P.J. Kaiser's Blog, page 5

Metro Fiction Launches Today!

If you missed it, the other day, I announced my involvement in Metro Moms Network, a website and community aimed at supporting parents with parenting and professional resources.  The most exciting part of my role at Metro Moms?  We are launching at fiction column called "Metro Fiction!"  That's right, you heard it here first

We are launching today, Sunday, December 4, 2011 with a Staff Selection by yours truly "A Feminist Manifesto for the 21st Century."  In two weeks, we'll be publishing another Staff Selection by my friend, colleague and Editorial Advisor, Debra Marrs.  We will be launching our Feature Stories beginning January 1, 2012 and will be running one story each week, publishing on Sundays.

Our goal is to provide a little reading nook for busy parents and anybody else who'd like to stop by.  We will be featuring a broad array of emerging and established writers covering a range of genres.  So, be sure to check out the Metro Fiction column, follow our launch in the coming weeks on Twitter @MetroFiction, and join in the fun of reading new and exciting fiction each week.

Thanks to everybody for your support

My new gig: Editor at Metro Moms Network

Some of you already know, but I thought I'd make an official announcement on my blog about my new role over at Metro Moms Network.  I am an editor, an occasional contributor, and gal about town over at Metro Moms.  I also have a very special role which is scheduled to be unveiled this coming Sunday, so you'll want to stay tuned for that.

Metro Moms Network is part website and news source, part parenting support group, part entrepreneur support group and is the brainchild of Kathy Zucker, my friend and colleague.  It started as an informal monthly get-together where women – primarily moms – with an entrepreneurial spirit were able to come together and brainstorm and support one another.  It's expanded from there, with an expo held last June in Hoboken, NJ and now with the website.  Some of the content will be focused on the local Hoboken area, but much of it will be applicable no matter where you are in the world if you are a parent and, perhaps, even if you aren't.

Articles that I've written so far include "Obtaining Medical Insurance as a Freelance Professional" (which was also picked up for syndication at Mom, Incorporated) and "Saving My Sanity … And Dinner, Too!"

The site launched in late October and is growing by leaps and bounds.  You can start to get a sense of the content that will be available by checking out the tabs at the top.  Trust me, there are exciting things in the works.  So if it appeals, be sure to sign up for the newsletter, add the site to your reader or stop on back any ole' time.  And stay tuned for Sunday's announcement

 

"Inspired Links" Special "Carnival of the Indies" Edition – Nov 30, 2011

In my Tuesday "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

This week, my post "The Business of Indie Publishing" is included in Joel Friedlander's Carnival of the Indie's (Issue 14).  This is a terrific collection of posts from around the web discussing various aspects of indie publishing.  So, instead of my regular hand-picked selection of my favorite links, this week I am featuring Joel Friedlander's selections.  It's just a short hop over to the Carnival of the Indies to check them out.  To see all past issues, click on the icon …

 

My Intervening Life

Don't ya just hate those "Sorry I haven't blogged for awhile" posts?  As if everybody's life comes to a standstill if you're not blogging.  Can't you just envision the masses staring hopefully at their RSS readers, hitting the "refresh" button, waiting for the next post to come online?

No, actually I can't either.  I'm sure you've been doing just swimmingly without me

I have a confession to make, however. Most of the time, I blog for my own selfish reasons.  If you happen to get some enjoyment or education out of it, then all the better.  I do my "Inspiration Minute" posts every Monday to inspire myself as much as you.  I do my "Inspired Links" posts every Tuesday to remind myself of the cool links I've come across, mostly on social media, in the past week.  It also gives me a chance to thoroughly review any articles or posts I might have glossed over briefly the first time around.  The other posts I do, such as "Three for Thursday" more for your benefit than mine, although they all force me to stop for a moment and assess something:  a subject, an issue, whatever.

But enough about that.  If I haven't bored you to tears yet, you're probably one of my more dedicated readers (and I'm sending you virtual hugs and smooches!), so you might be interested in knowing that I've got some things in the works.  When I have something more concrete to announce, I'll do it here, but for the moment, I'll tell you that I'm involved with a startup called "Metro Moms Network" and I'm working in various capacities, including developing a fiction column on the site.

So, that's been pulling me away and, as always, life is intervening.  My youngest has started to school half days and it's been a bigger transition than anticipated.  Plus, I've let mountains of housework and desk work pile up during the time before she started school so I'm busy catching up on that.  And I'm trying to get back into a routine of going to the gym at least a couple of times a week which I can only do while she's at school.

Anyway, you get the picture.  Life happens.  And the good thing for writers is that when life happens, our writing gets more interesting.  I was reminded of this by a comic and post by M. M. Rule.

And be sure to stop by next … maybe next week… or maybe next month … when life isn't intervening so doggone much In the meantime, you can always find me on Facebook and Twitter and sometimes Google Plus.

