Something to Think About

A writer is like a bag lady going through life with a sack and a pointed stick collecting stuff. ~Tony Hillerman

Too Much BackStory in the Wrong Place

I've been down and out lately. My computer was out of sorts for a few days and believe me, the feeling was very similar to when I quit smoking almost twenty years ago. I bummed my daughter's laptop and my husband's, but it just wasn't the same. My little Blackberry got quite a workout too, answering emails.

So, I haven't accomplished much during the past few weeks. Here's what I'm doing:

Trying like crazy to create a new first chapter for my completed novel, but dang! it just ain't comin'. What can that mean? Anyone got an answer? You might tell me it doesn't need a new first chapter but, yeah, it does. Here's how I know:

I took an online course from an agent. It was a great course. She was hard-hitting and to the point. No flattery-just facts. The steps she took us through told even me that I need a new first chapter. Mine is too slow. "It lacks intensity," says husband. :)

2) I traded completed manuscripts with a writer I don't know. She's published a couple of eBooks. We're in an online RWA chapter and found each other through their critique list. Anyway, I read her manuscript before I sent her mine. Hers was fantastic. I couldn't put it down. It got very weak at the end--she rushed it--but she knew what she was doing so I emailed her my complete. She told me where the book really yanked her into the story--it wasn't the first chapter.

3) My first chapter is all back-story. Why didn't I see that before? I've always been told that we should start a book or a story in the middle of change, when something happens to our main character that will set him or her on a new path from that point forward. That's what I did. I brought my hero back to town, and he faces the heroine who destroyed his life. Isn't that change? Sure it is, but then all they did was rehash their past and evidently that's quite boring. What I need to do is sprinkle the backstory in here and there throughout each chapter. Easier said than done.

So... that's what I'm doing--thinking, thinking, thinking. How do I rewrite the first chapter, or create a new one? I don't have a clue ... yet.

A Newbie's Guide Isn't Just For Newbies

Visualize this: a prospector standing in a stream, panning for gold.


Visualize this: an agent going through hundreds of manuscripts, the slush pile—panning for gold.

Be the gold!

This was paraphrased from J.A. Konrath’s FREE ebook, The Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, also available on Kindle.

But The Newbie's Guide isn't just for newbies. It covers everything from writing to marketing to touring to ... well, author J. A. Konrath covers it all.

His blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing (jakonrath.blogspot.com), has had over 400,000 hits since 2005.
Here's his new site:

Tell me this author doesn't have a lot to share. Check it out. Hey, do more than that--get your own copy of A Newbie's Guide to Publishing.
Today!

Bayou Writers' Conference Preparations

UPDATE: GO TO http://www.bayouwritersgroup.org to download our conference brochure.


I've been away from posting for too long. Not because I haven't had anything to say. I've been involved in the writing/reading side of life so the blog has suffered. I'll get back to it. Promise!

But today is not the day. :) Today, I want to post an update about our BWG conference that's in the making. Our Conference Coordinators have this to say:

2010 BWG Conference Preparations Underway!

It is with great pleasure I bring this news to you BWG members & friends. Our 2010 “Bridge to Publication” Conference is set for November 13th and preparations are underway to bring you a great event.

Venue: University United Methodist Church 3501 Patrick St. Lake Charles, LA (same place as last year) and we have a line up of speakers that will knock your socks off!

Children’s Book Editor Harold Underdown is a freelance editorial consultant. He has worked at Macmillan, Orchard, and Charlesbridge, and has experience in trade and educational publishing. Harold enjoys teaching, and in that role wrote The Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Book Publishing, now in its third edition. He founded and runs "The Purple Crayon," a respected web site with information about the children's publishing world at www.underdown.org. Mr. Underdown will be offering critiques/consultations for only $35 so be sure and get there early! *More details to come*

Multi-published Author Cheré Dastugue Coen is an award-winning journalist and author living in Lafayette, Louisiana. She has worked or written for many publications and currently works as a freelance travel and food writer, plus pens the weekly books column and newsletter, Louisiana Book News. Her fiction includes Kensington historical romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her nonfiction books include the cookbook travelogue Cooking in Cajun Country (2009) and the upcoming Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris and Sachets (2010). She is currently at work on the Historic Guide to Cajun Country, scheduled for release in 2011.

