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

Monday, August 20, 2018

2018 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest

Word count: 3500-6000

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Theme:
Masquerade
A Masquerade can be a false show or pretense, someone pretending to be someone they aren't. It can be a ball, a fancy dress party, it can be a mask. Open to interpretation.

Submissions accepted: September 5 - November 4, 2018

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges who will be announced September 5.

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

WILL YOU BE ENTERING THIS YEAR?

Thursday, August 9, 2018

National Book Lover's Day

I hope you're enjoying an excellent read today!

If you've never heard of this celebration, National Book Lovers Day harnesses all the excitement bibliophiles feel about books into one celebration on August 9th. *Bibliophile – a person who has a great appreciation for or collects books.

A day for all those who love to read, National Book Lovers Day encourages you to find your favorite reading place, a good book (whether it be fiction or non-fiction) and read the day away.
Curious about the history of this day, or how others are spending it? Check out:
WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Reading to Inspire Young Writers

At least once a month I try to share what I've been reading. Sometimes it's the fiction stories I'm enjoying, sometimes it's the nonfiction, and sometimes it's craft specific titles that I share. Today, I thought I would share a few titles specific to my classroom environment.

Rhetorical Analysis: A Brief Guide for Writers,  walks students through the process for doing different kinds of analyses -- argument analysis, structure analysis, style analysis, and more. This book shows how to analyze a range of texts, print, visual, and multimedia. It includes both authors’ own analyses as models for students, as well as 4 complete student model papers. It also introduces students to rhetorical concepts (both classical and modern) that are relevant to rhetorical analysis.

This is the textbook I'm using with my Dual Credit high school seniors - college freshman class. In this time of extreme bias, quick tempers, and unrecognized agendas I feel this is such a crucial study for students preparing to enter adulthood. It's not enough to teach our young to just think for themselves. They must be shown how to analyze a source, judge it's worth, and evaluate both sides of an issue before forming their own conclusions and ultimately become able to form their own persuasions.



Great teammates don’t just impact you today; they impact you for the rest of your life. From the moment Jon Gordon heard about George Boiardi and the Hard Hat he was intrigued and captivated. Over the years he visited George’s coaches, attended several “21 Dinners” held in his honor, met his family, talked to his teammates and observed how he inspired all who knew him. The Hard Hat is an unforgettable true story about a selfless, loyal, joyful, hard-working, competitive, and compassionate leader and teammate, the impact he had on his team and program and the lessons we can learn from him.
The book features:
  • A True Story about George Boiardi, his Team and their Legacy.
  • 21 Lessons to be a Great Teammate
  • Insights from George’s Teammates and Coaches that Bring the Lessons to Life.
  • 21 Exercises to help you Build a Great Team 
Infused with practical insights and life changing lessons, The Hard Hat will inspire you to be the best teammate you can be and to build a great team. This is a quick, but poignant read full of inspiration.
*100% of author’s royalties go to support the Mario St. George Boiardi Foundation.


The Fundamental Five: The Formula for Quality Instruction, shares with teachers and school leaders the five practices that every teacher can, and should, use to dramatically improve instructional rigor and relevance, and student performance.

Another quick read with some great reminders, suggestions, and inspiration.


What books would you recommend teachers read? What advice would you give teachers of future writers? If you were going to write a book for educators, or create your own curriculum, what would it be about?

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

IWSG: Pitfalls

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.

Now, IWSG hosts have changed up the format in an effort to make it more fun and interactive.Every month, they will announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say. 

Don’t forget to visit others that day to see their answers. Want to join, or learn more? Visit our - Sign-up List.

AUGUST QUESTION: What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?

MY ANSWER: Don't allow critiques or rejection to stop you. It's too easy to take criticism personally. Writing is such a personal act so it's extremely difficult not to allow a perceived attack to aggravate, anger, or depress us. Recognize reading can be subjective so give yourself some distance and time to assess whether the feedback is truly constructive. Do you still have more to learn, do you need to rework your manuscript, or should you completely ignore the otherwise useless comments? Regardless of the answer, never let someone else's opinion prevent you from pursuing your passion.

What pitfalls would you warn others about?