 

 

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What's Your Favorite Literary Vintage? by P.J. Kaiser

My friend Claudia Hall Christian invited me to do a guest post for her blog while she's away on a public relations tour. I of course accepted (I know an offer too good to pass up!) and my post goes live today.

I offer up a bit of a metaphorical comparison between choosing wine and choosing fiction and I'd love to have your thoughts on the subject.  So, pour a glass and jump over to my post.

"Zoning Patrol" is Published in eFiction

I'm thrilled to announce that my story "Zoning Patrol" is in the October issue of eFiction magazine!  You can read the issue online or download it for your e-reader.  If you like the issue (and of course you will – it's chock full of wonderful stuff!) then you can also subscribe to the Kindle version.  Many thanks to Doug Lance and his editing team for selecting my story

eFiction has a contest running this month through October 31 and you could win a Kindle Fire, so check it out.

Inspired Links – Oct 4, 2011

In my "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

Mark Coker of Smashwords conducted a poll to discover how readers find e-books.  It's much more extensive than the poll I conducted on my blog a few weeks ago, so you'll want to check it out if you're interested in marketing for e-books.
Katie Tallo, a guest over at Write to Done, wrote an inspiring post "Become the Hero of Your Writing Life" in which she discusses how to combat the villains in your writing life.
Salman Rushdie was recently interviewed on the Leonard Lopate show on WNYC and he discussed his novel "Midnight's Children."  If you're a fan of Rushdie, as I am, you'll want to have a listen.
Joel Friedlander shares "The Parable of the Little Book of Stories" which I found greatly inspiring.  It's all about the stories in the end.
Lawrence Block riffs on short stories and the market for them – or lack thereof – in "Whither the Short Story."
And, turning to genre, Colin Barnes discusses speculative fiction in "Finding Markets for your Speculative Fiction" over on First Draft Cafe.
If you're looking to make time to write in your busy schedule, check out Tony Noland's "7 Easy Ways to Give You Time to Write."  They might surprise you
Debra Marrs riffs on de-cluttering in "Before You Write, Declutter!" With two small kids, decluttering is practically a full time job in my house.
And when i finish with this phase of de-cluttering, I plan to spend fifteen minutes with this post from Duolit "No Excuses: 15-Minute Goal Setting for Authors."
Cathy Webster talks about her encounter with a literary icon in "Meeting Margaret Atwood."

If you're wondering about my methodology for choosing links for inclusion in this post, rest assured there isn't one.  It's just a collection of things that I found interesting and I thought you might too.  Please let me know what you think!

 

Inspiration Minute – China – Oct 3, 2011

In my Monday feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute!  

Writing a story that takes place in a fairy tale landscape?  Or maybe you've been reading fairy tales to your kids and can almost visualize some of the scenes.  These photos will help bring those ideas into focus and maybe you won't believe that they're all photos of China.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's installment of Inspiration Minute!  Feel free to share it with your friends

Inspired Links – Sept 27, 2011

In my "Inspired Links" feature, I provide links and brief descriptions of thought-provoking articles.  I hope you enjoy these little treasures

Amy Sue Nathan has written an interesting post which riffs on where she falls between being a pantser and a plotter:  "Confessions of a (somewhat) Rehabilitated Pantser."
Emlyn Chand (of Novel Publicity fame) has written an interesting post whose title is self-explanatory:  "Why I'm self-publishing Farsighted even though I already have a literary agent: Indie power and the perfect marketing campaign!"
Writers and readers of flash fiction will appreciate Dan Cafaro's post:  "News Flash:  Publisher Hooked on Experimental Drug."
If you're struggling to establish a daily writing habit (as I am), then this post on "Write to Done" from Tom Meitner may help:  "3 Steps to Creative Endurance:  A Writer's Training Plan."
John Petitte from DiscoverLit guest posted at Tuesday Serial last week with "A Home for Serial Fiction."  His startup is developing a tool that writers can use to self publish in a variety of different formats.

If you're wondering about my methodology for choosing links for inclusion in this post, rest assured there isn't one.  It's just a collection of things that I found interesting and I thought you might too.  Please let me know what you think!

 

Inspiration Minute – Levitation – Sept 26, 2011

In my Monday feature, "Inspiration Minute," I'd like to share with you something that has caught my attention or inspired me recently.  Be forewarned, it may take a bit more than a minute!  

Ever feel so happy that it's as if you're floating on air?  Or maybe something is easy so you're gliding through it?  Or maybe you've been possessed by benevolent spirits and you actually could float on air?  Well, photographer Natsumi Hayashi seems to have that feeling a lot.  Or at least, she used to, because she has a series of photographs on her site that are bound to make you feel lighter in spirit and maybe a bit inspired.

I hope you've enjoyed this week's installment of Inspiration Minute!  Feel free to share it with your friends