Guest Post: Allan Russell

Hey everyone! The HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest is only days away now. Want to sign up? There's still time. Just click the link, put up a short story of 750 words (no more than 1000) on Wednesday, and then welcome the feedback from your fellow bloggers.

To celebrate, I'd like to welcome our last guest, Allan Russell, author of Veiled in Shadows. Al took a slightly different route to publication than our proposed short story route, but he has great suggestions on how to hone your work. And, so, without any further ado....
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First of all I would like to say thank you very much to Rosie and Charity for hosting this post.

In support of their Hone Your Skills Blogfest they are asking published authors to talk about their road to publication.

I guess in some ways my path to publishing my novel Veiled in Shadows is quite atypical and some (if not many) would say not at all the best way to go.

Absolutely ages ago (in fact it would be close to twenty years ago) I did what many young people do and sat down to write a novel. Unlike most I finished a first draft, in fact that was my first draft of Veiled in Shadows.

But life got in the way and my writing went on a shelf stored on a floppy disk.

Over the following decade or so I wrote hundreds of thousands of words. None of them fiction. The writing I did was in the form: of a couple of bachelor’s degrees; an academic thesis; and hundreds of reports and press releases in various work places. I didn’t really think about it but all this writing was having a positive effect on my writing ability.

A few years ago I had a bit of time on my hands and thought I would like to ‘write a book’. Then of course I remembered that I had in fact already ‘written one’ and hunted down that lost floppy. I was quite excited at the prospect of looking at it again, but I was bitterly disappointed. It was awful! The writing was really poor, the characters were cardboard 2D cut-outs, in short it was almost fit for nothing.

But, I still liked plot. I thought the themes could be developed into something meaningful and the characters could grow into credible beings. I began re-drafting from there. Most of Veiled has been redrafted three times since then with a few sections probably changing eight or ten times.

Following that I paid for a professional manuscript assessment. The report was good and indicated with some changes (including pruning sub-plots) I would have a marketable manuscript. I pretty much adopted all the recommended changes and did another redraft.

I then employed another editor to do a copy edit. She wasn’t paid for advice as such but essentially said wow! So by then I was pretty sure I had something worth querying.

I hated the query process (who doesn’t?). I took every rejection very personally (which you shouldn’t). This led me to consider self publication.

I did a lot of research and decided to give it a go. Almost still playing with the idea I began designing covers and formatting the text.

I’m lucky in that I have some skills with design, I produced a cover that I think not only looks good, but more importantly professional.

In terms of formatting, again I’ve had some experience with desktop publishing and the like for work and I did more research and looked at what works in published books. Where I lacked is in basic editing so I both paid for edits and had the luck to recruit a couple of friends/acquaintances to check the work over.

The bottom line is if you want to have professional looking work pay professionals for anything where you don’t have the skills.

In terms of printing I’ve gone for POD and am using LightingSource. They are a printing company, they just print. You have to look after everything else. But as a subsidiary of Ingram you will get listed with Amazon and the Book Depository automatically and any retailer who wishes can order your book direct from Ingram.

What did it cost? My biggest single cost component has been editing, around $1500 in total. The cover cost me about $100 (mostly the licence for a photo I used as a basis of my cover). LightningSource charged about $80 to set up my print ready files and list internationally.

The up side - this is pretty much all my work and that gives me a lot of pride.

The down side any problems are my fault I can’t blame any one else.

I’ve had some brilliant reviews, for example by British biographer Kathleen Jones.

How is it going?
Well sales are slow but essentially that is because I have not had time to put some marketing ideas into action.

Although as I said it’s already on Amazon (including Kindle)and when I checked the other night they were discounting the paperback at $8.05.

Anyone want to buy a book? ;-)

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Thanks again, Al, for coming to share your story.

I got Al's book for Christmas, and once I can actually GET to it, I'll be posting a review (though, unfortunately, it might be May at the rate I'm going).

