Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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March 31, 2017

7 Years of WITS - a Celebration Where YOU Get the Presents

7 years ago, we posted our first blog. We could have never imagined where WITS would be today. We just heard, in fact, we made the Writers Digest Top 101 Blogs for Writers again this year (pause for squee) and that's thanks to you, our faithful readers. So today, YOU get the present - but before that, I thought we'd take a quick rundown of our most popular posts from the past, in case you missed them:

We strive to deliver cutting edge content to writers of all skill levels, so we hope you hang with us for the next seven years!

And now, on to the presents -

Pimp & Promote!

How does this work?

To quote the genie in Aladdin, “There are a few provisos, a couple of quid-pro-quos…"

Pimp out somebody else’s work – this can be a favorite author, blogger, post or book you’ve read, a wonderful teacher or just someone who had profound influence on you as a writer or a person. Please limit your comments to one work.
OR
Promote one of your projects that you’re excited about – a hobby, a blog, a book, or a new direction your writing is taking you. You decide. Just tell us about it in the comments! (Please restrain your enthusiasm to just one of your WIPs.) The rest of us will jump in and “ooooh and ahh” at you, and likely promote your project even further because we’re just so darn excited today.

If you really want to ace this P&P thing, do both...

Ready?  GO!

68 comments on “7 Years of WITS - a Celebration Where YOU Get the Presents”

  1. I have to tell you about two books you need to buy. Seriously.

    First is our own Orly's debut, and it's out in a month! (I've read it, do yourself a favor) You can preorder here: http://dld.bz/f8MJp

    Second - did you hear? Our bud and frequent commenter, Debbie Herbert Finalled in the RITA contest! (if you don't know, that's the Oscars of the Romance Industry). Bayou Shadow Hunter - check it out! http://dld.bz/f8MJV

    Lastly - I started a video blog of writing craft - come be entertained with dorkiness, and hopefully, learn something! Sign up for updates - the next one features me in a field with a longhorn! http://www.lauradrakebooks.com/my-blog/

  2. Big pimpin' the first book of one of my critique partner's - comes out Tuesday, April 4th via Sourcebooks. Sci-fi romance from a writer with an unforgettable voice. I've been reading various things from Viv Jackson for six years, and I remember everything that's ever landed in my inbox for critique. She's one of those writers - one whose voice sticks with you, one where you say "damn, I wish I could do that." And, Viv couldn't be a lovelier person. Everyone loves Viv in our RWA chapter. I'm thrilled for her and want this book to sell faster than shirtless photos of men in kilts. Anyone who feels the need to pay it forward, you couldn't pick a more talented writer and awesome person than Vivien Jackson. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51SpUdwfALL._AC_US160_.jpg

  3. Happy Anniversary and thanks for the opportunity. I launched a new series last year with three books. They're contemporary western romantic suspense, and I'm proud (and amazed) that I got them all written, edited, and published for 2016 releases. The first is In Hot Water. https://terryodell.com/in-hot-water

  4. Congrats on 7 years of success. You've been a helpful, accessible writing source for me and I want to say THANK YOU!!!!

  5. Thanks for the opportunity to tell you about our forthcoming novel - "Eden's Fall", the first in a series of contemporary romantic suspense novels written by KR Brorman, CC Cedras and me. Each of us took the lead on one of the books with the other two adding subplots woven into the main storyline. Each features three strong female leads (one belonging to each writer) working together to "save the day". In “Eden's Fall”, KR Brorman is the lead writer. In it, "Kenna Campbell and her two friends take on a vicious human-trafficker to save the self-sacrificing former SAS officer she loves." We're aiming to launch “Eden's Fall” in June 2017

    Check out our Facebook page -- Stilettos Stoli and Scribbles -- for links to our blog, excerpts and other goodies.

  6. Thank you Writers In the Storm.Today I'm pimping you! Sharing your blog on Facebook! This site has been invaluable to me on my writing journey.

  7. I want to pimp The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi because it absolutely changed the way I thought about writing and I want to promote the writing blog I cofounded and manage Thinking Through Our Fingers (thinkingthroughourfingers.com).

    Huge congrats on seven years and deepest gratitude for the wisdom shared here and the friendship from so many.

