Guest Post

HAVE A BOOK TO PROMOTE? Lyrical Pens welcomes guest posts. Answer a questionnaire or create your own post. FYI, up front: This site is a definite PG-13. For details, contact cjpetterson@gmail.com cj

Sunday, November 29, 2020

MWA names 2021 Grand Masters

 
cj Sez:  Congratulations to authors Charlaine Harris and Jeffery Deaver on being named the Mystery Writers of America’s Grand Masters for 2021.


   From the MWA press release: “November 23, 2020 —New York, NY—Today Mystery Writers of America (MWA) announces the recipients of its special awards. The board chose Charlaine Harris and Jeffery Deaver as the 2021 Grand Masters, and the 2020 Raven Award recipient is Malice Domestic. They will receive their awards at the 75th Annual Edgar Awards Ceremony, which will be held April 29, 2021.” 
 
   Read more about the event at:
https://mysterywriters.org/mwa-announces-2021-grand-master-and-raven-award-honorees/?fbclid=IwAR2AiRZhYDRti8v9qLsLpcadkLivbiqG-WuTPLKdvAWOQ7Mg1oynxs-Ywzc
 
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   It’s into the home stretch on the last two days for the NaNoWriMo challenge.

   Keep on keeping on, Word Warriors. Ignore that panic key. You got this!
 

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   The weather is forecast to turn cold in Mobile this coming week, as in going down into the 30s at night. Brrr temperatures for this former snowbird who has almost acclimated to the hellacious heat and humidity of the Gulf Coast.
 
   Any temperature below about 45 degrees is way too cold for the potted hibiscus sitting on my patio—we’ve named it “Grandpa.” Son will have to create a space to protect it from this cold snap. We’ve been babying that plant, moving it in and out of the garage or workshop, every winter since Tracy Hurley gave it to me more than ten years ago. I will keep tending to it as long as possible in memory of my friend. (Like the rest of my flowers, Grandpa has suffered through some storms, so the picture is what it looked like when I got it.)

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Now some words from my sponsor:

   Spreading holiday cheer is always a good thing, and especially so when buying either of these anthologies is a two-fer—you’re actually helping out a charity, too.
 
   The digital versions of the first two Bienvenue Press Christmas charity anthologies have been on sale for the entire month of November, and now, fair warning, the 99 CENT SALE ENDS NOV 30.
 
   From paranormal to contemporary to historical, there's something in these anthologies to fill everyone with the spirit of the season.
 
HOMETOWN HEROES benefits Cajun Navy Relief & Rescue
FINALLY HOME helps regional animal rescue programs
 
   At this price, you can send one or both to as many family and friends as you want. Even better, add in the fact that delivery will be free and there’ll be no wrapping or postage costs, then buying these anthologies makes for great gifts at a great bargain. Wow! Another two-fer.
 
   Both are available on Amazon (free on Kindle Unlimited)
***
   AND…and…Bienvenue Press’s upcoming charity anthology for 2020 is currently available for the preorder price of 99 cents! Part of the proceeds from this anthology will benefit the Acadiana Writing Project.
 
  In “The Substitute,” my short story in the anthology, an FBI agent’s undercover assignment as a substitute special education teacher gets even more complicated when he falls in love with a first-grade grade teacher. She has a good idea what’s been happening at the school, but can she…will she…help him get the proof he needs to complete his assignment?
 
   Look for HOMEROOM HEROES on Amazon Saturday, December 5. (The cover shown is the first draft.)
 
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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj
 
P.S.  My stand-alone suspense novels are out of print on Amazon, but The Haunted Bookshop has signed copies in stock. TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from a favorite, indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us
 
➜ Follow me . . .       
➜ on Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
➜ on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
➜ on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6 

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Tidbits for writers and readers

 cj Sez:  Here’s a tip for authors from my fellow Mobile Writers Guild member Joyce Sterling Scarbrough:  “Chicken Soup for the Soul has a number of submission calls out right now, including one for kids and teens dealing with the challenges of this pandemic.”

Changing Your World One Story at a Time®

   “If you or a young writer you know has a story or poem you'd like published, please submit!”  

And cj's tip for readers…these are great books for your to-be-read stack.