Be sure to stop by over the next couple of days for my several blogfest posts, including my entry for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest. Come join in the fun :)

Friday Breakdown

Hey folks. It's Friday. I'm tired and officially on Spring Break (Whoot!!), so today's post is going to be short and sweet and, really, all about next week.

We shall now look into the future!

MONDAY: Be sure to stop by for a great guest post from Allan Russell, author of Veiled in Shadows.

TUESDAY: Delusional Doom Blogfest, hosted by Hart Johnson.

WEDNESDAY: There's still time to sign up!!

Join Charity, myself, and our other awesome participants for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest on March 16th (next Wednesday). One short story of 750 words (no more than 1000), and help from your fellow bloggers to HONE it to its best shape. It will help you develop your skills as well as bring thoughtful feedback so you can feel confident enough to send it for publication (if you want, of course).


THURSDAY: Luck of the Irish Blogfest, hosted by Alexia and Colene.

I'm not 100% sure if I'm participating in this or not. It will depend on if I can come up with something by Thursday to post :)


FRIDAY: I'm taking a blogging break.



Whew! What a week.


Have a great weekend, folks! :)

An Award Post-Script

The love has been FLYING this week. Last night I got a note from Zan Marie at In the Shade of the Cherry Tree, saying she had also given me the Stylish Blogger award and the One Lovely Blog award. Thanks so much, Zan Marie!

Well, I had already passed these one, but I recently discovered another blog that I think deserves some recognition, so I want to do a little more passing.

SJ Hanson at My Journey in Running, Writing, and Life

Be sure to stop by and see SJ. She's new to blogging and Twitter, so hop over and help spread the cyber love.

Have a great Thursday, folks!

An Award :)

First, if you haven't heard yet or you're still on the fence, please join me and Charity for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest on March 16th. It's a chance to try your hand at a short story, get feedback from fellow writer-bloggers, and encouragement to try and publish it. We'd love to have you, so just click the link above or on the sidebar to join.
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Last week, I was given an award from Allan Russell at Publish or Perish AND from Michelle at Perfecting the Craft...

UPDATE: I also just received this award from Kristina at KayKay's Corner. Man, am I feeling the love or WHAT?

Kristina also gave me this award:

Thank you so much, Al, Michelle, and Kristina!

For those of you who don't know Al, he is the author of Veiled in Shadows, the beautiful cover of which is staring at me from the top of my to-read pile. Then again, maybe I'm just a sucker for the big blue eye :)

(On a side note, stop by on Monday for a guest post by Al.)

According to the rules of the award, I should tell you seven things about myself and then pass it on. Here's a random assortment of things you may not yet know about me. I'll limit myself to non-writing things this time. For other random Rosie facts, you can check out these other posts: from here, here (the the truth behind it), here, and one more.

1. As a recovering linguist, I'm a language junkie. I'm not fluent in any language (I sometimes contend that I'm not even fluent in English), though my husband likes to argue this point with me. Anyway, over the few decades of my life, I've studied (in no particular order) Spanish, French, German, Russian, Polish, Macedonian, and Welsh officially. If I have a dictionary, I can usually read Czech, Slovak, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Bulgarian, and Ukrainian well enough. I also know lots of random syntax facts about Icelandic, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Dogon (my friend is currently working on a Dogon grammar).
2. I'm a graduate student in my last semester of coursework. There exists about a 2% chance that I will write a dissertation (with a 3% margin of error).
3. If I were ever to write a dissertation, I would write it on Polish syntax and the reflexive particle się. (I promise, it's a little more interesting than Wikipedia makes it out to be.) Last summer I got to meet Norbert Hornstein, whose most recent syntactic framework is called MOVE! (yes, with the exclamation point), and talk to him about my ideas using his framework. We argued a lot. We disagreed even more. It was fun and discouraging.
4. My graduate employment consisted of teaching Russian for only one year. I have never worked so hard. I taught in the 2007–2008 school year. Many of my former students were freshmen that year, and so are seniors now. I occasionally run into them on campus, and sometimes they even invite me out for a drink to catch up. :)
5. My current GA employment is working as the Managing Editor of the for Journal of Slavic Linguistics for Slavica Publishers. I prepare journals and books for publication. In addition to the journal, which I have worked on since 2006, I am currently preparing a book on Macedonian. It should be finish in the next month and be published by summer.
6. I have never published anything regarding linguistics. I've only edited other people's work. This doesn't bother me, though my colleagues think it should.
7. I had no intention of this turning into a Rosie's-grad-school-life post. Just to mix it up, I'll tell you that I got new glasses last week. They've got the Transitions lenses, too. I can't begin to tell you how excited they make me :)

