"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Parallels: Felix Was Here

I'm so excited to share the cover art for our science fiction anthology! I have a story appearing inside along with the work of nine other talented authors. The release date will be sometime in the Spring of this year. Isn't the cover super cool?

Parallels: Felix Was Here
Anthology
Print ISBN 9781939844200
eBook ISBN 9781939844118
Science Fiction/Alternate History
Enter the realm of parallel universes!

Synopsis: What if the government tried to create the perfect utopia? Could a society linked to a supercomputer survive on its own? Do our reflections control secret lives on the other side of the mirror? Can one moment split a person’s world forever?

Exploring the fantastic, ten authors offer incredible visions and captivating tales of diverse reality. Featuring the talents of L. G. Keltner, Crystal Collier, Hart Johnson, Cherie Reich, Sandra Cox, Yolanda Renee, Melanie Schulz, Sylvia Ney, Michael Abayomi, and Tamara Narayan.

Hand-picked by a panel of agents and authors, these ten tales will expand your imagination and twist the tropes of science fiction. Step through the portal and enter another dimension!

Releasing from Freedom Fox Press, A division of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Monday, January 25, 2016

A to Z List Now Open!

A to Z List opens!

The seventh annual "A to Z Blogging Challenge" is coming soon, and the sign-up list is now live! 

Please read and follow the sign-up instructions outlined below so you sign onto the list correctly!

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out, the A to Z Challenge is posting every day in April except Sundays (we get those off for good behavior.) And since there are 26 days, that matches the 26 letters of the alphabet. On April 1, blog about something that begins with the letter “A.” April 2 is “B,” April 4 is “C,” and so on. You can use a theme for the month or go random – just as long as it matches the letter of the alphabet for the day. 

The A to Z Challenge is a great way to get into the blogging habit and make new friends. For more details and its history, go HERE  TO SIGN UP, GO HERE.

Short posts are recommended, turn off Word Verification, and try to visit at least five blogs (hopefully more) a day beginning with the one after yours on the list. 

Blogs must be on an open platform – no Tumblr, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. – and comments enabled. Please make it easy for visitors to comment on your blog.

To streamline legitimate blogs from advertisement blogs, the Co-Hosts will be visiting each blog on this list throughout the Challenge. Once the Challenge begins, blogs showing no activity or those that miss five days in a row will be removed. 

There are categories for those looking for like-minded blogs. Select ONE category code and enter it after your blog’s title/name. The code applies to your blog, not your theme for the Challenge and is purely optional. See the first few blogs on the list for examples. However, if your blog has adult content, you MUST mark it (AC) or it will be removed from the list. Codes are as follows: 

ANIMALS: (AN) 
BOOKS/REVIEWS: (BO) 
CRAFTS/ART: (CT) 
CULINARY: (CU) 
EDUCATION/SCIENCE: (ES) 
ENTERTAINMENT: (ET) 
GAMING: (GA) 
HISTORY/MYTHOLOGY: (HM) 
HUMOR: (HU) 
LIFESTYLE/SOCIAL: (LS ) 
PERSONAL: (PR) 
PHOTOGRAPHY: (PH) 
POETRY: (PO) 
TRAVEL: (TR) 
WRITING/STORYTELLING/MEMOIR: (WR) 
ADULT CONTENT: (AC) 

Be sure to grab the badge and display it in your sidebar so we know you are participating and link to the A to Z Challenge Blog.

