Join Us for a Conversation with Author Joy Frawley

It was a great pleasure to interview author Joy Frawley about her new novel, Two Worlds, Two Men. Joy has the soul of a writer and the heart of a romantic, and she clearly poured both into this exciting, passionate romance. The book's heroine, Jocelyn, is an ordinary woman whose plans for a vacation lead to an extraordinary journey of love, passion and suspense.   

Jocelyn, the book's heroine, wasn't expecting any excitement, just some time away from the daily grind. After browsing the various travel brochures, she settles on Scotland, figuring she'll do some sightseeing, have a pint or two, and regain some of her pep.  But her plane has no sooner landed when she experiences an overwhelming feeling of ...home.  How strange, when she has never even been to Scotland before? The thought is quickly forgotten, especially after meeting Neely, the handsome innkeeper where she is staying.  But as Jocelyn will discover, she has not only been to this land of rich traditions and history--she has lived there. She soon finds herself torn between two countries, two times, two worlds, and two men.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Two World, Two Men is available on Amazon and Resplendence Publishing


Joy is currently working on a nonfiction inspirational book, and we can surely expect more novels from her in the future. She is also  passionate about helping other authors achieve their dream of being published. To learn more about Joy's work, visit her website or Facebook page.

Tune into Our Chat With Author Sherri Starr

Do you ever get tired of searching for "the One"? Constantly updating your online dating profile, or joining that yoga, scuba diving or art class, just so you can meet that special guy or girl? It can be a full-time job and an exercise in frustration. According to author Sherri Starr, much of the agony is also unnecessary (albeit entertaining). Starr's new book, Mia and Jake: Finding the One offers an uplifting and riotous take on some of the things singles do to find their other half.

Mia and Jake would make the perfect couple, but first they have to meet! In this sea of single, smart and funny stick figures, how will they ever find each other? Starr's answer may surprise you, and it will most definitely delight you.

 

Click here to listen to Sherri discuss the inspiration behind the book, her creative process, and how she met her real life "Jake".

 

Like what you heard? Contact Sherri to order the book and share your own dating stories.
www.miaandjake.com
mialovesmail@gmail.com
Like Mia and Jake on Facebook
Follow Mia on Twitter

Join Us for A Conversation With Ana M. Torres

Tommy Hulette feels anything but loved. After his happy childhood is destroyed by his mother's suicide and his father's abandonment, he struggles to shed the family legacies of secrecy and sadness. Tommy's poignant story of loss, survival, and self-acceptance is the subject of A.M. Torres' debut novel, Love Child.

Like her main character, Ana is a native New Yorker; however, they have little else in common. Born to large and close knit family, Ana and her six siblings grew up in the East New York section of Brooklyn. At a young age she began keeping a journal of her innermost feelings, and these entries inspired her to construct another family dynamic, one very different from her own. This became the foundation for the ill-fated Hulettes.

Today Ana lives on Staten Island, where she is currently at work on the sequel to Love Child.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Like what you heard? Order your copy of Love Child today!
http://www.outskirtspress.com/lovechild

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Child-A-M-Torres/dp/143276411X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332977384&sr=1-1#_

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-child-a-m-torres/1102635292?ean=9781432764111&itm=1&usri=am+torres+love+child

Ana M. Torres is also a regular contributor to Yahoo Voices. To read her short stories and articles, click here. http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1395005/ana_m_torres.html

Learning to Love Passive Construction

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of The Frugal Editor
 

Writers of fiction, and nonfiction for that matter, are told to avoid passive sentences for a variety of reasons. After all, they tend to tug on the forward momentum we are usually after. But passive construction can be used effectively, too. Like all love, we need to accept passives, try to utilize what they’re good at and, at the same time, recognize their flaws and make an effort not to let them into our lives.

A good editor may help you avoid passive constructions by suggesting changes that will make them active. Try doing it yourself with the three examples below.

1. "I was offended by the President's proclamation."

2. "Catherine was being watched."

3. "Catherine was being silly."

Here is your cheat sheet:

For the first example you would, of course, make it "The President's proclamation offended me."