Okay, now for passing on the love.

Carol at ArtziCarol Ramblings
Jan at Crazy Jane
Sallee at The Highly Educated Housewife
Medeia at Sharif Writes
Charity at My Writing Journey
Dezmond at Hollywood Spy

Thanks again to Al, Michelle, and Kristina for the award. :) Have a great Wednesday!

Catch Me If You Can Blogfest

First, remember to join Charity, myself, and our other awesome participants for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest on March 16th (next Wednesday). One short story of 750 words (no more than 1000), and help from your fellow bloggers to HONE it to its best shape. It will help you develop your skills as well as bring thoughtful feedback so you can feel confident enough to send it for publication (if you want, of course).

Second, today is my mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom!! :)

What else is going on TODAY? I'm participating in the CATCH ME IF YOU CAN Blogfest, hosted by Kristina at KayKay's Corner.

The basics:
On Monday March 7, post the first 550 words (or less) of your WIP on your blog. If you can, leave a link to your email address* in case someone has an especially long critique.

So, here it is. This is the latest new beginning of my WIP, THE MONARCHY'S LIES (although the title is still tentative). The 550 word limit is hard, since my first chapter is only 850 words, and a lot of the tension is in those last 300 words. Aw, well. If it's not in the first two pages, it's my problem, not yours, right?

Email address is at the bottom. Thanks, folks :)

Chapter 1
I sat in my seat, tugging at the tight collar around my neck. I hated collars. In fact, I hated anything on my neck—turtleneck sweaters, tight necklaces, even my fingers to check my pulse—but today I would endue anything on my neck. Anything to get to the Mansion.

I checked my watch. “We should have left already,” I said.

My best friend Lily sat in the desk next to mine. “Relax,” she said. “You’ll get to see your beloved prince soon enough.”

“Whatever.” I yanked the collar straight away from my throat. Any second now, it planned to strangle me. I just knew it.

“Oh, don’t give me that line,” she said. “You’d swoon just like any other girl if you got within 10 feet of him and you know it.”
 
I rolled my eyes. “Be still my sprickin’ heart.”
 
“Anabelle Lindsky!”
 
I jumped as Ms. Crawlee’s voice boomed above my head.
 
“Detention. Tomorrow.” She passed me and continued down the aisle.
 
“For what?” I asked.
 
“For swearing.”
 
“Ugh.” I fell back in my chair.
 
“Watch your mouth, young lady,” Lily whispered, giggling.
 
I crossed my arms over my chest. The gesture moved the fabric of my shirt, and brought back that choking sensation. I reached my hand up again to tug at the collar.
 
Lily batter my hand away. “Knock it off. You’re gonna stretch it out.”
 
“That wouldn’t be so bad.” I tugged again.
 
“Except it’s your mom’s.” She grabbed my wrist until I stopped fighting.
 
Ms. Crawlee hushed the room. “I’m passing out a worksheet—  Quiet! The front you’ll need to finish on the bus, the back during the tour. You’ll turn them back in to me when we return to the bus in the afternoon.”
 
