5/2/2022 0 Comments On Writing ConferencesMy article on writing conferences appeared recently on the Pikes Peak Writers blog Writing from the Peak. I reminisce about past PPWC conferences. Could attending a conference benefit your writing? The answer is a resounding yes. I explain why as I share my writing journey. "Over twenty-five years ago, my world was small. The PPW Conference kicked in doors and opened windows I hadn’t even known existed."
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4/25/2022 0 Comments Busy BeaverOut walking last week, we saw a beaver in the creek. This is in the middle of town. I'm happy to see wildlife in the city, but concerned about the amazing speed with which the beaver is damming the creek. I hope this indiscretion will be overlooked. I was not quick enough to get a photo of the beaver. But I did see it in the water. 4/18/2022 2 Comments Actual Money This TimeI'm pleased to announce I received a contract for my short story Claire's Cabin from Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. While short story pay isn't exactly in the king's ransom territory, it certainly beats the novel royalty statement I posted last week. AHMM is one of the premier mystery magazines. The pay for a short story is less than ten cents per word. Writers compare notes about the length of time it takes from story submission to acceptance by AHMM. Here are the stats for Claire's Cabin. Idea for the story - fall 2018. First viable draft of Claire's Cabin - fall 2020. Submitted to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine - 5/10/2021 Accepted - 3/4/2022 Contract - 4/13/2022 Appearance in AHMM - ? Almost ten months from submitting the story to learning it was accepted by editor Linda Landrigan. Then the wait until it appears in the magazine. It's worth the wait to me. Claire's Cabin will be my tenth story to appear in AHMM. And yes, I am still working the day job. 4/12/2022 6 Comments We're Talking Big Money NowPeople are curious about how much money their author acquaintances make. Didn't J. K. Rowling purchase her own private island? The reality is harsh. Most writers will never make a living off their short stories and novels. I had dreams of quitting the day job after my first novel publication. Then the publisher went belly up. So I was surprised to receive a royalty statement from them this week. Our business relationship had ended several years ago. I thought I'd dispel some myths about the lifestyle of rich and famous authors by sharing this stunning royalty statement. Okay, this isn't a good representation. They don't sell my books anymore. This stunning sum is left over from some long ago sale. They don't write royalty checks for less than $50, so my 31 cents will float around for the rest of eternity. My new publisher is doing quite a bit better. But it's definitely not quit the day job money. If most struggling authors are like me, they are writing for the joy it, not the anticipation of wealth. We have stories to tell. 4/4/2022 0 Comments Seen on the Trail3/28/2022 0 Comments Indoor GardeningFlowering house plants are making me happy while I wait for outdoor gardening. We have lots of vegetable seedlings. While I'm itching to set out plants, we have several hard freezes yet before May 15th, our typical last freeze. I may be able to plant hardy vegetables this weekend. Kale, lettuce, beets. Whether indoors or outdoors, gardening offers life lessons, if you listen to the earth and the plants.
Here's a link to more gardening quotes. 3/14/2022 0 Comments AnthologyEccentric Circles is an excellent way to sample a variety of genres and writing styles. Published by Encircle Publications, the anthology features short stories by their authors writing everything from thrillers to historical fiction to mysteries and more. My story Cindy's Storm is about Rock Shop Mystery secondary characters Cindy and Herb Lyons. It's a departure from my usual mystery short stories. More of a romance, it gives the backstory for rock shop employee Cindy and her flock of half a dozen children. I'm reading my fellow authors' stories, and adding their novels to my TBR (to-be-read) pile. Whether you're seeking your new favorite novel author, or simply enjoy short stories, Eccentric Circles offers a collection of twenty-five tales with appeal. Available here. 3/7/2022 0 Comments Trail Surprises2/28/2022 0 Comments Planning AheadWriting a novel requires planning. I have spent a month outlining a new novel. Now I can begin fleshing it out and doing the actual writing. I have been a home gardener as long as I've been a writer. Gardening is an activity that teaches you lessons applicable to the rest of your life. Patience, Perseverance. Experimentation. And Planning. I ordered seeds for my future vegetable garden. One experiment is trying new varieties of jalapeno peppers. I didn't grow enough last season to can. I have a few in my freezer, but my goal in 2022 is to have an overabundance worth pulling the canning equipment out of the closet.. Last year's garden provided green beans and tomatoes - enough to carry us through to next season. My husband was between contracts during peak gardening season, and took an interest in the vegetables and flowers. The more beans you pick, the more the vines produce. Or so it seems. Pole beans, unique varieties of tomatoes, and jalapeno peppers are part of our future garden plans. I also hope to improve our beet production, and push indoor starts for eggplants and cucumbers to produce earlier in the season. My husband is sprouting marigolds indoors. We're going to try starting pots of flowers indoors for earlier blooms in our short growing season. In the writing world, I have ambitious plans for three novels. I can't possibly finish three books in one year, but I can lay the groundwork for each, and complete at least one. Whatever your 2022 goals are, begin with a little planning. I hope you enjoy a bumper crop of success! 2/21/2022 0 Comments Doubloon JeopardyI received my author copies for Doubloon Jeopardy. I'm thrilled with the vibrantly colored cover art. The cozy mystery novel is part of a series available here. I had so much fun writing this novel. I like the stylized fictional pirates of literature and movies. Writing a story where I could play with real versus fictional pirates, and include pirate dialect, was a blast. This is the description on the Annie's Fiction website: As the townspeople of Crescent Harbor, California, prepare for the inaugural Pirate Days festival, excited tourists clad in pirate attire descend on the charming village. Local legend claims a pirate landed there and buried his treasure. Scarlett McCormick, head curator of the esteemed Reed Museum of Art and Archaeology, is pressured to validate the legend or face a mutiny. Scarlett plans special exhibits at the museum to coincide with the event, and she stops at a pumpkin patch for autumn decorations. The errand takes a disturbing turn when she finds a dead man dressed like a pirate. Dead men tell no tales, so it’s up to Scarlett and her friends to learn the truth. The discovery of an ancient cutlass and gold doubloons supports the man’s connection to the pirate festival. But the cause of his demise remains unclear. Was it an accident or murder? While Scarlett investigates the death and the artifacts, she unwittingly becomes a target. Will she solve the mystery before she’s forced to walk the plank? |
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