Site of the Week - Writing-World.com

I have been very busy this week working on a story for possible publication. (As some of you who have been wheedled into helping me edit it can attest to.) ;-)  So, imagine  my surprise when I glance at my computer's digital clock and saw that it was nearly midnight on SUNDAY! Ack! I can't miss another Site of the Week!

Without delay I set about scouring the internet for a suitable site to feature. I was rewarded with the first click of my mouse. Writing-World's SF-Fantasy page is a gem in the dirt pile of "helpful" writing sites. The first article I read "Dialogue in Speculative Fiction: When Space Bugz Speakie Funnie and Other Problems" by Paula Fleming made me laugh out loud. (Good thing I'd already finished my cocoa.) Not only was it funny, it was full of truly helpful advice and ideas. :-)

Then I noticed Paula Fleming had also written an article about historical fiction - I was hooked. The SF-Fantasy page inlcudes articles from several different authors including tips for; Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror as well as marketing tips and interviews with published speculative fiction authors. There are a ton of links at the top of the page that cover other genres and aspects of the writing world. Hence the site's name, right? ;-) 

I very highly recommend this site. You can never learn too much, or laugh enough. :-) I have added a permanent link to Writer's World to my Websites for Writers list.

Grr. The time stamp beat me.  12:01am. Monday the 29th. :-(

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it.

I just wanted to let you all know that I have added my Upcoming Fiction Releases page. The link is at the top of the page.

The list includes both new titles (1st time release in hardcover or paperback) and new in paperback from hardcover.

The list covers new releases in a variety of genres through March 30th.

I will update the list about every two weeks.

Site of the Week - Et in arcaedia, ego.

Well, I'm barely squeaking by, but I have delivered (as promised) a second site this week to make up for missing last week. :-)

I've chosen to highlight the agent blog written by Jennifer Jackson of the Donald Maass Literary Agency, Et in arcaedia, ego.  Why? Because I found her voice engaging. The stats she provides on how many queries she recieves and how many partials she requests can be a bit disheartening, but I'm a realist deep down. Knowing that I not only have to be good, but slap-your-butt-flat-out-amazing, to get a nod makes me strive harder. (If being reminded that you have an ocean of competition isn't your thing, you'll probably want to avoid this site.)

However, Ms. Jackson gives a fresh voice to her (mis)adventures while slogging her way through the "query wars" as she calls them. She is straightforward about what authors can expect from her when submitting and provides reminders to those who choose not to follow the submission guidelines without being snarky or rude.

I recommend you pop in on her blog if you haven't run across it already. She accepts queries on all types of fiction. :-)

Hey, Thanks Jai!

Look at me, I rhymed!

Aaanyway! Jai Joshi over at the Tulsi Tree nominated me for an award. The name is really long and I can't remember it. But I'm supposed to put it up here. Only problem there is, I can't figure out how to do it!

I know, you're all laughing at me. I just don't get all the html stuff. So, I'll have it up as soon as I can. Providing someone will take pity on me and tell me how to add awards to my blog.

I also have to thank Brad over at Bradley's Brain. He nominated me for an Honest Scrap award a few weeks back. I didn't know the rules about how to accept and pass on awards then.

As soon as I get it all figured out, I'll follow the rules. I'm a follower, not a leader.

P.S. I already have both of them linked in my author blogs list. :-) They rock!

UPDATE!

As you may notice, I've just discovered how to create separate pages for my blog. :-)  The last time I was trying to do so, well, let's just say it didn't work out.

So, long story short, I have removed the lists of novels in order by series from the main page and added page links at the top of my blog. (Right above this post, as a matter of fact.) I believe it will make checking out which book comes next in your series, or finding a new author, a bit less complicated. There will be a page for each genre (sci-fi, fantasy, etc) and each page will be listed alphabetically by the author's last name.

I will be updating the lists when I have time and adding an UPCOMING RELEASES page very soon. Book store connections make it much easier to find out what's coming out in the publishing world. :-)

P.S. As the lists grow, I may break them up into smaller chunks. For example: Fantasy A-H and Fantasy I - Z, or something like that to keep the page lengths a bit more manageable.

Site of the Week - Fiction Writers' Mentor

Ooops! Last week got away from me and I didn't post my Site of the Week. So, to make up for it, I will be posting two sites this week. I've decided to do something a bit different here and post a site I do NOT recommend. There are a lot of helpful websites for writers - but there is an equal (ok, probably larger) number that fall short.

After finding Fiction Writers' Mentor which promises advice on fiction writing I went to check it out. The author who runs the site is published (three novels) and I do believe that the information contained on the site is meant to be helpful. However, on two of the three pages I scanned I found spelling and grammar errors. (If you are planning to give advice on creative writing - be sure to double-check your text before publishing.)

But the clincher for me was that the author used the first line of their novel as an example for establishing a sense of place. It was thirty-seven words long, included four -ly pronouns and two hyphenated words. Wow! That's a bit much for me in a first line.

I chose not to provide a link to this site. If you really want to give it a browse, Google it. ;-)

Site of the Week - Pub Rants

Well, it's been a busy week so I'm getting this week's site out a bit later than usual. I am going to keep this short because my allergies are driving me nuts today and I've had a headache since I woke up. Ugh.

I decided to highlight Pub Rants because "Agent Kristin" has some recent posts that deal with ebooks and how they will effect royalties and contracts. My favorite bit was that she had a question about how to calculate the royalties for her client and the publisher told her that the author could put the manuscript on hold until they made an in-house decision on how they would handle ebook royaly payments.

WTF??? So after all of the waiting and wondering, now we're supposed to be expected to wait for the publisher to figure out how they're going to calculate royalties? Ridiculous.

Anyway, any of you who haven't been to Pub Rants, enjoy. The link will be in  my Websites for Writers for future reference. :-)

Happy Birthday Michelangelo!

Though the day is nearly over, I could not let it pass without acknowledgment. Today is the birthday of true Renaissance man, and fellow lefty, Michelangelo Buonarroti. He has been my favorite artist since high school. One of the most exciting days of my life was the day I stood inside the Sistine Chapel. He was not only a painter and a scupltor, but also an architect and a poet. It is this last mentioned of his talents which did not gain him notice during his lifetime. This is because his poetry was not written for public consumption.

 Here is one of his unfinished sonnets. This one was written to his former love, Gherardo Perini.

Over here it was that my love stole from me,

In his mercy, my heart and, farther on, my life.

Here with his beautiful eyes he promised me help,

And with the same eyes here he stole it back.

Over here he bound me and here released me;

For myself I wept here, and with infinite sorrow

From this rock I saw him leave,

He who stole myself from me and never turned back.
 
It has such a note of pain and abandonment that it is difficult to read and easy to see why he must have left it unfinished.

New Addition Coming Soon!

As some of you already know, I work in a book store (for now) and I am always being asked the order of books within a series. Sometimes, that answer is easy because the publisher wisely decided to include the number on the book's cover. At other times, the answer involves some detective work on my part. I've decided to compile lists, organized by genre, which I will post here and provide links to on the left-hand menu bar for future reference and expansion.

Be on the lookout for the fantasy series list which I hope to have ready to go by the middle of next week. If you have any series you would like to see featured, please post a comment so that I can add them to my list.