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Rooting for you… This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard. — Neil Gaiman

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   Nearing the home stretch and worried you aren’t going to succeed? Here are some words from Kurt Vonnegut:

   “When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.

  And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”

   And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”

   And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”

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   John Floyd is a prolific author (he’s written 32 stories in 2020), and his short mysteries are favorites of mine. In a recent Sleuth Sayers column, he recounts how he reworks old, unsubmitted stories he’s had stashed away for years and then submits them…some moved on to become award winners. Maybe there are points you would find worthwhile…I sure did: https://www.sleuthsayers.org/2020/11/the-same-old-story.html?fbclid=IwAR05pLxJJr9NcZGJ1E4LtmsAc7WUbYRHLjUfSrMxkikY1mBmwGyGoTSFP_0

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   HOMETOWN HEROES eBook is on sale now. This anthology brings you five Christmas romances that celebrate everyday heroes.

   From paranormal to contemporary to historical, there's something in this anthology to fill everyone with the spirit of the season.  

   On Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ncvCS5

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   99 CENTS !! PREORDER PRICE for Bienvenue Press’s upcoming charity anthology HOMEROOM HEROES. Look for it on Amazon Saturday, December 5. The final cover reveal coming soon.

   In “The Substitute,” my short story in the anthology, an FBI agent’s undercover assignment as a substitute teacher gets complicated when he falls in love with a first-grade grade teacher. Here are the opening lines:

     “Will Miss Melanie Andrews please report to the office,” the voice blared over the school’s intercom system.              
    Mel stopped setting out the materials she was readying for her first-grade students and stared at the speaker mounted in the corner of her classroom. She frowned, hurriedly dropped the last few crayons on the work tables lining the walls, and sealed the hazmat bag where she’d put the paper towels she used to sanitize the desks.
    “What now? I haven't had time to do anything wrong yet.”
    Being called to the principal’s office wasn’t how Mel wanted to begin her first day back in the classroom after summer break.
    How embarrassing, she thought. Everyone in the school heard that and will be wondering what I’ve done this time.

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That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. 

cj

P.S.  TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from a favorite, indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

Follow me . . .       

➜ on Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page 
on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Scene-by-scene...what is drama?

 
cj Sez: Sending my congratulations and best wishes for success to all the writers who accepted the NaNoWriMo challenge. (See more at their websote here: NaNoWriMo)
 
 
   I’m currently working on a novel that now has 40K words….after years (true) of pecking away at it. Obviously, I am not a candidate for the challenge, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that all you writing warriors will carry through to the finish!
You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. — Jack London
 
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cj Sez: I’ve gone into my archives for the following  post because I think it’s worth repeating for all the new writers entering this publishing world. It may also be helpful for the NaNoWriMo writers when they begin their editing process on December 1.
 
   Having worked as a journalist for a few years, I tend to write my first drafts sparsely
without much narrative. To justify my methodology, I point to Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules. In this case, specifically No. 4: “Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal character or advance the action.” I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right, rules are made to be broken. However, some are best kept for a while, especially by yet-to-be-bestselling authors, like me.
 
   I also think that I tend to write like a screenwriter (one of the best classes I ever took). I visualize the scene and write to that. By necessity, writers of TV series must think in terms of every scene and every line, because for each hour-long show, they have forty to forty-five minutes to tell the story, beginning to end. (cj Sez: I just checked: the average is forty-two minutes.)
 
   Years ago David Mamet, executive producer of the old action/drama TV series, “The Unit,” had some serious instructions for the show’s writers and sent them a memo that virtually shouted.  (He wrote it in all capital letters, and he had an "inviolable rule.") He directed his writers to concentrate on writing drama if they expected to keep their audience entertained…because if they lost their audience, they’d be out of work. It must’ve worked because the show ran for four seasons. Following are excerpts from that memorable memo:   
 
   "QUESTION: WHAT IS DRAMA? DRAMA, AGAIN, IS THE QUEST OF THE HERO TO OVERCOME THOSE THINGS WHICH PREVENT HIM FROM ACHIEVING A SPECIFIC, ACUTE GOAL.

   SO: WE, THE WRITERS, MUST ASK OURSELVES OF EVERY SCENE THESE THREE QUESTIONS.

1) WHO WANTS WHAT?
2) WHAT HAPPENS IF HER DON’T GET IT?
3) WHY NOW?