Gary Goldstein, Senior. Editor, Kensington, started his editorial career at Crown Publishing in 1986. He spent two years at Bantam Doubleday Dell (now Bertelsmann AG) from 1988-1990. He joined Putnam Berkley Publishing (now Penguin USA) in May 1990. Following his stint at Berkley, in 1997 he moved on to Simon & Schuster’s Pocket Books division (where he signed up a then-unknown author named Dan Brown and his novel Angels and Demons). He rejoined Penguin USA in 2000 (Alpha Books division, publisher of the Complete Idiot’s Guides.) In October 2003, he joined Kensington Publishing Group, where he acquires and edits both non-fiction for Kensington’s Citadel Press imprint and fiction (military and political thrillers, westerns, suspense), among them NY Times and USA Today bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and Michael Walsh.

Self/E/Small Press Published Author Panel with four (count ‘em 4!) speakers discussing the INS & OUTS of Self, Electronic, & Small Press Publishing.

Lesa Boutin is a children’s author who discovered a love for every aspect of a book’s life, from concept to completion. With a background in education, Lesa started her own publishing company, Boot in the Door Publications, in 2006, followed by the release of her YA novels, Amanda Noble, Zookeeper Extraordinaire in 2007, and Amanda Noble, Special Agent in 2008. Currently a writer with Writers in the Schools Houston, Lesa enjoys sharing her imagination and passion for storytelling with her students.

Texas author Wendy Lanier will share her Write for Hire experience. Her writing experience includes titles for Lerner Books, Capstone Press, Lucent Books, KidHaven Press, and contributions to such publications as Focus on the Family's Clubhouse, CBN.com, MOPS.org, DevoKids.com, and The Amazing Bible Factbook for Kids (a publication of Time Inc. Home Entertainment and the Livingstone Corp.). Her educational and professional background includes a B.S. in Speech Communication Disorders and a M.Ed. in Elementary Education followed by over 18 years of service in Texas public and private schools. She is a member of SCBWI and the Bayou Writers' Group.

Curt Iles is a Southern writer with a warm style that makes one glad to be alive and wish to enter his world. He and his wife DeDe live in Dry Creek, Louisiana. Curt is a graduate of Louisiana College (B.S. 1979) as well as McNeese State University (M.Ed. 1985 and 1987). After fulfilling careers as a teacher/coach, school principal, and outdoor camp director, Curt began writing full time in 2006. The author of seven books, he speaks at over one hundred events yearly and can be reached at curtiles@aol.com. He recently released his seventh independent book, A Good Place. His previous six books have sold a cumulative 20,000 copies. Curt’s mission in life is “to walk closely with Jesus, be a man God can use, and be respected by my wife and family.” His life verse: the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:33, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Award-winning author, Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in creative non-fiction and romantic fiction Pamela has five novels available in Ebook & Print (4 part Tempered Series ~ Com Star Media & The Inheritance ~White Rose Publishing) and five (soon to be six!) short stories (all available at White Rose Publishing) as well numerous articles, essays, & devotions to her credit. Her writing has been tagged as “Inspirational with an Edge!”™ and reviewed as “steamier and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”

*NEW THIS YEAR!* Bayou Writers’ Group implemented the Terry L Thibodeaux, Sr. scholarship program ~ details & application available on the website.

Agenda TBA and a brochure will be available on our website as soon as humanly possible so mark your calendars and prepare to have a great day.

Hope to see you there!


~Blessings~
Pamela S. Thibodeaux
&
Randy Dupre
Co-Conference Chairs

CFBA Presents BLOOD RANSOM by Lisa Harris

Author Lisa Harris knows how to yank you into her story and hang on to you. She practices good writing, excellent storytelling and deep editing. Once you start reading, you'll find yourself involved in a story of modern-day slavery and government corruption. Though a work of fiction, this book reveals real horrors happening in our world today.The details of life in Africa will fascinate you and the author's background as a missionary living in Africa makes every word believable. Lisa has published romance and cozy mysteries; this is her first suspense novel, the first book in her Mission Hope Series. Read below, then make haste to your nearest bookstore to purchase a copy.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing

Blood Ransom Zondervan (April 1, 2010) by Lisa Harris
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author Lisa Harris has been writing both fiction and nonfiction since 2000 and has more than fifteen novels and novellas in print. She currently lives with her family in Mozambique, Africa, where they work as missionaries.

