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ANN CHARLES’ article, “Pre-Published Promotion: Get a Jump-Start on Your Career,” written with Jacqui Rogers, is scheduled for the March 2010 is of the RWR (Romance Writers Report).
VICKI BATMAN’s short story, "This Is Not Working," is in the top 100 of the WOW (Women on Writing) short story contest.
DIANNE GERBER w/a AUTUMN JORDON announces the release of her hot Western, OBSESSED BY WILDFIRE (The Wild Rose Press) in January 2010. Check out her website, www.autumnjordon.com .
VIRGINIA MCCULLOUGH’S nonfiction book, THE OXYGEN REVOLUTION (Hatherleigh 2007), written with hyperbaric medicine specialist Paul Harch, MD, is scheduled for 2010 release in soft cover and digital editions. In addition, a publisher in Slovakia bought the foreign rights and will publish a translated edition.
NAN ARNOLD announces the release of HITTING THE HIGH NOTES (Champagne Books) on February 1. Check out her website, www.nandarnold.com
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2010 Officers
President - Judy Dawn
Vice President - Change to Robin Haseltine
Secretary - Victoria Kaloss
Treasurer - Nicholas Genovese
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Contest News:
NANCY NAIGLE placed Third in the Gotcha Single Title contest with “Out of Focus”
SANDY JAMES placed first in the Gotcha Paranormal contest with “The Reluctant Amazon”. It also placed Third in the Ah! Romance contest
SANDY DE TARANTO w/a SANDRA MARS tied for first in the Gotcha Paranormal category with “Incredible Dreams” and placed Fourth in the Single Title category with “Secondary Targets”
LIESE SHERWOOD-FABRE’s YA, "Magic School Drop-out" finaled in Southern Magic's Linda Howard contest
SHERRI BUERKLE tied for Second Place in the FAB 5 Contest with her YA
Mist on Water.
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The Four Agreements for Writers
by Misty Evans
“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.”
– Don Miguel Ruiz.
I recently read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and am trying to apply them to my life, because, hey, like everyone else, I want to help change the world. It begins with me, right?
Applying the four agreements to every area of my life, however, feels like moving the proverbial mountain, so I decided to do a test drive with my writing career. So far, it’s working. Better than working, it’s actually providing what Miguel promised it would: freedom, happiness and yes, even beautiful art.
Agreement One: Be Impeccable With Your Word. In life, this translates to stop the negative voices in your head and quit gossiping about others. When it comes to writing, you can apply this agreement to the voice inside your head that insists your writing sucks. You can also apply this to your characters.
In the beginning of your story, your hero and heroine are probably lying to themselves and other folks as well, trying to keep a secret buried or their feelings under lock and key. As the story progresses, they should come to terms with their truth, internally and externally, in order for them to grow and achieve a happy for now or happily ever after ending. Be impeccable with your characters actions as well as their words and your story will be hard to put down. Make this particular agreement with your readers, deliver it faithfully, and you’ll have fans forever.
Agreement Two: Don’t Take Anything Personally. I struggle with this agreement a lot because I take everything personally. Once I came to terms with the idea behind this agreement, though, a weight fell off my shoulders. It’s NOT about me. The way others react to me is a projection of their reality, not mine.
Same with my stories. I’ve learned it’s not about me either. It’s about The Story. As the insightful Stephen King tells us, we should serve the story, not our ego. When an agent or editor rejects what you write, it sucks, but 99% of the time, it’s not personal. Many rejections are based in their reality. They have markets to abide by, budgets to keep in mind, office politics to deal with. The want a book they love and they also have to toe the line and produce a salable product. Yes, the story is your baby, but it’s also a marketable (or unmarketable) commodity. The book of your heart is not the book of everyone else’s heart. Do what you can to make it the best story out there – serve the story – and keep in mind that rejection isn’t personal.
Yeah, I know, a rejection feels like a stake in your heart, but don’t give up. Go back to your story, revise it if necessary, and send it out again. Repeat.
Agreement Three: Don’t Make Assumptions. Personally, I spend too much valuable time reliving the past and projecting into the future. If I’d only said this, or did that, or stood up to so-and-so, I’d be happier.
As writers, we make a lot of assumptions too. My critique partner said I better drop my prologue or every agent in the land will reject me. The hero and heroine must meet in the first chapter or I won’t score well in this contest. I’m doomed because I’ve accumulated fifty rejection letters.
Can you feel the drama? The heartbreak? The despair? I know it’s challenging, but save it for your characters. Channel it into them. And while you’re caught up in their story, pause for a moment to realize you’re living in the moment when you’re writing. Not the past and not the future – well, at least not your past or your future. You’re in the present, no assumptions in sight. Live it to the fullest, and I guarantee it will show in your story.
Agreement Four: Do Your Best. Unlike life, you can redo and rewrite your stories ad infinitum. At some point, however, you have to send them into the world. Don’t send your stories out until you’ve done your best, and if your best still isn’t cutting the mustard with contests, crit partners, or agents/editors, figure out why and address it. Stop sabotaging yourself, learn all you can, and you’ll end up with a wonderful story you’ll be proud to show the world. And hopefully, it will be marketable, too, and an agent or editor will also be proud to show it to the world.
Finally, even if you’re not a writer, you’re an artist of your dreams, your life. Check out the four agreements, take them for a test run, and see what comes of it.
You might just make beautiful art.
Constantly struggling to improve her life and her art, Misty channels her frustrations into the numerous characters in both her Super Agent and Witch Lit series. Her latest free short story, White Collar Christmas, will be available in December at www.samhellion.com. Visit Misty at www.readmistyevans.com for more information, or chat with her at www.twitter.com/readmistyevans .
"Don't Quit Your Day Job" by Lois Winston here
"What's on Your Roadblocks List?"
by Cara Marsi here
(AKA Carolyn Matkowsky)
"The Three I's of Query Writing" by Misty Evans here.
"Ten Life Lessons I Learned" by Cara Marsi (aka Carolyn Matkowsky) here.
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