Robin Burrows's Blog, page 3

The Rock – a Poem

I hope everyone had a good holiday season. Sorry for the lack of posts. My blogging usually drops off during the holidays with visitors and visiting. But I am back now and here is a draft of a poem I have been working on… Or I might convert it into a short story. It’s similar to the old Grimm Brothers’ stories. Enjoy!

The Rock

By Robin A. Burrows

A young man journeyed

Into the wilderness

In the frozen wastes

In search of the legendary

Rock of Strength.

He wandered

For months, searching

And when he was

Hopelessly lost

And ready to give up

He banged his knee against

Something hard

In a snow drift.

Brushing away snow,

He found the enormous

Rock buried in fresh snow.

He camped there for the night

To get a better look the next morning

But a blizzard buried him

And the young man

Nearly froze to death.

As he tried to dig his way out,

He found a loose patch of snow.

Pushing through it

He discovered a small tunnel

Into the impenetrable rock.

Crawling inside,

The heart of the stone

Was a protective cave

Glittering with crystals

And spider webbed with

Thousands of tiny fractures

Invisible from outside.

And at the top he could see

Snow blowing above outside

Through a hole where a huge crystal

Had once been.

He couldn’t believe the legendary

Rock of Strength was so fragile inside.

His friends would never believe him.

So using his spoon handle,

He tried to pry out

One of the remaining crystals

As proof.

Gently, he slid the handle of his spoon

In the crack between a crystal

And the stone.

With a quick twist of the spoon

The crystal flew from the rock

But it crumbled into dust

Upon touching his hand.

And the web of cracks in the stone

Deepened and widened

Shattering around the young man

Until he sat amongst a pile of rubble.

Epilogue:

The young man froze to death

From his own stupidity.

The End.

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Support Local Artists This Holiday

Check out Tim Robbins’s new art store.
This image is one of the designs available in his store.

Last week I talked about supporting your favorite authors during the holidays. This week I want to talk about artists. Actually one artist in particular, my friend, Tim Robbins.

Creative people don’t have it easy. I don’t have to tell you that. Most of the people who follow my blog are creative people. Well, my friend has had a particularly rough year and he’s trying to make a little money with his artwork. He’s setup a store on CafePress to sell merchandise with his art and photography designs. There are tshirts, coffee mugs, posters, and many more things displaying his art.

The page is still under construction, and Tim’s still adding new designs, but all of the designs on the website are currently available for purchase.

I wanted to go ahead and share the page so that those of you still looking for Christmas presents could purchase a Tim Robbins design for someone on your list.

You can check out Tim’s new art store at www.cafepress.com/TimRobbinsArt. Check back often as Tim updates the page and adds new designs.

You can also follow Tim on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/TimRobbinsArt. Why did I share his FaceBook page? I should be sharing my own. You can follow me on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/RobinABurrows. Tim’s so excited he has more FaceBook followers than me, so I wouldn’t be disappointed if you liked my page instead of his, or in addition to his. :-)

Okay, but seriously, check out Tim’s CafePress store, or support a local artist in your area this holiday!

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Books as Gifts 2013

It’s that time of year again. People are shopping for gift for those near and dear to them.

It’s also the perfect time of year to support the authors you know by giving books as gifts!

How can you help?

Give books as gifts to the people on your holiday gift list.
Instead of bringing a gag gift or something you picked up at the last minute for your company’s annual dirty Santa gift exchange, bring a book that you like. It’s always wonderful introducing others to books you’re passionate about and what better way to do it than give a book you love!
If your company draws names for gifts, find out what the person likes and get them a book based on what they like. There really is a book for everyone. (Non-readers often like comic books or art books or humorous books with small paragraphs on each page.
Books are great for kids, too! Why get kids another toy when they have so many already? Books are read over and over, last past childhood, help develop creativity, and can create happy memories if you read them with the child.
Use the #BooksAsGifts hashtag to share books on Twitter that you think are gift-worthy or books you’ve especially enjoyed.