From Lisa:

Have you ever noticed how God often uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things? In writing Blood Ransom, I wanted my heroes and heroines to be ordinary people, faced with extraordinary circumstances. Chad and Natalie’s lives were changed not only through the challenges they faced, but also through their reliance on God. And when they set off on their journey to the capital to save Joseph’s family, they never imagined that God would call them to a task that was beyond the scope of their own power.

But while this story is fictional, the issue of a modern day slave trade is very real. It is estimated that there are currently more than 27 million slaves on the world today from Africa, to Eastern Europe … to the United States of America. The fact is, we don’t have to travel around the world to see people hurting and exploited. They’re real people we pass every day, living in our neighborhoods, and attending our churches and schools. They’re empty and broken, searching for freedom and hope in an often hopeless world.


ABOUT THE BOOK

Natalie Sinclair is working to eradicate the diseases decimating whole villages in the Republic of Dhambizao when she meets Dr. Chad Talcott, a surgeon on sabbatical from a lucrative medical practice now volunteering at a small clinic.

Meanwhile, things are unraveling in Dhambizao. Joseph Komboli returns to his village to discover rebel soldiers abducting his family and friends. Those that were too old or weak to work lay motionless in the African soil. When Chad and Natalie decide to help Joseph expose this modern-day slave trade---and a high-ranking political figure involved in it---disaster nips at their heels.

Where is God in the chaos? Will Chad, Natalie, and Joseph win their race against time?

Romance and adventure drive Blood Ransom, by Lisa Harris, a powerful thriller about the modern-day slave trade and those who dare to challenge it.

If you would like to read the prologue and first chapter of Blood Ransom, go HERE.

FORGET ME NOT by Vicki Hinze

Forget Me Not by Vicki Hinze is a page-turning romantic suspense that will definitely keep your attention. The story grabs you from the first page. While Hinze has a talent for writing edge of your seat, page-turning fiction, what drew me to the book in the first place was her history: she comes to Christian fiction after numerous novels for the general market and is an active member of Romance Writers of America. That's a huge plus for me. Learn more about her HERE and go to here website HERE.

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He’d failed to protect his family.

Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace.

The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?

Author Bio: Vicki Hinze is an award-winning author of twenty-three novels, three nonfiction books, and hundreds of articles. Selected for Who’s Who in America in 2004 as a writer and educator, Hinze is active in Romance Writers of America and serves as a Vice President on the International Thriller Writers Board of Directors. Vicki lives in Florida with her artist husband, a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel. Visit HERE:

Thursdays With Writers

Last year a few of us in the Bayou Writers' Group started meeting for coffee every Thursday. We'd get together at ten and visit until twelve. Then someone mentioned doing a little critiquing during that time. Our group grew. We've had as many as seventeen people show up. We have our social time during the first hour, then settle in to discuss someone's short story or first chapter we've read during the week.


You can tell by looking at us that we don't all read or write the same thing. We write children's material, mysteries, literary novels, romance, mainstream, short fiction, memoirs and westerns. Some of us just label our work Southern fiction and be done with it. We have published and unpublished writers sitting in this group. The thing is ... while we all come together from different experiences and points of view, we're all the same when we're sitting there critiquing. We want the same thing--for ourselves and each other. We share a dream. If I could wiggle my nose for each of these writers... if I could make it happen for them ...

If only I could!

I've never liked the word potential. When someone--usually a contest judge--wrote, "Your manuscript has potential," I hated it. The word potential meant I wasn't quite good enough; I needed to work harder to get better.

Just look at this group; this is a room full of potential. Their stories and novels are getting better and better with each critique. I see it and learn from it. Best of all--for me at least--is that being a part of this group has taught me that potential is an action word.