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HALLELUJAH! IT'S ALL SET!
Our 2nd Annual W.O.W. Writers'
Conference is confirmed and scheduled and
we're so excited we can hardly stand it! We are
promising a stimulating event for all you writers and
readers. This will be a wonderful opportunity to get
to know one another and learn from each other.
Whether it's a new marketing or promotional idea,
discussion of characterization or plot, referrals to
an agent or publisher or editor, your best storehouse
of information is within other authors who may be a
few steps ahead of you, behind you, or at the same
level in writing careers.
If you're a published author of any genre, this
is the event for you. If you're an unpublished
writer, this is the event for you. If you're
just thinking about writing, this is the event
for you. If you are a fan, friend, or family
member of an author, this is
the event for you.
All members of the
literary
community are invited to join us at this
celebratory and educational conference in October.
Celebratory because it will be
our
first year as a non-profit organization formed "to
assist in educating authors in every aspect of the
literary field and promoting their books." That's what
we're all about.
So, if you want to write that memoir or novel or
magazine article or poem or screenplay or stageplay
and don't know where to begin or how to develop
your ideas, come to this conference. If you want to
learn how to market and promote your work, come to
this conference. OR if you just want to come to
Kansas
City and have some fun and meet a dynamic group of
authors, come to this conference.
We urge you to join us Friday afternoon, October 13,
through Saturday and Sunday, October 14 & 15 and
support our
organization and one another. We need
you!
In the meantime . . . lean back, put up your feet, and
enjoy the articles in this quarter's Newsletter.
Rebecca Buckley
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KANSAS CITY AND THE CONFERENCE |
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KANSAS CITY
. . . a city of
unmitigated
American history and culture. A city well-worth the
visit whether
it's your first or fifth excursion, or more.
When most
people
think of Kansas, they think of cattle ranches and
cattle drives, stockyards,
farms and rural living, and wagon trains. One thinks
of the old days - gunslingers and
lawlessness, Dodge City, Bat Masterson and Wyatt
Earp, trading buffalo hides, and the Atchinson,
Topeka
& Santa Fe. They think of the song "Kansas City
Here I Come" by Big Joe Turner.
They think of the famous people born there, some of
which are Hattie McDaniel, Charlie
Parker, Gwendolyn
Brooks (first African-American to win a Pulitzer
Prize), Dwight D. Eisenhower, Walter Chrysler
(know who he was?),
Amelia Earhart, John Brown, Clyde Cessna and William
Lear and Walter Beech - aviators, of course . . .
AND . . . Kirstie Alley.
But something you may not know, Kansas City and
the
arts are synonymous. Dance theatre, stage, opera,
and numerous Internationally known
museums and gallery
districts with a multitude of shops and studios
belonging to collectors and
talented artists
attract locals and
visitors throughout the year. It's a city of fountains
(bet you didn't know that).
So, why
not make this event a mini-vacation and bring your
family along? There's plenty to keep them busy while
you're attending the conference. For instance . . .
. . . there's SCIENCE CITY, "where play
and education
go hand-in-hand. Let curiosity be your guide through
more than 50 interactive areas, providing some real
hands-on fun. Science City is located in Kansas City's
Union Station."
. . . there's the NATIONAL WORLD WAR I
MUSEUM
and
the LIBERTY MEMORIAL TOWER. Walk
through the
grounds and exhibit halls
and feel you're part of one
of the most prideful eras of America history.
. . . there's one of the best regional theatres in the
country, the AMERICAN HEARTLAND
THEATRE . . . "Now in our
19th
season, AHT is recognized as
one of Kansas City's theatrical cornerstones. Each
year, our executive director, and our artistic director
travel across the country to find the latest and most
popular theatrical works on the American scene. Our
success is due in large part to the attention we place
on your entire evening of entertainment."
(www.ahtkc.com)
AND "Menopause the
Musical" will
be running
at AHT while we're in Kansas City. So
reserve a seat for
Friday evening, October 13. After an
afternoon
group tour of the
HALLMARK facilities that same day, and then
an early casual
dinner in the CROWN CENTER at a fun cafe
called "A Streetcar named Desire", you can walk
right over and enjoy the show.
The theatre is in the Crown Center.
These are just a few of the many attractions in
Kansas City. And we're going to be right there in
the middle of them at the:
COMFORT INN AND SUITES -
DOWNTOWN
770 Admiral Blvd.
KC, KS 64106
816-472-
8808
The hotel is in the
Market
District, off I-29 and I-35. Book your rooms early to
ensure accommodations. And be sure to say you're
with the Wizards of Words
conference in order to receive the
following negotiated rates.
$67.99 per night - King or Double Queens
$87.99 King or Double Queen suites
You'll receive free continental breakfasts, free shuttle
service to airport, and free local attraction shuttle
when available. The Inn is located near many
downtown sites including the Crown Center,
and is minutes from the Riverboat
Casinos.
CONFERENCE REGISTRATION for non-members is $35
SATURDAY AWARDS BANQUET for non-members is
$25
The workshops and schedule will be posted on the
Wizards of Words website by June 30. Please check
there for more information.
Only 146 more days till we all meet and have some
fun!
Registration and Contest Forms are listed
in the Links section at the bottom of this
newsletter.
Rebecca Buckley, CEO
California
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FROM THE PRESIDENT - Caryn Bruer |
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“My, how time flies when you’re having
fun!” I’ll steal
that quote because it’s so true.
I have been super busy so far this year, but have
thoroughly enjoyed participating on the WOW
message board. We have some really good writers in
our midst, and it is exciting to read what they come
up with in our word exercises. I’m really impressed
with the excerpts that I’ve read from some of the
books, too. Great imaginations, guys and gals!
