All posts by NewEngland_Muse

I'm a traditionally and self published author. I write in the genre of children and YA at the moment but working my way up to adults. I'm a sports loving, photo taking gal who loves to sing/dance to my own enjoyment. I love to laugh even at myself. I am also owned by 8 birds and 2 hamsters, and yes they know it. :)
Pitch, Resources, Writing conferences

Conference For Writers

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Paper_with_pen

Saturday I went to a free writer’s conference. The authors were required to donate 40% of their profits for each book sold to the organization for children’s literacy. It’s a great cause. This year they were having authors, publishers, and literary agents.

The speakers were motivating, the workshops that I attended were educational. Granted there is only so much they can say in the time allotted. But I was fortunate enough to pick the workshops that gave me good gems of information. But again it was free. My philosophy still stands with if I learn just one nugget of information it’s worth the whole trip. And I did. In fact I learned quite a bit and I will have to decipher my notes into clear English soon.

I know a lot of people who won’t attend a free conference. Since it’s being free, how good can it possibly be? It can be amazingly good. The first one I attended a few years ago, gave me the information and contact to help me push forward and get my book picked up by a publisher. I mean, come on people. Seriously?

Knowing there would be literary agents I started working on my pitch. Something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Googling and reading way to many articles on the topic I made time to scribble one that I’m happy with. This is what I came up with for volume two of my children’s series, “Jasper, Amazon Parrot: Rainforest Friends and Families.”

Set in the rainforest of South America, Jasper, an Amazon parrot, learns about life and family values. With his younger brother, Willie ,and their friend, Charlie, a spider monkey, the brothers encounter a Green Anaconda, food-throwing monkeys, and other challenges that help them grow along the way. This is volume two of a children’s chapter book aimed at grades 3 – 5.

I know it is not perfect and I’m sure I will be going back and forth over it. But I feel that I’m almost there. This conference helped me get started on another step of the ladder that I’m climbing in my journey as an author. There is so much to learn and everything is for the first time. That is not always fun. But my goal is to move forward, not backward with my work. Conferences. You can learn so much from them if you just have an open mind. It will make you do things you feel you are not able to do.

But if one never tries, the response will always be no.

Author, Book Review, Stephen King

The Colorado Kid

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books

The review for today is “The Colorado Kid” by Stephen King. The genre is crime fiction.

The basis of this story is set in Maine. Two old newspaper men and a young woman who is interning at their paper start discussing unsolved mysteries from the area. The Colorado Kid is a story that has never been solved, it leaves more questions than answers.

A man leaves for work in Colorado and ends up dead on a beach in Maine a few hours later. There are little clues to the journalist who are interested in the case. The dead man has no relatives or any apparent connection to the area. So why did he travel to the island? And what exactly killed him?

This short novel is 178 pages. Being a King fan and also of the show Haven, which is based on this book, made me pick up the book for my book club. I’m not sure I like the ending for there is no clear solution to the mystery. While not every book will end in the way that is acceptable to you, I wanted answered for this one. You get none. It’s a mystery that can only be solved in one’s own mind.

Author, Literary Grant, Writing

Literary Grant

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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.”