Hello to you this Thursday instead of Friday,
I was eager to write to you so I’m submitting today. I found a great new website: http://crimesistahs.blogspot.com/. I don’t visit websites too often, the few I have are those of other writers and I’ve mentioned them in past entries so when I do come across one (it’s a blog on writing of course) especially one I hadn’t been looking for and find that it’s wonderful I have to let you know—let everyone know.
The Crime Sistahs can be found where I blog—blogspot which just made it better. One of the reasons why I like The Crime Sistahs is because it’s kept by crime and mystery novelists which of course gives me a new list of crime novels to fall in love with. I spent a lot of time reading on the site and was thrilled to discover it’s the kind of place that has everything and not just what a crime mystery writer would want, but any writer seeking advice, information, enthusiasm, a good laugh and encouragement. Reading the entries you get the sense these hard working successful writers want you to be successful too, they want you to make your writing dreams come true and are willing to do whatever they can to help you make it happen.
The site is low key and infused with the warm and engaging personalities of the writers. The entries began 10-23-2005 and just reading a few of them makes you want to read every one in the archive (I’m going to try) because you know you'll find something of use in just about every entry, for example: in the entry dated July 20, 2007 the writer Angela Henry, who writes the Kendra Clayton mystery series lets us know about the first annual St. Martins Minotaur/Mystery Writers of America First Crime Novel Competition being held right now and to send our novels out to them.
In the entry dated July 16, 2007 by Patricia Sargeant the writer of You Belong to Me, she imparts good advice on plotting she received from an editor at the Romance Writers of America conference and in another entry by Angela she tells what its like to have a book launch party and the scary anticipation of having another on a grander scale. As you can tell the entries are more than worth reading, more like essential.
So when you’re taking that momentary break from writing visit The Crime Sistahs site and do some reading keeping a lot of what they’ve written in mind. Think of it as just one more sturdy brick added to that solid foundation your writing is built upon.
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Hello, how are you?
Like most writers I read a lot of different novels: non-fiction and fiction of course: horror, science, literary. I’ve read many Stephen King novels so tried my hand at writing a couple of horror short stories, one titled The Eye and I enjoyed writing them realizing it was a stepping stone on to the road to finding my own niche and when I finally did there wasn’t a need to again write outside my chosen métier (one of my favorite words) of crime mystery fiction in all its forms.
Because I read urban fiction too and as a black woman supposedly familiar with the “black experience” should I want to write about it? No, no and no a thousand times. What I want to do is write with enthusiasm, joy and anticipation that wakes me each morning and that only happens when I write what I love and not what “I should” because of various silly reasons.
Writing is challenge enough and to write what you don’t enjoy or don’t love because it’s popular or worst yet, you think its going to make you rich, forget it; though rich does happen to some writers, the thing is, those writers keep on writing when they don’t have to because it’s just something special about writing well isn’t it? I believe it’s because it’s one of the few mostly solo occupations you truly can’t find personal fulfillment in if you don’t love to do it. So do it.
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
Like most writers I read a lot of different novels: non-fiction and fiction of course: horror, science, literary. I’ve read many Stephen King novels so tried my hand at writing a couple of horror short stories, one titled The Eye and I enjoyed writing them realizing it was a stepping stone on to the road to finding my own niche and when I finally did there wasn’t a need to again write outside my chosen métier (one of my favorite words) of crime mystery fiction in all its forms.
Because I read urban fiction too and as a black woman supposedly familiar with the “black experience” should I want to write about it? No, no and no a thousand times. What I want to do is write with enthusiasm, joy and anticipation that wakes me each morning and that only happens when I write what I love and not what “I should” because of various silly reasons.
Writing is challenge enough and to write what you don’t enjoy or don’t love because it’s popular or worst yet, you think its going to make you rich, forget it; though rich does happen to some writers, the thing is, those writers keep on writing when they don’t have to because it’s just something special about writing well isn’t it? I believe it’s because it’s one of the few mostly solo occupations you truly can’t find personal fulfillment in if you don’t love to do it. So do it.
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
Friday, July 13, 2007
Hello and happy Friday!
Are you writing today? I hope so, I’m writing a little mostly editing You Don’t Know Me. I got it back from the editing service the other day and though it’s a basic edit; making sure words are spelled correctly, punctuation is correct, use of the proper word, I still found some of the suggestions not to my liking so I kept the text as it was.
I wondered though if this had been an edit by a popular editor at Penguin Worldwide for instance would I have agreed immediately to all suggestions then done them at the speed of light with no back talk versus hesitating over them now ( and not making a number of them) as suggested by the editing person contracted with Lulu Publishing.
Because it was Penguin would I feel obligated to make all corrections and changes because it’s Penguin and I would feel so grateful they had a greed to publish my book I’d do whatever asked. I try not to think about it because I want to believe I would not make any changes I felt would tamper with the story or the characters or at the very least bring forth my own arguments why I would not make the changes; the problem is I’m not so sure. Deep deep deep deep down, I know I’d be open to any suggestions and probably make the changes. Yuck.
But for now I don’t have that problem to prey on my mind, I smile as I decide I won’t make this change or the next, that I’ll use my word instead of their’s and it feels good to be in control and know my story is going the way I want it to; the way I wrote it
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
Are you writing today? I hope so, I’m writing a little mostly editing You Don’t Know Me. I got it back from the editing service the other day and though it’s a basic edit; making sure words are spelled correctly, punctuation is correct, use of the proper word, I still found some of the suggestions not to my liking so I kept the text as it was.
I wondered though if this had been an edit by a popular editor at Penguin Worldwide for instance would I have agreed immediately to all suggestions then done them at the speed of light with no back talk versus hesitating over them now ( and not making a number of them) as suggested by the editing person contracted with Lulu Publishing.
Because it was Penguin would I feel obligated to make all corrections and changes because it’s Penguin and I would feel so grateful they had a greed to publish my book I’d do whatever asked. I try not to think about it because I want to believe I would not make any changes I felt would tamper with the story or the characters or at the very least bring forth my own arguments why I would not make the changes; the problem is I’m not so sure. Deep deep deep deep down, I know I’d be open to any suggestions and probably make the changes. Yuck.
But for now I don’t have that problem to prey on my mind, I smile as I decide I won’t make this change or the next, that I’ll use my word instead of their’s and it feels good to be in control and know my story is going the way I want it to; the way I wrote it
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
Friday, July 06, 2007
Hello,
Today I was taking care of the business of writing you know, sending out e-mails for blurbs, running to the post office, sending off packages of work to be read, all the stuff that comes in between the writing. I got it done so I'm back to the writing. Those things have to be done to get your projects known by readers and what I did isn't even half that has to be done: interviews (if you can get them) keeping your website up to date even writing articles, so since it has to be done, try your best to do it with a smile.
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
Today I was taking care of the business of writing you know, sending out e-mails for blurbs, running to the post office, sending off packages of work to be read, all the stuff that comes in between the writing. I got it done so I'm back to the writing. Those things have to be done to get your projects known by readers and what I did isn't even half that has to be done: interviews (if you can get them) keeping your website up to date even writing articles, so since it has to be done, try your best to do it with a smile.
If you have any comments or suggestions please e-mail me at my new address: shabazzl@adasbcc.org.
Until next time, God willing,
Lori
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