For the second, you'll have to provide the intended subject. It might look like this: "The fuzz watched Catherine." (So, maybe you'd be more formal (-: and call them "coppers!" ).

The third example might throw you a curve. That's because it isn't a passive sentence. Here's the thing. We tend to assume a construction is passive when we see helper verbs and "ing" words. But these are not always passive indicators. That's one more thing for you to figure out in addition to deciding whether you want to avoid a passive construction anyway.

There are reasons to love the passive. I mean, language develops out of need (among other things). So we sometimes need the passive and when we do, and recognize why we do, we can grow to love it. Here are reasons you might want to intentionally use passive verbs:

1. You want to slow down the movement in a saga sent in the 19th century

2. You're using passive construction as part of a speech pattern used by a particular character.

3. You’re writing political copy and you want to avoid pointing a finger at, say, the FBI because you don’t want to get put on the dreaded US No-Fly list. So instead of saying “The FBI is watching Carolyn.” You say, “Carolyn is being watched.” No blame that way.

We need to know not only how to make verbs active and when to leave them alone, and, yep, when to use them to our advantage. That way we can learn to love them.

----- Carolyn Howard-Johnson's first novel, This Is the Place, won eight awards and uses the passive voice liberally because it is set in a slower time, a different culture. An instructor for UCLA Extension's world-renown Writers' Program, her book The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't is recommended reading for her classes, and was named USA Book News' "Best Professional Book." It is also an Irwin Award winner. Her second book in the How To Do It Frugally series is The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success is also a USA Book News award-winner as well as the winner of the Reader View's Literary Award in the publishing category. She is the recipient of both the California Legislature's Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award. She is a popular speaker and actor. Her website is www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.
 

Tweet

The Nashville Writers Meetup Group Blog Writers

Yvonne Perry will be a panelist for the Nashville Writers Meetup group to discuss the topic and field questions about "How to Use a Blog to Promote Your Book and Your Platform."

Saturday, February 26, 2011
3:00 PM
Where: Way Solutions at CoLab - 230 4th Avenue North Suite 105, (Nashville TN) in CoLab space. This is between Church and Union, directly across the street from the Arcade. Parking is typically available on the street, but parking meters and garages do cost some money.

Learn from Scott McIntosh, Yvonne Perry, Lori Wescott, and Michael Turner how blogging can be used to promote your book and your platform.

Scott McIntosh is the President of MusikPitch and also runs the NashvilleTech meet-up and teaching group, http://www.nashvilletech.info . Scott speaks frequently about social media trends and is the author of GOOGLE JUICE, a book helping anyone get better online results - available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or at http://www.GoogleJuice.co . For a full bio, connect with Scott on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmcintosh .

Yvonne Perry is a freelance writer, avid blogger, podcast host, public speaker, and the owner of Writers in the Sky Creative Writing Services http://writersinthesky.com/index.html . She is the author of THE SID SERIES--A COLLECTION OF HOLISTIC STORIES FOR CHILDREN http://thesidseries.com/ and MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE: TRUE STORIES ABOUT DEATH, DYING, AND AFTERLIFE http://deathdyingafterlife.blogspot.com/. Yvonne recently released, WHOSE STUFF IS THIS?: FINDING FREEDOM FROM THE NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, AND ENERGY OF THOSE AROUND YOU http://whosestuffisthis.blogspot.com, a book to help people who unknowingly carry the energetic burdens of others. Connect with Yvonne on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yvonneperry .

Lori Wescott is a humorist for the MURFREESBORO NEWS PRESS and author of the humor blog, LORIPALOOZA: WHERE FUNNY ROCKS! Her work has also appeared in CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: FAMILY MATTERS. Follow her blog at http://www.Loripalooza.com , and connect with her on Twitter @LoriWescott

Michael Turner is the organizer of the Nashville Writers Meetup and the Nashville Grammar and Writing Meetup. His blog, ScholarshipMan, provides scholarship information to those who wish to go to college debt-free and advertises his book, THE S.E.C.R.E.T. METHOD TO WINNING THE SCHOLARSHIP GAME: 55 SECRETS FOR FINANCING YOUR COLLEGE EDUCATION AT LITTLE OR NO COST. See his blog, http://scholarshipman.blogspot.com/ and his book, http://bit.ly/8fiq6K .