So what books do I recommend as gifts this year? There are too many to count, so I’ll list just a few here. Watch my Twitter feed for more suggestions.

The Essence Series by Kimberly Derting – This dystopian fantasy is about a merchant class girl who can understand all languages in a world where social class is divided by the languages you speak. When she meets a boy who speaks a language she’s never heard, her whole life changes. This series is has a touch of magic and romance that help balance out the harsh realities of the dystopian world. I thoroughly enjoyed both books, and the third and final book is released this January. Pre-order it as a late gift, or purchase the earlier books to introduce the world to your reader. It’s definitely worth the read.

The Dark Thorn by Shawn Speakman – This novel is a combination of urban fantasy and high fantasy. A knight with a broken soul guards the Seattle portal to an Arthurian-esque land which is the source of many legends in our world. When troubles in the other world threaten to erupt into ours, the knight must venture through the portal and try to set things right while he’s forced to confront his own personal demons. This is the first book in a series, but it can be read as a stand-alone novel. There are a lot of interwoven themes about mythology and religion that make this book more than your average fantasy story.

Unfettered – This book is a collection of short stories by over 20 science fiction and fantasy authors. It was collected and edited by Shawn Speakman and will be quite a collector’s piece. It’s also a great way to introduce fantasy fans to some great authors who they might not know about yet. Plus, the short stories are great for people who don’t have the time to read a whole novel all at once!

And if you don’t believe in giving gifts this time of year, you can still support your favorite authors by writing reviews of their books on Amazon and GoodReads. When you write a recommendation for a book, you’re helping spread the word about it, and a person has to know a book exists before they could possible read it.

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

 

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How to Use Scrivener for Windows on the Go on a Laptop or Mobile Device

Scrivener is the favorite writing tool for many writers I know. It allows you to collect all of your drafts, research, notes, etc in one place. There is a corkboard where you can easily outline and rearrange scenes in your store. You can tag scenes with character names or setting or any number of keywords – which make it easy to find those sections later. The list of features go on and on.

The only down-side to Scrivener is there isn’t a good built-in tool or app to use Scrivener for Windows on a mobile device. Scrivener was originally released for Macs. The Windows version is a generation behind the Mac version, and the mobile version is still in development. The Mac version has a build in “sync to” feature that lets you easily sync your manuscript to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox. However, Scrivener for Windows doesn’t have this feature yet. Here are some ways you can edit your Scrivener for Windows manuscript on a mobile device.

Store your Scrivener Folders in a Cloud Storage Service for Use of Multiple Computers

The easiest way to have your Scrivener files on multiple computers is to store your Scrivener files directly on a cloud storage server. However, you have to make sure your files fully download from the server before you open Scrivener. Otherwise, you will open an old version of the file and lose any updates you might have done on another computer. As long as you make sure your cloud storage files are fully updated before you open Scrivener and before you log off of each computer, this method works well between computer. But what about mobile devices?

Export your Scrivener for Windows Files

Scrivener on Macs can sync files when can then be edited on a mobile device with a text editor. But with Scrivener for Windows, you need to Export your files to achieve the same goal.

