What Are Some of our Writing Activities?

Subject: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:19 pm

Shelagh asked me on another thread what I’ve done since PA and I thought I’d answer. That led me to wonder about some of my fellow writers on this board, so, I’ll post some of my activities, and I hope you’ll do the same. I’d love to hear what everyone is doing.

Let’s see . . .

Since Ten Times Guilty, I’ve completed another novel, signed with an agent and talked to the acquiring editor at a major publishing house who was interested; however, they decided to abandon that particular line so the contract was scrapped.

I was so disapponted that I couldn't begin a third novel so I wrote several short stories, one was featured as a “Twelve-tissue Tearjerker” in a national publication, True Story magazine, May, 2007, another was published in The Talking Stick, a midwest literary journal, another is currently on Amazon Shorts.

I was asked to serve as judge on a midwest fiction writing contest and did so.

I write feature articles for my local Southern California newspaper and am the restaurant reviewer. I teach novel writing and I edit fiction manuscripts. Currently I’m working on novel three.

Some of my stories are posted on Authors Den.

How about you? What are you doing?
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Three Star Member Joined : 07 Jun 2008 Posts : 171

I've compiled and edited a couple of "club" anthologies, one for the Arizona Mystery Writers and another for the Society of Southwestern Authors. I took on a commission to edit and oversee production of a coffeee table book for Safari Club International. That was a good gig-- working at the SCI Wildlife Museum in Tucson and using all their magazine production facilities including personnel. And lately I contracted with two book houses, at different times, as a staff editor but both operations failed to live up to contract, so we parted company. I still edit other authors' work under private arrangement.

ButI find time to write too. I've had several short pieces, fiction and nonfiction, published in literary anthologies both on line and in print. Within the past week I've had another short accepted for a print anthology and have submitted another. In between I'm at work on a saga-novel set within the safari industry in South Africa. At the moment, I have six book titles released from three publishers.

And if I'm not editing for others or writing on my own projects, I use whatever free time I have to read for recreation or research.

Jim Woods
www.ultrasw.com/jwoods

Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:56 pm

Wow, Jim. As always, I'm in awe of your work.
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Three Star Member Joined : 07 Jun 2008 Posts : 171

Oh, I also was on a six week cruise through the South Pacific this past October and November, with a highlight in Fiji where I toured Robert Louis Stevenson's home. Poor guy, he had no computer in his writing space.

Jim Woods
www.ultrasw.com/jwoods

Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:21 pm

A six-week cruise? I'm drooling. I haven't even made it to the ocean yet, and it's about a two-hour drive in traffic. But I did have a thrill, tho. Finally saw Wicked at the Pantages Theater last week. What a fantastic experience.
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Admin Joined : 11 Jan 2008 Posts : 2069 Location : UK

Congratulations on the short stories Brenda! If you have a spare story, I know a good anthology that would be delighted to receive a submission!
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Shelagh Watkins
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/

Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:50 pm

Thanks, Shelagh. Haven't written one in a while, concentrated on the newspaper dealines and caught up on editing, but will keep it in mind.
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Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 8:39 pm

I just received an email asking which of the short stories was featured as the tearjerker. I called it "Puddles" but the magazine retitled it, "Our Guardian Angel" when it was published:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewShortStory.asp?AuthorID=32503&id=27406
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Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:02 pm

I used to have my other writings posted on my website, but they didn't seem to fit the forest theme so I removed them.

Besides, they were just little feature articles.

Here's what I've done:

For a few years I was a regional editor for California Homeschool News, a 34 page newsletter for ... uh, homeschooling parents and homeschoolers. Of course I was also a regular contributing writer.

I've had eight feature stories of community interest printed in the San Jose Mercury News and El Observador (bilingual San Jose newspaper). One of my stories was the front page story; it was about the Firefighter Explorer Academy graduation. The mayor of San Jose, who spoke at the event, asked me to mail him a copy of the paper.