   THE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE LITMUS PAPER. APPLY THEM, AND THEIR ANSWER WILL TELL YOU IF THE SCENE IS DRAMATIC OR NOT.

[ *** ]
   START, EVERY TIME, WITH THIS INVIOLABLE RULE: THE SCENE MUST BE DRAMATIC. IT MUST START BECAUSE THE HERO HAS A PROBLEM, AND IT MUST CULMINATE WITH THE HERO FINDING HIM OR HERSELF EITHER THWARTED OR EDUCATED THAT ANOTHER WAY EXISTS. (cj: I think of his inviolable rule as the writer’s hooks at the beginning and ending of scenes and chapters.)
   
   LOOK AT YOUR LOG LINES. ANY LOGLINE READING “BOB AND SUE DISCUSS…” IS NOT DESCRIBING A DRAMATIC SCENE." (cj: They write loglines for every scene.)
 
cj Note:
A logline is a 25-word synopsis of your book.
A tagline is a catchy “movie poster” phrase.
 
Examples for Jaws –
Logline – After a series of grisly shark attacks, a sheriff struggles to protect his small beach community against the bloodthirsty monster, in spite of the greedy chamber of commerce. (from J. Gideon Sarentinos  http://bit.ly/1D90FmH  (25 words not counting "a" or "the".)
 
Tagline – Don’t go in the water.
 
You can read David Mamet’s entire memo at: 
http://movieline.com/2010/03/23/david-mamets-memo-to-the-writers-of-the-unit/
 
   Okay, let me know if what you think. Agree?  Disagree? Helpful with what you’re working on?
 
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   Tis ALMOST the season, but spreading cheer is always a good thing—especially when it’s a two-fer, and you’re actually helping out a charity, too.
The first two Bienvenue Press Christmas charity anthologies are on sale digitally for the entire month of November. Take advantage of the sale prices to stock your E-reader for December and beyond.
   HOMETOWN HEROES benefits the Cajun Navy Relief & Rescue
   FINALLY HOME helps regional animal rescue programs
 
Both are available on Amazon (free on Kindle Unlimited)

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  Halloween might be over, but the short pieces (stories, poems, even a play) in HALLOWEEN PIECES are timeless. Add this anthology to your Christmas gift-giving list. 

   (P.S. Several of the authors have signed a limited supply of copies available from The Haunted Bookshop (see where to order below).

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  Thank you for visiting Lyrical Pens. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj 

P.S.  TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from one of my favorite indie bookstores, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 
The store has re-opened to limited hours, so if you’re in the Mobile area, you can stop and shop, too.

➜ Follow me . . .       
on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Eleventh Hour, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Month

cj Sez:  On Wednesday this week, the U.S. respectfully observes Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all the veterans whose heroism made and keep this country free.

   “When first celebrated as Armistice Day, the day marked the end of World War I, formally recognized on the '11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month' in 1918.

   “Today we continue to celebrate the day as Veterans Day, still recognizing the original tie with November 11. That means Veterans Day is on the same day every year—November 11—regardless of on which day of the week it falls.”  (Source: https://www.military.com/veterans-day )

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NaNoWriMo  

   If you’re taking part in the challenge, GOPHERIT!

   "Find your best time of the day for writing and write. Don’t let anything else interfere. Afterwards it won’t matter to you that the kitchen is a mess." — Esther Freud

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I won a prize!

   Surprise, surprise, and thank you, thank you! I liked and shared the Facebook post of the Mobile Bookseller, Independent Bookstore, and my name was entered into a drawing to win a prize

   “Congratulations cj petterson!  You are the winner of the Paranormal Romance starter set giveaway!

   “Thank you for all of your shares, everyone!! And don't worry, there will be another giveaway before 2020 finally ends. Maybe a little somethin' somethin' for Christmas? Be on the lookout!

Facebook Link:   Mobile Bookseller

   “We sell or trade previously Loved books! Most of our books are priced around $3.50! If we don't have it, we can order it! We also have a nice collection of NEW Local Author books, and most of them are signed!”

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   That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

P.S.: 

   Anthologies make great gifts...timeless short stories from different authors for hours of entertainment.