In the Binder, select the scene or chapter you want to export. It will export any folders or documents inside the one you select. You can export your whole novel if you want, but I’d suggest just exporting the scenes or chapters you might need while working on your mobile device.
Then go to File -> Export -> Files.
In the box that pops up, select the location where you want to export these files. I would suggest a folder inside DropBox (or your favorite cloud storage service). On this box you can also change the format of the exported files. You will want to choose either Rich Text (.rtf), Word Document (.doc), or Plain Text (.txt) depending on what text editor you use on your mobile device. (Note: I have had some word wrap issues with Plain Text, so I usually export as Rich Text.)
Clicking Save will export your files.
Then you can open them in your favorite text editor on your phone or tablet. There are a number of text editors. I like QuickOffice for Word Documents (but it no longer supports DropBox). The best app I found which supports DropBox and has good text editing features is Storyist, though there are several editors which do this.
To use Storyist with Dropbox to edit your rtf files, first you will need to connect Storyist to DropBox. A Storyist folder will be created in your DropBox folder. Any Scrivener files you export to this folder will be available in Storyist. In Storyist, you can press the plus sign to copy a new file from DropBox. It will be saved in the Storyist folder. I suggest copying the scene you want to edit so you can have an old draft and a new draft. To do that, click Edit on the main screen of Storyist. Then click the icon that looks like two overlapping sheets of paper with a plus sign on top. This will copy the document. Now you can revise the document as much as you like. Then before you close you of the Storyist app, you should sync the files to DropBox. To do that, select Edit on the main screen of Storyist, then select the files you want to sync, and tap the icon that looks like a arrow going in a clock-wise circle. This will sync your files back to your DropBox account.
Once you are back on a computer, I recommend renaming your scene/files before importing them back into your main Scrivener document. If you don’t rename them, you might have two documents called “Scene 2.”
To import edited files back into Scrivener, select the folder in the binder where you want to import. Then go to File -> Import -> Files and select the files you want to import.
Once those files have imported, you can drag the old version of those scenes to the trash and drag the new versions of the scenes to their right place in the binder (if you did not import them directly there). If you changed your file name to make it easier to tell which file was which, you may need to change the name of the new file now that the old file is gone.

And there you have it – how to export Scrivener for Windows files to a cloud storage service, edit them on a mobile device, and then import the new or revised scenes into Scrivener. It’s not difficult once you’ve done it a few times, and it’s a lot easier to keep up with your revisions on the go until Scrivener finishes development on their mobile app. Happy writing and good luck to you NaNoWriMers!

 

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Poem – Imagination

Image by Tim Robbins. www.facebook.com/timrobbinsart

Today I’d like to share a poem to help inspire all of those NaNoWriMers struggling to reach their word count.

 

Imagination

By Robin A. Burrows

 

Life is held together

Not by glue and raveled thread

But by imagination

Fantasy

Pretending

Dreams are reachable

Hoping less is more

Walking hand in hand

With the ship

Still at sea

A light to banish

The darkness

A scene

To change the movie reel

A belief

That small things

Could change everything

A fantasy to hide

The sharp edge of reality

And give hope

Even to the

Impossible

A better future

Another day

A reason to live.

 

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Writing Techniques to Consider Before NaNoWriMo

Start Your Novel by Darcy Pattison

Learning to write like an author is like learning about yourself all over again. It can be fun or scary or both. And not every technique is best for everyone.

In my publishing quest, I’ve tried several different methods of writing. There’s this little thing called NaNoWriMo that starts in a few days. I’ve done it before. I’ve ridden the highs of words flowing from the heavens and struggled through the pits of darkness where the ugliest words ever stumble onto the page to meet a mandatory word count. If free-writing or organic writing is your technique, then NaNoWriMo in it’s intended format might be for you.

But let me tell you, it wasn’t for me. Well, not completely. There was a thrill to the race and writing with friends. All writers love those divine moments when the words flow like water. But my NaNoWriMo manuscript was awful. Worse than awful. The plot was so tangled and twisted and ramble-ly that it was difficult to see what was what. Free-writing definitely wasn’t for me.

There are the people who outline every detail of their story before they start writing. That’s good for them. It typically cuts down on revisions later. But I usually don’t know that much about my story before I start writing. I typically know my beginning and end, as well as a few plot points along the way, but I don’t know all of those details until I start writing.

Recently, I discovered a technique between those two that involves part planning, part free-writing. I’ve been reading Start Your Novel by Darcy Pattison. (It’s a short book – only 88 pages of text – so any NaNoWriMo’ers who want to read it before November, there’s still time!) The book talks about how to plan and begin your novel. While reading it, I realized I’m a “Planster” – a person who plans part of the novel and uses free-writing to fill in the details. I really should have realized this before now. I makes lists for everything else. It was a startling revelation. I like organization, but I also love the creative thrill when the plot flows down its own paths. The Planster’s technique seems to be my answer. If I can plan out what I want, then I can focus on each little piece and feel less overwhelmed.