We want to thank Jennifer Way for the donation of her space for our meeting. Jennifer Way is the founder of Way Solutions, a hiring strategy company. They provide resources, tools and education to job seekers and companies to create the best hiring experience from both perspectives. Their services result in a higher quality workforce that costs less for the company and more career development opportunities for the individual. More information about Way Solutions: http://www.waysolutions.com/

Looking for a Creative Writing Class?

I have recently connected with an author named Roberta Allen, who has published many times with independent and mainstream publishers. Three of her eight books are on the topic of writing.

Roberta has been on the faculty of New School University for 19 years and has taught in the writing program at Columbia University. She has taught private workshops since 1991.

That is impressive enough, but the reason I’m writing is to let you know about her creative writing classes designed to help writers overcome blocks, build confidence, feel safe taking risks, recognize what works and what doesn’t, and learn to trust their intuition.

She offers these creative writing classes in a group setting to those who can meet in-person in the New York, NY area, as well as one-on-one mentoring sessions via email and phone.

Roberta’s supportive, constructive critiques give specific suggestions for improvement as she teaches students to recognize their individual writing process and what can be done to improve it. She will teach students how to write in a variety of literary genres—micro fiction, micro memoirs, short stories, memoirs, novels, experimental forms—as they learn about point of view, structure, voice, style, language, character, conflict, plot, theme, dialogue, and rhythm.

Whether you are a beginner or a professional wanting to simply hone your skills, you can benefit from working with Roberta.

In-person classes are limited to six participants who revise at home, then read aloud in class and get feedback and support at every session. Most class time is devoted to constructive analysis, specific critiques, and free-flowing discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of each work after it has been read aloud to the group. When each member reads aloud, the group reads along on copies and makes individual notes. Therefore, each member gets written feedback to use for further revisions. The writing process, the elements of writing, dynamic beginnings, and strong endings are explored within the context of each given work.

Check out the classes and sign up at http://www.robertaallen.com

See What WITS Has "Slid" in To

Leave a comment to let us know what you think of our slide show about our team of writers, editors, book marketers, administrative assistants, transcribers, Web master, and children's manuscript critiquer.

Submission Guidelines for WITS E-zine

If you wish to contribute an article, advertorial, blurb, or announcement about writing, editing, publishing, or book marketing, please review the guidelines below and email your item to katie at writersinthesky dot com. Material that does not conform to these guidelines may not be accepted.

• Articles must be content rich and pertain to the craft or business of writing, editing, publishing, or book marketing. Include your name and a short bio with your article so you may be given proper credit. You may include one link to your blog or Web site. Promotion of your own services is accepted if your piece offers good content that does not compete with services offered by WITS. Limit articles to 500 words or less.
  
  
• All book, movie, TV program, and CD album titles should be in italics, do not use "quotation marks" or ALL CAPS.


• Announcements of upcoming events, personal accomplishments, special offers, and such are accepted. Keep these to 250 words or less, and do not include more than two links with each blurb. You may submit more than one blurb.


• No text boxes or photos will be accepted.


• We run five book reviews per issue; those written by the WITS team receive priority. Other book reviews will be featured on our e-zine blog.


• Poetry is accepted. One short work per person (less than 20 lines) will be published in each issue. Put your name at the bottom of your poem. You may include a short bio and a link to your blog or Web site.
  

Each contributing writer retains the copyright to his or her own piece of literature and may use it elsewhere. Since WITS does not charge a fee for the newsletter, we are unable to pay for submissions. However, the networking opportunity and exposure to approximately thousands of readers is priceless.

The newsletter will be sent on the first Tuesday of each month. All items must be received by the 24th day of the month prior.

View archived issues of Writers in the Sky E-zine.

Subscribe to Writers in the Sky Newsletter

Get a free e-book when you subscribe to this e-zine about writing and book marketing.

Those who subscribe to Writers in the Sky Newsletter are entitled to receive a complimentary e-book, Tips for Freelance Writing. This book has some great how-to information for those who are trying to get a freelance writing career off the ground!