For more information we recommend you follow the A to Z Challenge Blog and the hosts: 

Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
Heather M. Gardner
Jeremy @ Hollywood Nuts
AJ Lauer
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian
Damyanti Biswas @ Daily Write
Zalka Csenge VirĂ¡g @ The Multicolored Diary
Joy Campbell @ The Character Depot
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing

We also have a Facebook Page and Pinterest Site 
Email address is contactatozteam@gmail.com
Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge and Twitter id is @AprilA2Z


YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP TO PARTICIPATE IN OTHER "A TO Z" ACTIVITIES:

A TO Z CALENDAR [2016]

2016 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Sign-up 
January 25, 2016

A to Z Challenge Twitter Chats
February 18, 2016 - 9:00 PM EST (NY, USA)

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal Blogfest Sign-up
February 22, 2016

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal Blogfest Day
March 21, 2016

2016 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge Day
April 1, 2016

A to Z Reflections Post
- See more at: http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/a-to-z-calendar.html#sthash.ndBiFIKI.dpuf

WILL YOU BE PARTICIPATING?

Friday, January 22, 2016

Editing Cave

I'm entering the editing cave for the weekend. I'll be back to blogging and commenting next week.

Have a great weekend!

HAPPY WRITING!

Monday, January 18, 2016

Writer's Conferences, Workshops, and Festivals in 2016

Last week I shared a detailed list of my local (Texas and Louisiana) opportunities which can still be found here.

I promised to return this week with a more detailed list and information about nation wide options. However, I found this great list on Jodie Renner's blog and thought I'd pass it along as it's more detailed than the one I have.

I still haven't done any research on international opportunities for this year. If you know of any, or would like for me to add some to the other two lists, please let us know by leaving a comment.

HAPPY WRITING!

Friday, January 15, 2016

3 Lifetimes in 1

Hey guys! A friend of mine is releasing his new book. If you have a moment, check it out and show him some support. Thanks all, and have a great weekend!

3 Lifetimes In 1: A True Story About Change And Redemption
by Mark Wayne Allen

A lifetime of memories filled with happiness and terrible tragedies. This book is Mark Wayne Allen's memoirs about his life. Coming from a normal background of a fun-loving, active kid, he has withstood many trials of life and has had to begin his life again, not once, but twice. A tragic car wreck would force him to leave the innocence of childhood behind at just 12 years of age. His survival was only by Miracles. Physical healing would take months, but the traumatic events would force him to rethink his life. Some years later, he would suffer a major head injury, but the loving God that had protected him with Miracles through the first disaster would protect him again. See these Miracles through Mark's eyes and the full revelation of his change and redemption.

—"You chose to go ahead and tell the truth in order to perhaps help others get past those dreadful seasons of coping... Your story is proof that life is not over for the quadriplegic, it is a new season to adjust to and keeping moving forward."  Sudie Landry, Writers' Guild of Acadiana President 

Thursday, January 14, 2016

2016 Conferences, Workshops, and Festivals: Texas and Louisiana List

2016 Conferences, Workshops, and Festivals: This list is specific to Texas and Louisiana. 

I will try to provide a broader national list in a few days. Please feel free to comment with any you would like to see added to this list or the national one I am working to complete. 

Anyone know of any in other countries besides the US? Please feel free to comment with those as well. You never know when an opportunity will arise. Right? :-)

 
2/13/16 - "Write Your Heart Out" with Laurie Kolp and Sylvia Ney - http://www.writinginwonderland.blogspot.com/2016/01/write-your-heart-out.html

3/10 through 4/3/16 - New Orleans Literary Festival -  http://www.tennesseewilliams.net/

3/11-20/16 - SXSW Film and writers festival in Austin - http://www.sxsw.com/

4/2/16 - Jambalaya Writers Conference - http://mytpl.org/jwc/

?- Houston Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference - could not find this years date but it's usually in April



6/24-26 - Austin Agents and Editors Conference - http://www.writersleague.org/38/Conference

9/15-18/16 - New Orleans MysteryConvention  http://www.bouchercon.info/


10/13-20 - Austin Film Festival https://austinfilmfestival.com/

11/5-6/16 - Austin Book Festival - https://www.texasbookfestival.org/

11/16 - New Orleans book festival https://www.everfest.com/e/new-orleans-book-festival-new-orleans-la

11/12/16- Bayou Writers: A Bridge to Publication  - http://bayouwritersgroup.com/

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Lost and Found: The Valentine's Edition

From Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out and Guilie Castilol-Oriard at A Quiet Laughter, and co-hosted by Elizabeth Seckman, Yolanda Renee, Denise Covey. and Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Do you remember that special feeling of love found? And who hasn't experienced the emotional experience of love lost? Some of you might have even lost a love only to find that person later for another go around. 