  8. Happy birthday WITS! Your articles regularly inspire me. But today, I would like to pimp a book, which although not new, has been my life-line in recent months; Awaken The Giant Within, by Tony Robbins.
    For myself, although I am writing an early middle-grade fantasy novel at the moment, it is too much a work in progress to share!!! However, my passion for reading has become a side-line; I now write reviews for crime novels on a UK site; crimereview.co.uk. This not only helps my writing, but also broadens my horizons. If you would like to read my reviews, go to http://crimereview.co.uk/page.php/user/4091

  9. Congrats on seven years of wonderful posts!! It's still a little ways away and I don't have an official title but I'm excited to say my 2016 Golden Heart winning entry, Rescuing Riley, will be a January 2018 release from Harlequin Special Edition which means it will be on the shelves on or around December 19th of this year. Squee!!! And my second sometime later in 2018.

    And I'd like to promote a book I discovered from reading a post on this blog--Story Genius by Lisa Cron. It will definitely change the way I write and plot.

    1. Wish your book was available on Amazon, Carrie - I'd pimp it! Congrats!

      And so with you on Lisa - sat in on 3 of her workshops last weekend - she's incredible. Changed the way I write, too!

  10. I'm still working on my award-winning book, so I'll pimp my good friend Carrie Nichols Golden Heart winner, Rescuing Riley, which will be a January 2018 release, and another excellent writer friend of mine, Kim Turner. Her second book, Wyatt's Bounty, will be out next month, April 12th. The first in the series, Sawyer's Rose, is available on Amazon. If you enjoy Historical westerns, these two are sure to please.

    Congrats, WITS, on your 7th year of awesomeness!!!

  11. I'd like to pimp Marina Adair's St. Helena Vineyard Kindle World. Marina is a warm-hearted, supportive author who has chosen a group of authors to write in her world who are equally generous of their time and talent. I was privileged to be in her first launch and am proud to be in her second group. Our books will be up April 5. Marina is truly a person who "pays it forward."

    1. Marina is a LOVE! She and I were 'baby' authors together at Grand Central together, the year RWA was in Anaheim. We sat next to each other at the 'big people's table' at the GC dinner, oogled Jill Shalvis, and took turns pinching each other to believe we were there!

  12. I just pimped your great offer to my FaceBook followers (all writers)--thanks for this opportunity for them to mention their books, etc.

    I would also love to promote my writing workshop just for series writers. I've run the course before but have just this week set it up on another platform—so I'm offering the first 25 WITS readers a 25% discount. If you've even just thought about writing series, this is a chance for you to learn the tricks and secrets to this specific skill. Just use this link to get right to that offer (the discount code is WITS). https://haven4writers-workshops.thinkific.com?coupon=WITS

    Thanks, Laura, and congratulations on 7 years!

  13. Great site! Great community! Congrats on 7 years of GREAT stuff! Inspires me to stay the course on my novel with the hope of having good news to share before your next anniversary roles around. Keep it up, you all. Will be signing up for some of these wonderful resources.

  14. Hey, congrats WITS! Lucky 7 years. So glad to have found this community. :O) And thanks Laura for being such a shining example of how writers can thrive by supporting each other!

  15. Love reading WITS. I always learn something or have a moment of, "Thank god, I'm not the only one!" I would like to promote my web site. I've been working on it. It's still in it's baby stages. I'd love it if y'all would pop on over and take a look. For anyone who joins my mailing list, I'm hard at work on a novella which is a prequel to my trilogy in progress. As soon as it's ready, I'll send you a link. Here's the site: http://www.lyndajo.com

    Looking forward to staying in touch!

  16. Congratulations on seven years! WITS is one of the blogs I make sure I never miss. Thank y'all for talking me down off the writing ledge every now and again. ?

    I'd like to promote the latest from one of my critique partners, and an amazing author! The Lucky Cat Shop by Debi Matlack is now one of my favorite books ever. It's funny, touching, and also has some spooky goings on. Great book! https://smile.amazon.com/Lucky-Cat-Shop-Debi-Matlack-ebook/dp/B01BNZN2KA

  17. I'm going to pimp a great Facebook group for readers to connect with an awesome group of writers - BLOOM. It's run by the Tall Poppy Writers and has blossomed into an amazing community with fun exchanges on books and writing and life and anything and everything.

    https://www.facebook.com/groups/Bloomwithtpw/

  18. Congratulations on seven years! I enjoy reading the posts. I'm excited to share my writing adventure. Thank you for allowing us to do this. My first book published in September 2016. It's my journey through mental illness with my adult child. Ours is one of hope and recovery. As a result of my book, I get to share my passion of supporting those affected, both the individuals and their families. It's been amazing. http://amzn.to/2nIV7ym

  19. What a wonderful accomplishment, and Thank You! This is where I stop to read and browse, when it’s hard to find focus, to remember, when other voices get in the way, why I do what I do. Here, I am reminded that it was my choice to be a late bloomer, that it’s not too late to forge ahead.