I've had three short story romances posted on an e-zine.
And another story about homeschooling posted on the ezine A Long Story Short.

And my first two novels of a four book series were recently released (YA Fantasy). The third is due to be released in October. The fourth will probably be out early next year.

I've written three fantasy / paranormal romances, but haven't submitted them yet because they are in the edit/polish stages. I expected to have two of them submitted by the end of the year.

I've also created a fantasy horoscope site and have almost finished converting the horoscopes into a small reference book. I plan to submit that to a publisher in the next couple of months.

And ... I guess that is all.

You know, just stuff ....

Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:09 pm

And you also travel with your husband as a trucker? I'm amazed. You must write all the time.
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Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:16 pm

We were in Louisiana yesterday. Almost to El Paso TX now.

Actually between driving ten hours a day and sleeping nine (I love my sleep) I don't get to write as much as I would like.

But at least when I do write I have very little interruptions outside of bumpy roads.

I can NOT write in Louisiana ... the roads are much too bumpy. My laptop literally flies into the air off my lap.

But I do LOVE my job. From El Paso we turn around and go to Georgia.

Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:25 pm

I love traveling, love to watch the different scenery, so I wouldn't do well at writing when on the road.

Haven't been Louisiana in ten years and won't go while it's so hot. Even tho I grew up there, I've been way too long and can't stand the humidity. At least your truck should be air conditioned and you don't have to stay long, altho I think Georgia is as bad. Brew should know about that.
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Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:33 pm

Heh! I lived in South Texas (including right on the Gulf of Mexico) for 16 years. I HATE heat and humidity.

Which is why my home is now in the high and dry Northern Nevada.

Yes, it was hot & humid in New Orleans. It was hot & humid in Baton Rouge. It was hot & humid in Lafayette. It was also hot in Van Horn TX.

I would love it if we could just skip summer and go straight from spring to autumn.

But I will say this, I love driving through places like Louisiana in the summer at night because they usually have tons of fireflies in the thick trees along the highway and it looks magical !!!!

Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:42 pm

Sounds wonderful. Don't have fireflies here, or lightning bugs, as we used to call them, but I love driving at night and looking at all the neon lights. Maybe I got that from the fireflies in Louisiana. The same with Las Vegas. I'm not a gambler, but I love the lights. Talk about magical.

Happy and safe traveling. I'm hearing Willie Nelson singing, On the road again . . .
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Subject: Re: What Are Some of our Writing Activities? Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:33 pm

I'm not too good at keeping track of this stuff but I recall doing a book on the Hoosier Hot Shots, a trio of musicians popular in the 1930s, '40's and '50s. Did another on an aunt I never met who was a leading communist in NYC during the 1930s.
Sold five or six stories to Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. One was published last October, another in the Jan,/Feb. dual issue and the others are in inventory and will be published soon. Had another in Thrilling Detective.
Have taken three out of print books on high school sports and ran them through Lulu (not something another publisher would be interested in) so they're available again. Lulu did a beautiful job so they are nicer than the originals. Between the three of them they took three years of full-time research so I wanted them available again. Strictly labors of love.
Wrote about a hundred blogs because it is much like the days when I wrote a daily newspaper column and it gives me an opportunity to vent my indignation about things in general.
Have six or eight long short stories in progress and three non-fiction books.
Wrote a foreword for somebody's book. Did some writing for a Mystery Writers of America project. Have had a great deal of correspondence with friends from MWA and PWA.
My reading has slowed down so I only got through about 50 books. I do manage to look over anywhere from five to twenty online newspapers every day.
That's all that comes to mind. Obviously I'm not as productive as I once was but it's not too bad for an 83-year-old guy with anemia, heart failure, ulcerative colitis and a pituitary gland problem that has knocked all hormones to base level.
Oh, and I've smoked 180 ounces of pipe tobacco during the past year. Does that count? Or how about spending many happy hours handing out treats to hamsters? Not much money in that, of course.
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Mystery Writers of America, Private Eye Writers of America
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