Figured. I took the stack of papers from the guy in front of me and passed on the rest. A quick scan of the worksheet told me Ms. Crawlee hadn’t asked any stumpers, but had created busy work for the bus ride so the student wouldn’t get rowdy. I looked at the back. She’d asked for specifics, information that she hadn’t covered in class yet. I figured I could fill out the entire worksheet on the bus and listen during the tour in case I’d missed any.
 
Aw, who was I kidding? I wouldn’t miss any. My memory spells never failed me, and I knew everything ever written on royal history.
 
A few minutes later, we’d boarded the bus, which now rumbled down the highway. I scribbled my answers on the worksheet, knowing Ms. Crawlee wouldn’t be looking for massive detail. I could feel Lily looking over my shoulder as I wrote.
 
“I hate you and your memory spells,” she said.
 
“Shh.” I looked around to see if anyone heard her.
 
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for the rest of us if people knew,” she said. “You’d quit throwing off the curve.”
 
“If I wanted to throw off the curve, I’d have graduated five years ago.” I focused on the next question.
 
“You don’t think you’ll be too bored during the field trip, do you?” Lily asked, and I could sense her sarcasm. “I mean, you won’t have to listen for the answers like the rest of us commoners.”
 
“I’ll be listening.”
 
“No, no, you’ll be bored senseless.”
 
I turned my body in the seat to face her, seeing the plot brewing inside her green eyes. “What are you thinking?”


Thanks again for reading. Post below or email me at rlconnolly01 [at] gmail [dot] com with any crit you might have.

The Full-Body Writing Workout

First, remember that there's still PLENTY of time to sign up for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest, hosted by myself and Charity. It's a chance to try your hand at a short story, get feedback from fellow writer-bloggers, and encouragement to try and publish it. We'd love to have you, so just click the link above or on the sidebar to join.

Okay, as for the rest of this, hang in there until the end. I promise this relates to writing.

Over-Indulgence and Reining It In
Over winter break, my husband and I went to his parents' house in Arizona for three weeks. This is always a great trip, full of shopping adventures with my sister-in-law, seeing my niece perform in Ballet Arizona's annual run of the Nutcracker, talking about music with my nephew and politics with my mother-in-law—AND eating too much food. Because, really, what are the holidays about if not food and family, right?

Well, too much indulgence led to my gaining close to ten pounds. I attribute it to the fudge. It was good, and plentiful. And dangerous.

So I've spent the last eight weeks trying to work it off. The regiment has included going to the gym four times a week for cardio. My gym partner's not too interested in weight machines, and I followed her lead. After four weeks, I hadn't lost any weight. Not even a tenth of a pound.

The blini that I didn't eat... yum...
Photo by Adam Julian

Frustrated, I took on other challenges for myself. Muscle toning work and yoga on non-cardio days. Portion reduction. Taking the stairs at school instead of the elevator. Eating more vegetables. Not eating the beautiful blini at last night's Maslenitsa celebration in my department.

Since I've made some of these changes, I've started seeing results. The pounds have slowly but surely been slipping away. Yesterday the middle number finally decided to drop down by one. It was a happy day.

And This Connects to Writing... How?
Yeah, I know. You're not super interested in reading about exercise, at least not from me. So how does this relate to writing?

First, skillful writing takes endurance. You can't do it every once in a while and expect to have an amazing novel or short story. Daily practice (or close to it), and regularly pushing yourself a little further. I don't mean in terms of time, but maybe in genre, or vocabulary, or imitating the style of one of your favorite authors (for yourself as an exercise).

Second, just working on the novel is not enough (the novel in my scenario is the cardio). You have to do other exercises to tone your writing muscles. Check out some online writing prompts and write some flash fiction (try here, for example). Try your hand at poetry. Write something beyond your novel (or normal area) for a few hours per week. Not only does it help you train your mind in terms of style and structure, it gives your mind some time to rest and think about the other work, and you'll be more refreshed when you return to it.

