Character Checklist

"Writing is just having a sheet of paper, a pen, and not a shadow of an idea of what you're going to say." --Francoise Sagan


The Rant 'N' Rave Section

Well, the first thing up is a rave. My short story, "Hop Village, a Christmas Story,." has won first prize in the Fantasy Gazetteer Short Story Contest for December. Be sure to read it for a little Chistmas cheer in December. Go to http://www.fantasygazetteer.com/.

Next up, I have a new acronym." PMF", which stands for Personal Motivation Factor. It works on a scale of 1 to 10 and is sensitive (in my case) to the time of day. Early AM I'm a ten. Lots of creativity and desire to work. By noon I'm about a 5, maybe even a 4. By 3 PM I'm useless (a zero, zilch, nada, worthless, good for nothing except vegetating and promising myself I'll do better tomorrow.)

Next I'm adding a new little section to the blog. It will be Word of the Month. Watch for a new one each month.


Word of the Month

Shpilkis - 2 definitions - {Transliteration from the original Yiddish} Noun: To
'bounce off the walls', nervous energy without purpose. Something we writers tend to do whenever writers block gets the best of us.

And finally, here's a great article I received on the net the other day from Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ


Using Real Life Events in Fiction Stories

You are as happy as you can be: your story, be it short story, novel or novelette, is finally finished. However, when you are using real life events as a source of inspiration, you may not always get a true-to-life effect. Before you send your work to a publisher, first check if the story makes sense as it does in real life.
In order to reach the final draft, you need to be tough with yourself and cast an editor’ eye over your piece. Although real life events have their own logic, when you read your story from head to tail for the first time you will surely notice some plotting errors. However, there are other vital points you should check off when comparing your version of the story to the events that inspired you.

1. Is the behavior of your characters as believable as it should be? Bear in mind that in fiction, the people you describe rarely, if ever, act "out of character." If your character behaves differently, you have to be attentive to this and ask yourself whether this corresponds to a real life pattern.

2. Do your characters relate to each other as they should? As in real life, events in your story may influence the attitudes and emotions your characters have towards one another. Real people would always mention events that happened to them within the story -- make sure your characters do, too.

3. Do your characters manifest believable reactions? If in the same type of situation your character is once enraged and the other time annoyed, there is something wrong. If you have a real person in mind, you should be aware of the fact that real people are usually constant in their reactions.

4. Do readers understand what your characters are doing at the precise time they are doing it? You need to make clear what happens in your story, otherwise your readers will lose the thread and your story may be lost altogether. When transforming reality into fiction, make sure you don’t forget any relevant links, so as to avoid alienating your readers.

5. Are your characters where they should be? You may easily have a character in two places at once if you do not control this critical thread. Especially if you have one or several subplots at the same time, you need to pay extra care as they can quickly spiral out of your control.

Checking all these points will take you a lot of time, dedication and effort. However, is you fail to make sure that your story makes sense according to the real events, you will only manage to waste your own time. Editors expect stories that hang together.
Copyright © Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ
About Shery: Shery is the creator of WriteSparks!™- a software that generates over 10 *million* Story Sparkers for Writers. Download WriteSparks!™ Lite for free at http://writesparks.com
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"TIDBITS"

"Dream Quest Contest"

And now for something entirely different, a hot tip on a great contest. The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest is open to anyone who loves to arrange words into the beautiful art of poetry or to write a short story that is worth telling everyone! And to all who have the ability to dream... Write a poem or short story for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for details or to enter!
Guidelines:
Write a poem, thirty lines or fewer on any subject, style, or form, typed or neatly hand printed.
And/or write a short story, five pages maximum length, on any subject or theme, creative writing fiction or non-fiction (including essay compositions, diary, journal entries and screenwriting). Also, must be typed or neatly hand printed.
Multiple poetry and short story entries are accepted.
Deadline: December 31, 2008
All winners will be announced on January 31, 2009
Prizes:
Writing Contest First Prize is $500. Second Prize: $250. Third Prize: $100.
Poetry Contest First Prize is $250. Second Prize: $125. Third Prize: $50.
Entry fees:
Writing Contest entry fee: $10 per short story.
Poetry Contest entry fee: $5 per poem.
To send entries: Include title(s) with your story (ies) or poem(s), along with your name, address, phone#, email, brief biographical info. (Tell us a little about yourself), on the coversheet. Add a self-addressed stamped envelope for entry confirmation. Fees payable to: “DREAMQUESTONE.COM”
Mail to:
Dream Quest One
Poetry & Writing Contest
P.O. Box 3141
Chicago, IL 60654
Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for further details or to enter!