Great news...These digital two-fers from Bienvenue Press are on sale during the month of November—Buy an anthology, support a charity: HOMETOWN HEROES benefits the Cajun Navy (that marvelous group of volunteers helping neighbors after storm floods) and FINALLY HOME benefits various animal rescue groups. 

   Be sure to watch for their soon-to-be-released next Christmas charity anthology: HOMEROOM HEROES to benefits the Acadiana Writing Project.

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Buy Now 

HALLOWEEN PIECES

   The latest anthology from the Mobile Writers Guild has 18 pieces in it.

   Available on Amazon (free on Kindle Unlimited)—and several of the authors have signed a limited supply of copies available from The Haunted Bookshop (see where to order below).

   TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from my favorite indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

Follow me . . .       
on Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page = https://amzn.to/2v6SrAj
on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor
on BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson
on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6 

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Do you think one extra hour of sleep is enough to get writers ready for 30 days of B-I-C?

cj Sez:  "National Novel Writing Month" is an organization that helps writers write, though the group is probably best known for their November NAtionalNOvelWRItingMOnth challenge that starts today…


   NaNoWriMo is a time when thousands of people commit to sitting their butts in chairs (B-I-C) and writing 50,000 words in one month. Since November has thirty days, that comes out to 1666.66 words a day (plus .2), but who’s counting. This year Sisters in Crime, an organization I am a member of, is a proud sponsor of NaNoWriMo. 

cj Sez: If you’re thinking about accepting the challenge, go to the NaNoWriMo website for more information and be sure to connect with like-minded writers who will encourage you along when the going gets tough.

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   Daylight Saving Time ended at 2:00 A.M. this morning. Hopefully, on Saturday evening, your clocks fell back one hour and you got your extra hour of sleep.


Personally I wanted to turn my clocks forward to a better year…whatever it is.

From The Old Farmer’s Almanac: Why Did DST Start? 

   “Blame Ben? Benjamin Franklin’s “An Economical Project,” written in 1784, is the earliest known proposal to ‘save’ daylight. It was whimsical in tone, advocating laws to compel citizens to rise at the crack of dawn to save the expense of candlelight:

   ‘Every morning, as soon as the Sun rises, let all the bells in every church be set ringing: and if that is not sufficient, let cannon be fired in every street to wake the sluggards effectually… . Oblige a man to rise at four in the morning, and it is probable that he will go willingly to bed at eight in the evening.’” 

   The Almanac reported that the first true proponent of Daylight Saving Time was an Englishman named William Willett who revived the idea in 1907 and actively lobbied for it.

   Despite Mr. Willet’s push, it was the Germans who were first to officially adopt the concept in 1915 as a fuel-saving measure during World War I.

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   From the pen of a Facebook friend/author comes my inspiration and aspiration: “47,520 copies sold through the years. I’m right proud of that.” (And well she should be!)

Advice from Bookish Buzz on Facebook:

  “Don’t be afraid to stop reading books that aren’t working for you. Reading time is precious, and you should use it to read books you love—not books you think you *should* finish.”

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   There are eighteen pieces for your reading pleasure in the Mobile Writers Guild latest anthology, HALLOWEEN PIECES, ranging from ghost and paranormal stories to poems and even a play. The Halloween theme is not the end-all-be-all—the selections offer year-round enjoyment. The anthology gives readers hours of variety entertainment for one low price! (A great gift for the holidays.)

Buy Now 

   The Mobile Public Library  YouTube channel has videos of some of the authors reading excerpts from their submissions. Find the Mobile Writers Guild Anthology play list here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd7Q8MrJ_U8&list=PLBvSFfmvnJuBHiGkQqy_M9kSDepqoqKMl

   A review that came in to my Facebook page: “It was very enjoyable.....all of the stories were.” 

   HALLOWEEN PIECES is available on Amazon (free on Kindle Unlimited)—and several of the authors have signed a limited supply of copies available from The Haunted Bookshop (see where to order below).

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EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT/PRIVILEGE/DUTY TO VOTE

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  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. 

cj

P.S.  TO ORDER my autographed books or any book of your choice on-line from my favorite indie bookstore, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us

 The store has re-opened to limited hours, so if you’re in the Mobile area, you can stop and shop, too.

Follow me . . . 
on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6