J is for ...

Indie Author Lee Carver presented information about
Self-Publishing at the recent DFW Ready Writer meeting.

JOIN!


I have a writer tip. When I first started this gig almost 10 months ago, one of the first things I did was do a search for local writer groups. I knew there had to be some out there! And I found several in and around the metroplex. Yea!

DFW Ready Writer president, Janice Olson

Then I looked at when they met, boo. I'd barely missed every meeting and had to wait several weeks for another chance. My first was a critique group on the east side. It was nice, but not social, so I kept looking. I wanted to find that unique group of folks that I could not only grow with, but connect with, too!

Authors Lena Nelson Dooley, Leann Harris, and Margo Carmichael

I found DFW Ready Writers. They're the local chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers. At the first meeting I met highly successful authors who were kind and encouraging. I even found not one, but two critique groups, each with it's own flavor of focus. I don't always get to go to both every week, but I never regret going when I can. They have stretched me so much!

Authors Lynne Gentry and Jane Thornton

And taught me. Not only writing techniques - just listening to their mastery does that - but also publishing insight as many are well-published authors.


And the best part about them is the connection. I really like these gals (mostly gals) and they like me right back and miss me when I'm not around. How cool is that?

So my tip is this. Find a group of like-minded writers. You don't have to share a genre to be like-minded. The groups that I'm in write in all types - Amish, fantasy, YA, historical, suspense, contemporary romance, even children's books. We don't all write the same genre, but we all share the same goal of glorifying the Lord. 


And once you've found that group, join them. Both feet. Be willing to put yourself out there and maybe even get your nose tweaked a bit. You'll grow as a writer and as a professional. 


Oh, and if you're anywhere near the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex, I hope you'll consider visiting our next meeting. You can find out more information at this link!


Your turn! What's the best writer tip, or life tip, that you've ever gotten?

Interview with Author Lee Carver

Sample and buy it here!

Happy Anniversary, Lee! Hope you and your hubby have a GREAT day and a super-blessed weekend!

Lee Carver and I met at a meeting of the DFW Ready Writers, a chapter of ACFW. I've had the pleasure of working with her in a critique group that Lena Nelson Dooley hosts. What a hoot! This lady makes me laugh!

However, her dedication to her craft is anything but funny. Focused and thoroughly researched, her writing is a delight to critique. Her attention to detail also makes her a fabulous

Learning from Failure

I'm so pleased to be involved with an awesome group of folks in the DFW Ready Writers. They are a local chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers. Last Saturday, I got to go to the January meeting of the group and the new president, Janice Olsen, suggested that we, as writers, can learn a lot more from our failures than we can from our successes.

Seems like that's true of anybody, though. When I taught elementary, we had a discipline expert come in with a discussion on empowering the students. Her focus was to teach them that their behavior is

Top 10 Christmas Party Tips

Patricia "Pacjac" Carroll and Betty Woods

I LOVE Christmas. And there is no better excuse than this amazing season to get together with friends for laughter, gifts, fun, and food. This year proves my point in the extreme! Just my family alone has 12 parties to attend in only three weeks. That's crazy.

But oh so fun!

Tightening Things Up

My critique group is invaluable. These ladies have inspired and challenged me like nobody's business. Their goal is to find anything that might be caught by a reader that makes the narrative stumble. It can be anything as small as a comma or as huge as shallow characters. They catch POV head-hopping, author intrusion, and continuity issues. Though they, thankfully, don't have to catch those issues very often!

What I hear most often is "tighten it up." It took awhile for me to figure out the aspects of those

words, but I think I've identified them all.

• First, tightening means to remove extraneous words like that used in the sentence: Bagging the groceries that she bought, Mira overstuffed a paper sack. Other extraneous words are more valuable, but often overused. Though different for every writer, they fill the pages like pet words. For me, I can find many excessive uses of just, at least, really, only and most other words ending in ly. 
• Second, my crit gals suggest using vivid verbs. Eliminating passive sections pushes the action forward. I'm getting pretty good at removing was and were, but the could, should, would verbs still give me fits. Still, they mostly gotta go!
• I have several buddies who are it-Nazis. Because of their devotion to removing the word, along with that, this, these, and those, my manuscript has great focus, with interesting nouns to go along with my vivid verbs.

For the most part, I need to make every stinkin' word intentional. Each sentence needs to be organized in such a way to capitalize on the best parts while remaining purposeful. It's a balancing act. And the revising that I'm doing right now exactly hits these challenges. 

Here are some examples from the critique that I enjoyed last week along with my changes.

