Writers in the Storm

A blog about writing

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A Valentine's Present from WITS: Share Your Writing

We're all about love, here at WITS

And to prove it, we're giving our readers the opportunity to strut their stuff!  WITS bloggers are going to share a bit of their writing, and we're giving you the opportunity to show off yours! 

We want to get to know you through your writing! Simply paste your sample into the comments. RULES: one paragraph, no more than 5 lines.

And before we get carried away with that, I wanted to let you know - the winner of Laura's ARC is - - -  Julie Glover! She'll contact you, Julie!

Please feel free to comment on others' stellar writing ~ Here's ours:

Laura Drake - from my debut novel, The Sweet Spot (May 2013 release.)

She wanted to slap the solicitous look off his face. She wanted to run.

Instead, she held ground, stabbing a finger at the trailer. “Those bulls have nothing on you in the balls department. You’ve got no talking room, Jimmy. Your old life fell apart, so you just threw it away and started a new one. Your medication just leans toward blonde and brainless.”

Sharla Rae - from her American historical, How to Fell a Timberman

“Freya’s tits! You’re Noelle Bridger?”

Noelle gasped in outrage but she refused to be bullied by this . . . tree trunk. “Yes, I’m Miss Bridger, and I’d like to know --”

“You are not what I expected.”

“This place isn’t what I expected,” she shot back. Her “new beginning” no longer looked so promising.

Orly Konig-Lopez - from her Women's Fiction novel, It's Not Me, It's You

"Am I setting myself up for another fall?” I said, the words echoing in the quiet of the gallery. I whipped my head around, suddenly feeling ridiculous. No doubt looking ridiculous. Okay, I was totally ridiculous. I was talking to a suit of armor.

Fae Rowen - from her Sci-Fi Romance, Keeping Athena

Athena squinted against the brightness and gasped the precious air into her lungs.

“Eve, dim the lights.” The deep, disembodied voice sounded annoyed.

Immediately the brightness faded, backlighting a figure towering over her. He was huge. His shoulders filled her entire field of vision.

So this is life after death. Is he a demon, an angel, or God himself?

Jenny Hansen - from her Women's Fiction novel, Healing the Talent

One of them, squeezed into a pink microdress, poked the other’s left breast. “You used Dr. Hernandez-Klein? I heard she’s crazy expensive.”

The other blonde reached back and deftly unhooked her halter top. Agatha sucked in a breath as the objects of attention bobbed in front of her. “Yes, but look at the nipples!”

How could you not look at the nipples?

Okay, it's your turn - strut your stuff! For Valentine's Day, we're inviting our readers to share five lines of their writing down in the comments. We can't wait to see what you're writing.

~ Fae, Jenny, Laura, Orly and Sharla

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14 Posts You Loved ~ A Valentine's Flashback and News!

You know Valentine's Day is this week, right? Well we love you. And we love that you love us. So we're posting links today to our most popular blog posts over the past three years, in case you missed any of them.

Share the love this week, people!

Top 14 posts:

  1. Sensual Word Menu
  2. Inspiration vs Perspiration in Writing
  3. Formatting Your Text For Kindle – Revised
  4. Fresh, Fresh, Fresh Character Descriptions!
  5. Guest Blogger – Elizabeth Craig: 15 Tips for Writing a Murder Mystery
  6. How to Begin a Romance Novel: Seven Tips
  7. Copyright, ISBN, Royalty & Pricing With Amazon E-Publishing
  8. Chinese Element Personality Types-for Fun and for Writing
  9. Myers-Briggs: A Tool for Authors and Other Humans
  10. Can Writers Rock LinkedIn?
  11. 6 Key Writing Lessons I’ve Learned From Horses
  12. Talking Back to Your Brain
  13. Body Language: An Artistic Writing Tool
  14. Mining For Character Emotions

Speaking of sharing the love . . .

Laura Drake has news!

The Sweet Spot ARC Best

Fifteen years ago, I made a goal - to hold a book in my hand with my name on the cover.
Last week, that dream came true - the ARC copies have arrived! My debut novel, The Sweet Spot, will be released from Grand Central in May, but it's available for pre-order here (you all know how much preorders help rankings, right? ;)

I'm giving away an ARC copy to a random commenter!

Just leave a comment, and if you win, I'll send you either the paperback (U.S. residents only) or a digital version. Thank you all, for your support!

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Writing Organizations—Finding the perfect fit

by Orly Konig-Lopez

When the idea of writing morphed into a dream to get published, I quickly realized I had a lot to learn. I sought out writing organizations that would provide the opportunity to meet other, hopefully like-minded, writers.

What I discovered is that there are a lot of writing organizations. Some niche focused, some general. All had great things to offer. But none were focused on what I needed as an aspiring author of women’s fiction.

Then someone recommended an online chapter under Romance Writers of America that was dedicated to women’s fiction. I couldn’t believe my luck!

In the two years since joining, I’ve met amazing writers—multi-published authors (can we say fan girl squees?), debut authors and aspiring writers, treading water just like me. I met my fabulous critique partners, learned heaps about publishing, and gained the confidence to go after my dream.

As many of our readers will remember from a post Laura Drake wrote for Writer Unboxed in December, RWA decided to refocus the specialty chapters so that they better align with its mission to serve career focused romance writers. While that decision was right for RWA and the many romance writers under their umbrella, it left a lot of us feeling homeless.

See a Need, Fill a Need

In my house, we watch a lot of animated movies. The other day we were watching Robots and one line stuck in my head. The slogan for master inventor Bigweld (played by Mel Brooks) is “see a need, fill a need.”

The need is for an organization dedicated to women’s fiction. Whether the stories are contemporary or historical; literary or commercial; include a dash of romance, a heap of romance or none at all; the stories all have one common thread—they are about a woman’s emotional journey.

A new organization—Women’s Fiction Writers Association—is being launched to fill the need. It will be an inclusive community of career-focused women’s fiction writers with networking, education and support at every step in their career path.

Why? Because being part of a supportive community brings dreams down to earth.

Finding that Perfect Fit

Below are a few of the organizations that I know of. I’m sure there are more out there so if I’ve missed some, please post the details in a comment.

And, of course, if you’re interested in learning more about the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, please leave a comment and we’ll respond.

Note: Writers In The Storm is not endorsing any of the above organizations, this list is meant as a reference only.

So? What do you think? Do you need the support of a group, or do you go it alone? Do you know of any groups we missed?

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