Literary Grant

February 18, 2014 NewEngland_Muse 4 Comments

Last Fall I applied for a literary grant and learned afterwards I’d won. The grant was open to everyone from the county. I was one of the seven who were rewarded with a grant. My thinking was, all they can say is no. Seriously that was the worse they could say to me was my thinking as I filled out the forms needed to apply. I received the check this week, 80% of it that is. Once I finish the project and show the council the receipts they will reimburse me for the remaining 20%.

But now I get to spend other people’s money without having to pay it back. That is amazing as I get to be a writer in a store of supplies where the only limits is one’s imagination.

What I included in my proposal:

-Membership in the SCBWI

-Membership in the NCWN

-Upgrade of my website

The physical aspect involved me getting a smart pen which I am so excited to purchase and receive. For someone who writes all their stories by hand and then retyping it, this is huge. It will save me the time and energy of having to type all over again. With the smart pen I will purchase just about every accessory that one can possible get.

For someone who has tried the Dragon program repeatedly this is gold. The more I tried to train the program the more it hung and paused basically thinking, “What the heck did she just say?” I talk fast and I mean fast. Plus my Northern and now Southern accent does not help. So the next best thing short of having someone sit here and type as I speak, is this pen.

This grant will help me move my career and brand forward with the contacts from the two organizations and being able to bring more of my stories to text. I plan to apply for more grants when time permits.

To the people who told me I was wasting my time and that I did not fit the requirements for it, I’m glad I didn’t listen. I’m glad I stuck to my guns and my mantra of, “All they can say is no.”

Author website, Change, Wordpress

Changes:How do we handle them?

February 14, 2014 NewEngland_Muse Leave a comment

I’m fortunate that there are free websites for me to use for my author’s page. I use WordPress. It gives me enough widgets and space to profile myself and my brand. I do like to change it up a bit with the color, pictures and format of the page.

However, last Friday it was changed for me. I released a post in the early morning. Going back around 11:30 to check on something I saw my page was different. The reason being the theme had been deactivated by the site. Not only that but my side bars went with it.

Yes I went ballistic. I was in the process of wrapping up edits for my book, “Squirrel Mafia”, so I could send it off to my editor. But this stopped me cold. I’ve been working on my social platform for at least three years, maybe four, now and every sites revolves around the other sites I go to. It had to be fixed, pronto. In my mind, there was no other thought. For the next three hours I tried different themes trying to get one I’d be happy with. I posted on FB my displeasure. I reached for a Pepsi as I fussed, complained and talked to the computer about my frustration. What I have now I like to call a WIP. I’m not quite happy with it, though people have told me it looks fine. Maybe it will grow on me.

Change. How do we handle change, whether they be small or big? Does this depend on our age or our environment or perhaps how we were raised? Things that use to bother me in the past rarely is a blimp on my radar now while others will get me stalled for a bit. How we choose to handle each situation varies from each situation and hopefully we learn from each experience as we move along in life.

Yes this was a small bleep for me. It showed me a bit of myself in how I interact with the big and little. But it also showed me that I would keep at it until it was solved or to do the best I can.

I was told by a friend, “Sharon you are grace under fire – I like that about you LOL!” I like that, even if it means having to go through trials to get to this point.

Author, Guest Blog, Pam Funke

Guest Blog: Pam Funke

February 11, 2014 NewEngland_Muse Leave a comment

MY JOURNEY by Pam Funke

One day while I was standing in the local Wal-Mart looking at the books on the shelves there, it occurred to me that there just was not enough Christian Fiction books out on the market. I was disappointed with the books that were available for the public to read, especially those on the market for our youth. The books that lined the shelves are not feeding their minds or souls with positive things. Now mind you there are some very good non-Christian novels out there that instill a positive message, but unfortunately there are many out there that are not. There has to be something in a good book that not only feeds the mind with positive values and teaches the reader how to improve their life and give them some hope. If not, then what’s the point? A good book should have a lesson in it that someone can learn something valuable from it and not just an escape away from their problems in the real world ~ because when the story is over the real world is still there and so are their problems. They should be able to come out of that story with something positive that they can use to help them in the real world. From that very moment I decided that I would try to fill that very void and hence The Apocalypse series was born.

Operation Dark Angel: The Rise of Nicolaitanes, which is the first book in the series, began my journey into authorhood. When I first sat down to write this novel, I honestly wasn’t sure what it was going to entail. I sat there for a few moments wondering how to begin the story. I put my pen down and sat there for a moment pondering what to do. As I sat there with my eyes closed it suddenly came to me. I started to see the events of my novel unfold before me in my mind. It was as though I were watching a movie on the television set. It seemed kind of odd to be writing in this manner, but I wrote down everything that I saw and heard in my mind. Although I was able to picture my story, I still had to do some research into various things. For example, I had to find out about different cultures and religions so that I could incorporate them into my story properly. I also had to read extensive news articles from around the world to figure out which ones I could use to enhance the storyline. A year later, I had a completed manuscript and sat down to read it from cover to cover. It turned out to be a really good story worthy of being read by others. I must admit that I was nervous about getting it published, but I figured what harm could it do? The audience would either love it or hate it. Receiving my very first physical copy of the book was a wonderful feeling. To see that others are enjoying the book as well and leaving reviews on Amazon, B&N and Goodreads is great. I love to read what others think about what I wrote.

Well it is now a year later and I am happy to say that my fourth book, Sodom: A Nation On Its Knees, will be published later this month.

As a new author, my advice to all of you out there who have the desire to write or are newly published authors as well; write to your heart’s content. Don’t give up your dream and even if one door or more is closed in your face be patient for there will be one door that will remain open for you. Write for not only your enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of others. Stay encouraged and happy writing.

Through the Eyes of a Child book blurb: God created the heavens and the earth. He created all of the plants, animals and birds of the air. He created man. When God was finished He looked at all that He had created and saw that it was good. Come see the world through the curious eyes of a child.