my website here.
One copy of signed SUMMER SHORTS. This is a collection of short stories for kids age 8-12. SUMMER SHORTS is where my very first short story, “Hurricanes” was published. The book is currently out of print. So the winner gets a very special prize with this book! “Hurricanes” is based on the first summer my parents were divorced and I went to visit Dad in Norfolk. There was a small hurricane, and Dad took my brother and I out on the boardwalk to watch the storm come onshore. “Hurricanes”  and STAINED GLASS SUMMER are both about characters ages 12 who have lost a Dad in a divorce. They would be great gift stories for kids whose parents are getting a divorce.
One $10 Amazon Gift Card so you can add to your summer reading pile!

To win, all you have to do is leave me a comment and tell me why you would like to win this prize pack.

Sharing with others about the Summer Prize Pack Giveaway on your social media is also appreciated!

One comment per entry please. This contest is only open to U.S. entries due to shipping of the print books.

I will draw a winner on June 18!

Good luck!

Market for YA and New Adult Writers

Bloomsbury Spark, a digital imprint from Bloomsbury Publishing, is seeking new adult and young adult manuscripts in the following genres: romance, contemporary, dystopia, paranormal, sci-fi, mystery, and thriller.

Manuscripts should be between 25k-60k words.

The imprint will launch in the Fall of 2013.

Bloomsbury spark is a digital first imprint and is interested in career writers. (This is a great opportunity for stories which are linked, sequels, or series).

For submissions in the United States and Canada: BloomsburySparkUS@bloomsbury.com

For submissions in the United Kingdom, Europe and ROW: BloomsburySparkUK@bloomsbury.com

Good luck!