I will not be participating in NaNoWriMo this year. I have too much work on my novel revision (now that I have a direction after the AR SCBWI retreat). But if I do NaNoWriMo again, it’s not going to be purely free-writing. I’m going to have a Planster’s outline first! Happy writing and lots of luck for those of you who are doing NaNo this year! And check out my blog from last year if you want some alternatives to NaNoWriMo. I’m probably going to do PiBoWriMo.

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Arkansas SCBWI Fall 2013 Writing Retreat

Last weekend I attended the Arkansas SCWBI Fall Retreat. Editor, Alex Arnold, did presentations on publishing trends and plotting. I learned things I didn’t know that I didn’t know. Yay! Nuns fed us great “homemade” meals, so we could focus on the task at hand: the craft of writing! I met some amazing writers and reconnected with others. We had a great group and I can’t wait to see everyone’s books in print!

Writing is such a solitary activity that it’s inspirational to have that much creative energy all in a room together. The more creativity, the more it multiplies.

 (Left to Right.) Back Row: Sherrie Lorance, Bonnie Terry, Loriee Evans, Phyllis Hemann, Alex Arnold (the editor), Kristin Gray, Ina Raye Hurdle, and Niki Moss. Front Row: Michelle Collins, Robin A. Burrows, Carmen Nodar, and Mandy Silberstein.

Check out all of the wonderful writers from the conference. Some of the people in this group are only a hair’s breadth and the right agent/editor from being published. Here’s to a great year ahead of us! Keep an eye out for their names in the future. :-)

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Some Things Are Worth the Drive a.k.a. Meeting Some Awesome Authors!

I got my books signed by Kimberly Derting, Kami Garcia, and Victoria Schwab.

Last week I drove several hours to attend a book signing in Memphis and met three celebrities. Okay, they were authors, but authors are celebrities to me. They were in Memphis for the Unbreakable book tour for Kami Garcia’s new book. She invited other authors to join her at each stop on her tour. How awesome is that! More authors at one location means even more fun!

The authors in attendance were: Kamia Garcia (co-author of Beautiful Creatures), Kimberly Derting (best-known for The Body-Finder Series), and Victoria Schwab (an author of supernatural young adult books who recently crossed over into the adult market).

All of the authors were really nice. They all write about the supernatural in one way or another. And they were all ordinary people who worked their way up from writers to authors. When Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl wrote Beautiful Creatures, it was simply a story for their children. They hadn’t planned to publish it. They didn’t know anything about the publishing process. Now they are New York Time Best-Selling Authors. I first met Kimberly Derting online through Twitter before her first book was officially announced. Now she has 8+ books that are published or soon to be published! Victoria Schwab also said she knew little about publishing before her first book.

There is something almost spiritual about talking about writing with other writers. It was very inspirational. I had a lot of fun and it was great to meet everyone. Please check out the books by these wonderful authors if you’re looking for something new to read.

Kami Garcia is co-author of The Beautiful Creatures Series about the supernatural creatures in a small southern town and the human boy who gets tangled in their secret world. The series is unique because it’s told from the human boy’s point-of-view and the girl is the one with super-powers! Also, everything you ever heard about small southern towns is true, and this book is a good depiction of what life’s like in one such town. Kami’s most recent book, Unbreakable, is about a girl who didn’t believe in the supernatural until a ghost tries to kill her and two gorgeous boys ask her to take her dead mother’s place in a secret society that helps protect the world from a vengeful demon.