• (Before) Ray recognized the village name. He hoped that hadn’t been their destination.
  (After) Ray recognized the village name. He hoped Miguel had a different destination planned.
• (Before) He didn’t know who or how many, but people had died there. 
  (After) He didn’t know who or how many, but people died in that little stucco building.
• (Before) The little used road gave direction, but if Miguel could find it, the hooded men would have no problem. 
  (After) The little-used road gave direction, but if Miguel could find the washed-out, two-rutted track, the hooded men would have no problem.
• (Before) That worked in their favor, too.
  (After) Sunset worked in their favor, too. 

I think my biggest problem with comprehending the instructions about tightening is my preconceived notion that the word means to reduce my writing. Shortening my work isn't the goal. The aim is to make sure that the story is clearly told. Sometimes that means to remove unnecessary words, but more often I need to focus the words, writing with passion and a narrow target.

What does the term "Tightening" mean to you?

Unravel the Mystery of Grammar!

I love my critique group. Like superheroes they open their laptops and design wit and wisdom through every line! With their help, I will avoid the neon signs marking novice writing and glaring amateurish errors. Here's what I learned just last night:

• Make every word count.
• Keep statements turned toward the positive side.
• Cut up three-line sentences.
• Start sentences with intention.
• End with strong words.
• Avoid using pronouns to begin or end sentences.
• Avoid using it or this anytime
• Avoid repeating words - oops.
• Use a comma before the word "and."
• Don't apply quotations marks outside of dialogue - oops, again.
• Action verbs intensify sentences.
• Eliminate passive, helping verb usage with -ing words following.

Checklist gold, the expert suggestions from this group confirm one major truth.

 . . . I still have a lot to learn!

What suggestions can you add to the list? What grammatical tidbit wormed it's way into your noggin lately?

What a Delight!

Last week, in a marathon read, I started and finished Love Finds You in Golden New Mexico by Lena Nelson Dooley. What a sweet story!

This is the back-cover information.

All that glitters is not gold.

It’s 1890, and Golden, New Mexico, is a booming mining town where men far outnumber women. So when an old wealthy miner named Philip Smith finds himself in need of a nursemaid, he places an ad for a mail-order bride—despite

It Knocks at my Brain!

I get to go to Brain Knockers tonight. Notice I said, "get to." Now let me explain what goes on there.

I email a section of my WIP (writer's shortcut for work in progress) to the other gals of the group and we meet together. In my turn, I read my section aloud. That's probably the worst part. I'm a character actress, full of quirks and voices and accents, but straight reading causes me to skip words, hesitate and just plain stutter.

But I'll painfully endure the struggle through ten pages at a time. I've had four kids. I can do anything for a few minutes, right?

Review: Reinventing Leona

Last week I got the opportunity to interview Lynne Gentry about her new e-book from Tyndale House Publishing called Reinventing Leona. That interview is HERE! The book is available for FREE on Kindle at Amazon and also available for the Nook and other e-readers at Barnes and Noble, or you can click through to order through Lynne's own site and give her a bit of extra support!

I happened to be at the DFW Ready Writers meeting the day she announced

I is for Me, I mean I, BOTH of Us!

Today's letter is I; Introductions

At the Texas Christian Homeschool Prom with Sweet Hubby

Identity is a difficult monster to define. I've had many of them: student, wife, daughter, sister, teacher and now writer. When I left my teaching career, there was a little trouble with this topic. No longer with a full-time "career" it took some getting used to before embracing the role of stay-at-home-mom. Some of my SAHM friends sure had me fooled. I thought this job would be a breeze after teaching twenty-six 5th-graders. HA!

Interview with Lynne Gentry, Author of Reinventing Leona

On Tuesday I set aside time to tell you about the latest piece of Christian fiction that I've read. (BTW,feel free to share the latest that you've read, too!) Today, though, offers a special treat: an interview with Lynne Gentry whose debut novel, Reinventing Leona, was published by Tynedale House in just a few weeks for their new e-book line. 

Lynne exudes creativity and her humor and wisdom are just a few of the qualities that make her a truly amazing daughter of the King. She made this interview (my first) so simple for me! 

Reinventing Leona is the story of a minister’s wife and how she copes with a disaster in her life. Since Lynne is a minister’s wife, I wondered about the characters and situations in the story.

Literary Contortions

Jody Hedlund's article on flexibility inspired another article by Elizabeth Spann Craig. Her article inspired me, as I happened to read it first. Both are excellent and worthy of your time.

Both blog authors are also published authors and write from their publishing experiences. I'm still in the pre-published stage, so I have a different slant on the flexibility focus.

When I started this journey, now about 2 1/2 months ago, I felt totally alone.  I know my forte is brainstorming and building ideas with others, but writing is a solitary career, right?