Last but Not Least
"I didn't know that!"
Hugo Gernsback.

The famous science fiction awards, The Hugo's are named after him.
One little known fact was that Gernsback was noted for sharp (and sometimes shady) business practices, and for paying his writers extremely low fees. H. P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith referred to him as "Hugo the Rat."

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join.

Long Story Short: http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
Fantasy Gazetteer: http://www.fantasygazetteer.com/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@yahoo
Pindersoft's Writers Project Organizer: http://www.pindersoft.com/wpo.htm
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine/com/index.html
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
Poynter 30 Writer's Tips: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=78&aid=103943

Freebie Writers Tools

Idea Cruncher: http://www.ideacruncher.com/
Freemind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Auto Crit: Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/
Word Web download : http://www.wordweb.info/

I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.Copyright © 11/16/08

Author Interviews, Lillian Cauldwell

“Writing is easy, all you have to do is sit at the typewriter until drops of blood appear on your forehead. ( Sportswriter Red Smith)


The Rant 'N' Rave Section

Before we get to my latest interview I just have to pass on the good news. Last year I wrote a Christmas story titled "Hop Village". It's about a young boy in a toy store and about how easy it is for children to find doorways into far off lands, magic and adventure. It was too late to send it out for Christmas 2007 so I held it until September and sent it out. It won first place in the Fantasy Gazeteer Short Story Contest for December and will be published online. Be sure to look for it at http://www.fantasygazetteer.com/ in December. Now, on to the interview.


No rants, no raves, this month Insead I've got another bio about an author.

This week, I had a chance to visit with an author whose recent book, The Anna Mae Mysteries: The Golden Treasure, is a charming teenage tale of 3 sneaker-toed tweens who find themselves searching for Jefferson Davis' lost treasure with the help of a ghostly black fist and divining rods. Here's more about Lillian Cauldwell and her book:

About Lillian Cauldwell:

http://www.lilliancauldwell.com/

Lillian Cauldwell is an author of many articles, short stories and poems. She has a published novel, Sacred Honor, a science fiction/historical novel, and will soon release The Anna Mae Mysteries, the first in a series of books for young people. She also has POETRY: Urban Voices under consideration with a publisher. Lillian was formerly an instructor at Long Story Short School of Writing teaching several courses: Interviewing, Pre-Marketing Plan for Books, Internet Talk Radio, and Podcasting as well as a consultant for authors who require help marketing and promoting their book(s) and selves. She mentors teenagers interested in writing their first novels. After working for two years as an Internet talk radio host at two different radio stations, Lillian started her own station, Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio, Inc. The Company is two and a half years old and is ranked as a mid-list Internet talk radio station. Lillian is a board member for ICWP and a member of CBWI, The Writer's Union, and Women in Media.

She enjoys her status of grandmother to identical twin granddaughters, her son, a graphic artist nominated for The Eisner Award two years ago for his original comic book, The Dare Detectives. LillianI lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she loves to bake, lift weights, walk, and do worldwide community work. She is an avid advocate of the US Military and her support has been acknowledged by President George W. Bush.

Review

Rowena Cherry:

"Parents and teachers will love.... The Anna Mae Mysteries by Lillian Cauldwell

Lillian writes with a voice that speaks to the rich imagination of a child. A ten year old child's mind plays tricks. She fears dark

places in buildings where the grown-ups are not, because she believes in ghosts and apparitions, and squeaking, creaking things that could be a monster spider's joints. Yet, she yearns to find buried treasure, or to make headlines in a good way, or to

improvise and solve a mystery. One example of masterly "childlike" problem solving is the use of coat hangers as divining rods.... Dowsing is such a cool thing for children! Vivid images strike a chord in my memory, and linger in my mind of the

phantom fist, the schoolyard bully, the horror in the air ducts, the dusty, thirsty hard work of digging in the fruit cellar... for buried gold. It's "real", it's delightfully scary in the way of all good and gripping page-turners, but it's not frightening. Perhaps Lillian's writing is so believable, and so immediate because Lillian pays attention to details - such as the ring on fourth finger of ghostly black fist. Parents and teachers will love Lillian's writing, too, not only because the children will be immediately engaged by the mystery, but because of the tie-in with history, including Jefferson Davis and Georgia's exciting past. Lillian Cauldwell is a splendid storyteller, and my child and I are eagerly looking forward to the next gripping tale in the series!"