    Meet Ray Malus (http://raymalus.com/Main_Menu.php), who left us in February. Without imposing his troubles on others, he knew he only had a short time left, and gave the last of his energies to updating his website. His first self-published book was ASHES IN YONKERS, based on his play, and is remarkable. (DISCLAIMER: My husband and I hosted and helped out with a reading of the play, which is also linked on the website.) Ray’s gifts and body of work are astonishing. You’ll not regret spending time with him.

    Right now, I’m hoping to get reviews for “King’s Games, The Commentaries” http://amzn.to/21a45DY – which I broke out from the original book in hopes of reaching folks who aren’t interested in reading a verse play, but would like a brief, comprehensive overview of both Richard III, and an autobiographical account of what it takes to create a play about him. It’s selling, but not to people who write Amazon reviews.

    Me, you can find at http://NanceCrawford.com and through Google® which, (all claims to the contrary) does not seem to be of much help in the marketing department, although the picture gallery is full of fascinating folks, most of whom are not me.

  20. Congrats! I've been with WITS at least half that time, and I enjoy reading and sharing the posts. On behalf of all authors, thanks for being here. 🙂

  21. It's hard to believe we're seven years old, isn't it? I'll have my first young adult science fiction adventure book out this summer. And thanks to Tiffany Yates Martin, my editor, it's going to be better than I ever dreamed it could be.

  22. Congratulations. Your blog contains informative and interesting posts and I am certain that you will enjoy many more years of success.
    My pimp goes out to a fellow Faber-Academy alumni Joanna Cannon for her wonderful book The Trouble With Goats and Sheep.
    My debut novel Silencio by L A Berry was published in 2016 and is available on Amazon or in paperback through UK book stores ( see http://www.laberrynovels.org for details).

  23. I'm late to the party, but huge congrats on 7 years, guys! I'd like to promote our WITS hostess Laura Drake's books, especially Days Made of Glass and her Rita winner The Sweet Spot. Awesome books full of deep emotion. I'm heading to your site to catch up on your video blogs, Laura. Looking forward to many more years of WITS wisdom!

  24. Wow, seven years!! That's amazing! I only recently started my blog. You can find it at forhisglorydotblog.wordpress.com. I blog about my faith in God and how it relates to writing. Sometimes I write about themes commonly found in books and movies, or common types of characters. I'm also hoping to get a book published in the near (or relatively far?) future, so I can't really promote it yet, but I WILL blog about it when I do.

    I would also like to pimp The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. I read it around the time I started getting serious about writing, and my writing improved so much in such a short time it was INSANE!! Seriously. It really puts into words the whole show-don't-tell thing, and it also gets a little bit into the psychology behind emotion. Also, check out their other books (The Setting Thesauruses are my other favorites) and their website. I've gotten sooooo much writing advice from there, and all of it has been super helpful. My books thank me for it.

  25. I'm excited about how my blog steadily gains followers. http://www.JanetsWritingBlog.com is an outlet for me to share my journey as a writer and a reader. I'm editing what I hope will be my first southern historical novel. The working title is The Spanish Coin. It is set in the Carolina backcountry in 1771. If you are a reader or a writer, I hope you'll visit my blog and join me on my journey! Thank you, Laura, for giving me this opportunity to toot my own horn. Congratulations upon making the Writers Digest Top 101 Blogs for Writers again this year!

  26. Okay, Laura. I'm signed up for your new videos, and I'm part of Angela and all the wonderful stuff she does at Writers Helping Writers. Many congratulations to WITS. You have helped so many writers. We can't thank you enough.
    If anyone is a family camper, you can find information about Camping with Kids at my blog: http://campingwithfivekids.blogspot.com. Thanks, everyone!

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