Final milestone of edits for That English Lady

Last Thursday, I attended my writers critique group, Northwest Arkansas Writers Workshop, with the final five pages of That English Lady. This being the ending to the book, I hoped everyone would appreciate it and even like it. That it would hit the mark as a GOOD ending. That it would do justice to the rest of the story. I felt in my heart that it covered all the bases very well, but the general consensus from group served to reinforce this. They liked it, and even had a few suggestions to make it even stronger, which I took to heart and acted upon the next day.

So now, That English Lady is complete and ready for submissions or self-publishing.

Either way, a professional editor shall get to see it, (and if anyone has suggestions on good freelance editors they have had positive experiences with – in case I go with self-publishing – please feel free to comment below), but I am not entirely sure which way to go with it yet.

I self-published The Blue Door Trilogy – which I am going to get to work on re-editing for a second, improved edition AFTER a reasonable sabbatical – and may well end up doing the same with this one. Although, having a traditional publisher take it on, along with the formatting, professional editing, cover design, etc. does have a certain appeal! I suppose we shall see if indeed any submissions bear fruit or not first.

Regardless of eventual outcome, I at least intend to try the traditional, small press, route with this book before deciding what is best for it.

Wish me luck! 🙂

Ozark Writers League May Conference 2015

Chills, thrills, and bumps in the night

A wonderful time was had by all at this May’s OWL conference.

Hotel Grand Victorian. Lovely place to stay and so close to OTC Table Rock Campus, where the conference takes place.

Having fun at the Friday evening ‘open mic’ and wine raffle, with Velda Brotherton, Sandy Staszkiewicz, Jessica Nelson, Mike Miller, (the selfie king), and Julie James

Jan Marler Morrill‘s wonderful workshop all about characterization, and how to get to know your characters, (and yourself), even better. 

Ruth Weeks‘s fantastic workshop all about how to know the difference between the paranormal, supernatural, and fantasy. We also got a start in how important it is to set the mood. Particularly loved it when the lights went out!

 Velda Brotherton went into even more detail on mood setting and how to create the mood you intend through verbs and nouns.

On our way home after a fabulous time and OWL’s May conference, with Julie James, Velda Brotherton, and Sandy Staszkiewicz at OTC Table Rock Campus.

I missed those who were not able to attend, but it was so great to see everyone that did!

Coming Events NWAWW FREE conference

Coming Events.

Labeling A Woman

My friend and fellow author, Jessica Nelson’s new blog page. I think a few of us can relate to at least some aspect of this post. Well done Jessica, you nailed it 😉

Carryin' On

In my tween years and beyond, I was ridiculed and shamed, called names, pointed and laughed at by my peers. All because of my weight. This subsequently caused me to jump from diet to diet for almost twenty years. I wrote about it.

In my teenage years I was full of depression and anxiety. I was a worrywart. A goth chick. A loner. A crappy poet. Eventually, a cutter. Still, I wrote.

In my 20s I went straight from being a daughter and sister living at home to being a wife a daughter-in-law. Still consumed by underlying depression.
In my work life, I was always some kind of Secretary or administrative assistant, then a registrar at a local high school. Though during this time, I felt my creativity had left me, I still wrote. Granted some days, it was just lists (over and over thanks to a generous touch of…

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NWAW Conference. A great success!

It was a painfully early start to the day. The alarm clock went off at 6.30 a.m. Silly ‘o’ clock, in other words. Getting moving at that time of day wasn’t easy, but I am very glad I made the effort to do so.

I really enjoyed the Northwest Arkansas Writers’ Conference yesterday. Lots of wonderful writers in one room together…how could that not be successful and fun!

Among with all the wonderful people I already know personally and got to know a little better, I was over the moon to meet some of you face to face that I only yet had contact with on line. Jessica Nelson, Mike Miller, Patti Stith, Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, and Carmen Goldthwaithe, to name but a few. I’m happy to have met wonderful new people too, among them Jessica Brown  and Kay Lawson. If I forgot to mention your name, please forgive me, but there were just too many awesome people there. My memory is not what it was and putting names to faces was never my strong suit, so, I’m sorry to anyone who’s names I misplaced.I enjoyed seeing all of you that attended and missed those who could not.

Firstly, thank you to Lori Ericson for bringing coffee and helping me start my day 😉 Those of us who need our coffee, especially in the mornings, really appreciated you rising to this task at short notice.

Thank you to Oghma Creative Media for your input and for arranging the after-conference party at the Wine Cellar for your clients (or soon to be clients, like me). I had a blast and am excited to be signing with you very soon too.

Last but by no means least, I want to say a big thank you to our speakers; Dusty Richards, Casey Cowen, Greg Camp, Duke Pennell and Kim Pennell, Gil Miller and Velda Brotherton for all their hard work in preparing interesting, witty and informative speeches and demonstrations. I think, as writers, we never stop learning or enjoying the company of other writers and this conference delivered the goods on all counts ten fold. Also, thank you to Velda and Greg for the mentions. I was not expecting it and appreciate it 🙂

I had a fantastic time! 😀