Finally, you have to nourish your writing. READ. Yeah, we all know this, right? Don't be a writer with a reading disorder! It's not just good for your writing. It's good for the soul.

And at the end, your novel will have Laura Croft arms...

Oh, wait a sec... That's not right.

Want to develop your writing in a different way?

Join us for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest. Try your hand at writing something different, and get feedback from the community. There are still a couple of weeks left, so you have plenty of time.

Have a great weekend, folks!

Guest Post: Margo Benson

Today Charity and I would like to welcome Margo Benson as a part of our series to promote our HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest. Margo's here to talk about how short fiction has helped her in her own development as a writer.

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Thank you so much, Charity and Rosie for inviting me to guest post about short story writing on your blogs, I’m delighted to be here.

I love reading short stories and I love writing short stories! I always have a book of them alongside anything else I’m reading. They don’t have to be read in any particular order and can often be consumed in one sitting. I find I can dip my toes into otherwise ignored genres without the commitment to a longer book. I have two on the go at the moment, one insect related horror, the other, stories of modern China.

I haven’t been a serious writer for very long and wasn’t sure whether I should (or could) distract my mind from the full-length novel currently in progress. I found I couldn’t resist, though! I find short story and flash fiction writing cathartic, experimental and fascinating. My main genre is romance but writing these smaller pieces has unearthed several other ‘voices’ from within. My flash fiction includes poignant moments and dialogue, which have come from observations that wouldn’t find a home in my romance writing.

I hadn’t long started my novel when another character popped into my head demanding attention. This one had paranormal aspects – no place for her in my countryside romp! Her voice, along with her
world and her liking for cooking has become The Sybil Chronicles, short stories, each culminating in a recipe which, I hope, will form a collection of it’s own one day.

At first I felt guilty abandoning my gorgeous hero and heroine with their anxieties to go and have fun over in Sibyl’s world, but it was no good sitting there with my mind in two places. Once I released Sybil, all kinds of new wonders emerged from my writing, all for the better. I know this won’t suit everyone but my writing has become fuller since giving myself permission to go off and explore shorter projects.

What I love about the short story is sparse prose. One of my very early pieces was for a blogfest and was limited to 700 words. I found the discipline so good for my style and vocabulary. A limited word count in which to convey a whole tale is a fun exercise and can often be the taster for something bigger in the future.

I also take part in a weekly Haiku/Senryu challenge. Creating an atmosphere in 17 syllables is another wonder in my writing life. Sparse writing indeed!

I’m a member of a three-piece band and we have started to write our own material. One band member had written a verse, bridge and chorus of a potentially beautiful song and thrust the words toward me saying, ‘Go on, you write the rest!’ I’ve never written a song before but I called upon my Haiku experience, picked appropriate words for the story, fitted them to the rhythm (I had to make rhyming couplets too!) and was happy with the tale I had to tell in short verse and definite syllables.

Blogfests and challenges do take up time in a writer’s life but I have found such experiences in flash fiction and short story writing to be as important and useful as writer’s workshops and conferences. The short story can propel an idea, which had no outlet otherwise, ‘out there’ and give the writer free rein for exploration.

Until a few days ago I wouldn’t have thought I was capable, let alone eager, to write horror. I dropped some beads on the landing at the top of the stairs and one looked slightly different from the rest…..hmm….I’m thinking a flash story of something nasty lurking in the bead box……..

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Ack! I'm already frightened :) Something in the bead box, and then you dip your hand inside... *shivers*

Thank you so much to Margo for her great words. Think she's got a point? There's still time to sign up for the HONE YOUR SKILLS Blogfest. One short story of 750 words (no more than 1000), and help from your fellow bloggers to HONE it to its best shape. It will help you develop your skills as well as bring thoughtful feedback so you can feel confident enough to send it for publication (if you want, of course).

What alternative ways do you try to hone your writing skills? Poetry? Haiku? Song lyrics?