Tell your story about love lost or found in our special Valentine's blogfest. Your post can be a short fiction, an essay, poetry, or even a song--let your imagination run free. Any genre is fair game, be it romance, historical fiction, memoir, or even science fiction. After all there are no limitations when it comes to love.

The Lost and Found: Valentine’s Edition blogfest takes place February 1. For details and to sign up, go HERE.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

IWSG: Reborn

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs. You can also join us on twitter using the hashtag #IWSG, or on the Facebook page.

Hello all! I hope you were able to enjoy a wonderful holiday season doing things you enjoy. It's our first post of the year, and a time of rebirth. As many people tend to do, I decided to make a few New Year's resolutions. However, I decided to limit myself to just TWO this year. That's doable right? I can handle two tasks. Easier said than done.

Resolution #1 - Complete tasks - this didn't become a problem for me until I had kids. In fact, I have OCD tendencies that demanded I finish things just so. However, anyone with kids knows that when you have two infants, or multiple toddlers, or anyone else living in your house, everything can quickly become about them and not you. At first, it was necessary for me to learn to let things slide, but after a while it became a habit. Then, it became an excuse. This leads me to:

Resolution #2 - Trust myself - confidence has never been my strongest trait. i.e. sometimes it's hard to find any at all. This applies to many areas of my life, but especially in my writing. No matter how many articles, short stories, poems, pictures, blog posts, whatever, that I publish I'm always questioning my abilities. When I finally do complete a work and submit it, I anxiously wait. I'm so excited about the piece I've submitted that I can't wait to hear back. This problem always leads to one of two outcomes. One: they rejected it, and I'm left wondering what made me think it was okay to submit. Or two: they accept it with congratulations, and I'm left wondering what's wrong that they are willing to publish my work. Is there something wrong with the publisher? Did they not receive enough entries? Why are they publishing me? Super neurotic, right?

So, those are my two resolutions. Thankfully, I recently found a book that has made me feel so much better - The Shy Writer - Reborn: An Introverted Writer's Wake-Up Call. It's opened my eyes to some of the things that cause me to feel the way I do, how so many others are similar, and what I might do to help myself.

I highly recommend this book. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner, or a multiple award-winning author. We all struggle with our confidence from time to time. Whether you dread marketing, public speaking, and/or sharing your creations this book can help. The author, C. Hope Clark, helps you to embrace your strengths and weakness, and to move forward with renewed confidence. This book is a true comfort that has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf. I hope you will give it a try.

Happy New Year, and Happy Rebirth!

What kind of resolutions are you making?

Monday, January 4, 2016

Write Your Heart Out

WRITE YOUR HEART OUT: A day of instruction, inspiration, and expression

February 13, 2016 from 10 am – 6 pm at Howell’s  - 6095 Folsom Dr. Beaumont, Texas

Facilitators Laurie Kolp and Sylvia Ney will help you complete at least one submission ready piece of 1500 words or less.

This workshop is for fans of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction.



2016 “Write Your Heart Out” Workshop Registration Form



NAME:_________________________________________________

ADDRESS:______________________________________________

_______________________________________________________

PHONE ________________________________________________

EMAIL ________________________________________________

FEES:

_________ $10 for BWG and TGCW Members (Must be mailed by Feb. 5)

_________ $20 for Non-Members (Must be mailed by Feb. 5)

_________$25 At the Door on Feb. 13


You can mail this page with your payment to: 
Sylvia Ney
PO BOX 252
Bridge City, TX 77611

Friday, January 1, 2016

Happy New Year!

I hope you are able to enjoy this time doing something you love. I'll be back to posting next week. Happy New Year!