Kimberly Derting is best-known for her Body Finder Series about a girl who can sense the “echoes” left behind by dead bodies. But her Pledge Series is my favorite. It’s a dystopian fantasy about a merchant-class girl who understands all languages in a society where social class is divided by the languages they understand. When a mysterious boy who speaks a strange language enters the protagonist’s life, her whole world begins to change. The series of full of political intrigue, magic, and romance. The third and final book in the Pledge Series will be released in January. I can’t wait to read it. Kim also has a new book, The Taking, which also comes out next year. It’s about a girl who wakes up to discover she’s been missing for 5 years. She doesn’t remember anything and hasn’t aged during those 5 years.

Victoria Schwab is the author of several young adult books and just released a book in the adult market. The Near Witch is about a fairytale told to frighten children in a small town, but when children start disappearing, one girl and the mysterious boy new to town team up to find the children and learn the truth about the fairytale. The Archived is the first book in a series about an Archive where the dead are stored like books. Vicious, her newest book, is about two boys who discover that under the right conditions people can develop super-human abilities. Ten years later, these men are enemies and everyone might get swept up in their battle.

The event was lots of fun and well-worth the drive! Check out these authors if you get the chance.

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Soulmates – a Poem for My Brother and His Wife

My brother and his wife visited about a week ago. My brother is in the navy and doesn’t make it back home very often.

We got together with some friends and before we had to take him on to the next stop on this visitation tour. Part of the purpose of this trip was to introduce his wife to the people who were unable to attend their wedding back in March. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with them before their wedding, but this visit it really struck me how perfect they are for each other. If there is such a thing as soulmates, they fit the definition. They are very much alike in some ways and very different in others, but their differences fit well together and balance each other. So I was inspired to write this poem for them.

Soulmates

For John and Jamie

By Robin A. Burrows

Intertwined

like careful weavings

hearts bound by

threads unseen

yet evidence

clearly shown–

two souls meant to be.

Shining eyes

and glowing hearts

puzzle pieces

a perfect fit

weaknesses and

strengths united

together

stronger still.

 

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Poetry Contests for Arkansas Middle School and High School Students

As I’m finalizing my presentation for the Saline County Poets for this weekend, it’s appropriate that I would receive an email from the Poets Roundtable of Arkansas about their annual poetry contests for Arkansas high school and middle school students. Please share these contests with any apprising Arkansas student poets, because I don’t know any personally. :)

There is no entry fee for any of these contests.

POETS ROUNDTABLE OF ARKANSAS – MANNINGHAM STUDENT POETRY TRUST AWARDS

Grades: 6-8 and 9-12.

Any subject, any form, 50 line limit.

Postmark deadline: February 10, 2014

Prizes: In each division: First – $75; Second – $50; Third – $40; Fourth – $35; Fifth – $30; Five Honorable Mentions – $10 each.

NATIONAL FEDERATION OF STATE POETRY SOCIETIES STUDENT AWARDS

Grades: 9-12.

Any subject, any form, 32 line limit.

Postmark deadline: March 1, 2014

Prizes: First – $50; Second – $30; Third – $20; 7 Honorable Mentions – $5 each.

POETS ROUNDTABLE OF ARKANSAS – SYBIL NASH ABRAMS MEMORIAL STUDENT CONTEST

Grades: 6-8 and 9-12.

Any subject, any form, 24 line limit.

Postmark deadline: March 1, 2014

Prizes: Senior Division:  First – $50; Second – $30; Third – $20; Three Honorable Mentions – receive books.  Junior Division:   First – $30; Second – $15; Third – $10; Three Honorable Mentions – receive books.

Here is a list of complete contest guidelines for the 2014 Student Poetry Contests.  This would be a great opportunity for teachers to encourage talented students in their classrooms!

Also, if you are in the Benton area, come out and hear my presentation, “Tips and Tools for Poets and Writers in a Digital World.” It will mainly focus on poetry and social media, but writers of other genres might find it useful, too. It will be at 1pm on Saturday, September 28, 2013 at the Fire Station on Ashley Street in Benton.

 

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