~Rowena Cherry http://www.rowenacherry.com/


Description

Anna Mae Mysteries - The Golden Treasure

Three 'tween sneaker sleuths face the unsolved mystery of Jefferson Davis'lost gold treasure with a little bit of help from a ghostly black fist and divining rods. Twelve-year-old Anna Mae Botts, her eight-year-old brother Malcolm, and Anna Mae's best friend Raul Garcia, face a ghostly black fist on their first day of school. It blocks their entrance into school, while dropping paper

clues about Jefferson Davis' lost Civil War gold. Things get more complicated when a school fire occurs. Mysterious events soon overtake Raul, Malcolm, and Anna Mae at school as well as at home. Rats, alphabet noodle clues, floating chalk, and phantom

false-bottom wagons lead the tweens to travel the same route by car that was taken by Jefferson Davis and his gold-laden wagon train. With divining rods given to her by her grandma, computer printouts, and Spirit Journey memories that take her back to a Civil War past, Anna Mae, Raul, and Malcolm find Jefferson Davis' lost gold treasure, part of it buried on Chennault Plantation and more of it in a vacant lot on the outskirts of Warthen, Georgia


"TIDBITS"

"Dream Quest Contest"

And now for something entirely different, a hot tip on a great contest. The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest is open to anyone who loves to arrange words into the beautiful art of poetry or to write a short story that is worth telling everyone! And to all who have the ability to dream... Write a poem or short story for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for details or to enter!

Guidelines:

Write a poem, thirty lines or fewer on any subject, style, or form, typed or neatly hand printed.

And/or write a short story, five pages maximum length, on any subject or theme, creative writing fiction or non-fiction (including essay compositions, diary, journal entries and screenwriting). Also, must be typed or neatly hand printed.

Multiple poetry and short story entries are accepted.

Deadline: December 31, 2008

All winners will be announced on January 31, 2009

Prizes:

Writing Contest First Prize is $500. Second Prize: $250. Third Prize: $100.

Poetry Contest First Prize is $250. Second Prize: $125. Third Prize: $50.

Entry fees:

Writing Contest entry fee: $10 per short story.

Poetry Contest entry fee: $5 per poem.

To send entries: Include title(s) with your story (ies) or poem(s), along with your name, address, phone#, email, brief biographical info. (Tell us a little about yourself), on the coversheet. Add a self-addressed stamped envelope for entry confirmation. Fees payable to: “DREAMQUESTONE.COM”

Mail to:

Dream Quest One

Poetry & Writing Contest

P.O. Box 3141

Chicago, IL 60654

Visit http://www.dreamquestone.com for further details or to enter!


Last but Not Least
"I didn't know that!"
Kurt Vonnegut once managed a SAAB dealership.

The Bronte sisters lived in a house surrounded on three sides by graveyards.
Thanks to blogs.usatoday

Well, that's it for this time, see ya later gater…..Aelf

Sites to see, places to go and groups to join

Long Story Short: http://www.alongstoryshort.net/
Fantasy Gazetteer: http://www.fantasygazetteer.com/
My Writing Friend: writingfriend@yahoo
Pindersoft's Writers Project Organizer: http://www.pindersoft.com/wpo.htm
Nick Daws Writers Circle: Nick Daw's Writer's Circle.
Wridea: http://www.wridea.com/
J.D.Vine Publishing: http://www.jdvine/com/index.html
Tennessee Writers Alliance: http://www.tn-writers.org/
USA Patriotism, Poetry: http://www.usa-patriotism.com/
Poynter 30 Writer's Tips: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=78&aid=103943

Freebie Writers Tools
Idea Cruncher: http://www.ideacruncher.com/
Freemind: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Auto Crit: Automatic manuscript checker: http://www.autocrit.com/

Word Web download: http://www.wordweb.info/


I’ll be adding to the above list as time goes on and I find more newbie friendly sites.
Copyright © 10/31/08