I recently visited Kansas City and selected the site
for our 2006 Conference. There will be lots more
information about that coming soon.
We will have something for everyone, and you will
certainly not want to miss out on attending the
event.
I am going to tease you with a few hints at just some
of what our conference will have in store this year:
First, it will be in the middle of the country, and we
hope to have all of our members present. Kansas City
is a beautiful place to visit, with lots to offer. Visit
the homepage on the Internet and browse to
discover some of the things you’ll want to be sure to
see while you’re there.
Our workshops
will include writing and marketing techniques and
some social events that will allow the members
of this
group to meet and mingle with the folks you’ve met
online. And we’re going to set up a
temporary “bookstore” to sell our members'
work.
Our conference will begin with early registration on
Friday afternoon for the early birds. Our
CEO, Rebecca Buckley, has planned and will be
leading the afternoon and
early evening activities on Friday for those who would
like to participate.
Then on Saturday we'll continue with registration for
those
arriving that morning, followed by a full day of
workshops,
with an awards banquet that evening and a fabulous
keynote speaker.
On Sunday morning our annual business meeting will
take place and after lunch our selected panel of
authors will be available for open discussion.
The first six months of Wizards of Words
has been wonderful. We’ve come over a few
bumps in the road, and I’m sure there will be more
along the way. We’ve lost a beloved member to an
untimely death, and will miss Dazz’s wit and charm.
And we’ve gained new members. I’m sure
that growth will continue.
Several of our Wizards have recently joined
the ranks of
published authors and are proudly presenting their
work to the public. Others have now published
second or even third books. We’ve had members
become part of the electronically published Amazon
Shorts with online sales. Quite a number of our
members have participated in group book signings in
several
states. We’re proud to say we've had some contest
winners.
Editors and contributors from other online websites
with essential tools for writers are frequent
visitors to our message board, and have shared their
wisdom and insight with us from time to time. If
anyone ever doubted that Wizards of Words
could be a viable tool for writers, all they
need do is click the link to the WOW CAFE CHAT
CLUB
messageboard on our homepage, and with a cup of
coffee in hand, settle
in to do some serious reading through the forums.
(I
print out things that I use for reference all the
time.)
We do good stuff, folks!
I hope that every single one of you, including many
of our message board contributors, are making plans
to join us in Kansas City on October 13 - 15. It
promises to be an interesting conference with an
opportunity for you to learn something new and to
share what you know with others. And we also
promise lots of smiles and hugs and friendship that
will last you a lifetime!
Caryn Bruer (aka Anne Elwick)
Arkansas
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TOP TEN RULES - Pat Barnhart |
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(Pat Barnhart lives in Florida and is not
only a published
author,
she is an
editor. Her business is WRITING DOWN PAT:
making you look good, one word at a
time. She's also a ghost writer and will
write proposals
and business jingles for your company. She writes
marketing copy, web site content, press releases,
resumes . . . and the list goes on and on.
We're
very
proud to have her as a member of our writers'
organization.)
PAT SAYS . . .
At the risk of making my services irrelevant, I would
like to offer the following Top Ten Rules
that have been developed over time. A
compilation of self-observed faults with manuscripts,
and tips that have been gleaned from a variety of
sources.
I hope you will enjoy them, take them to heart, and
put them into practice. You may just get your
writing down pat, without Writing Down Pat!
1. Read it out loud. Sounds simple, but you’ll
be amazed at the errors your ears will hear that your
eyes couldn’t see. This works especially well for
testing the ‘truth’ of dialogue.
2. Use the spelling and grammar check tool
that comes with your word processing program. It’s
quick, easy, cheap, and will catch all those
hyphenated words you invented. What it doesn’t
work for are homonyms and synonyms. Don’t rely too
heavily on spell check, but do pay attention to those
perceived errors that show up with red
underlining.
3. Shorten your paragraphs. Nothing makes a
reader skip over your pages faster than a huge chunk
of sheer exposition, description, or anything other
than dialogue. Don’t you do that when you're
reading? Skip to the ‘good parts’ where action is
happening or people are talking?
4. Speaking of people talking, make sure the
dialogue has a purpose. It must move the story
forward. No one likes to just read ‘chit
chat’.
5. Be careful about using the same words,
phrasing or expressions repeatedly. (See number
1.)
6. Plot your novel carefully, using a chapter or
an outline format. You might even want to write
your ending first, and then work toward it.
7. Don’t ‘date’ your novel by using a lot of
current expressions, pop culture references, or news
items. It will date your book faster than a
crack ‘ho.
8. Put your reader ‘in the story’. Put me
there. Tell me what the weather’s like, what the
scenery looks like, what dinner smells are coming from
the kitchen. We don’t just read with our eyes, we
enjoy using all of our senses. The more we use, the
more engaged we become with what we’re reading,
and the faster we turn those pages.
9. Don’t forget humor, if it’s appropriate, but
remember that a little bit goes a long way.
And Finally,
10. Your protagonist (your main
character, folks, not someone who
professionally labels clothes) must
grow or change by the end of the
novel. He or she must somehow be
different as a result of the
experiences in the story. Think of your
story as a journey – we are
never the same at the end of a
journey. If we are, it wasn’t much of a
journey.
Now, go write something great!
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FOR BETTER OR WIRTZ - Commentary by Mark Wirtz |
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Many, many, years ago, when I first started
to work
as a studio
composer/arranger/conductor, I made a most
extraordinary discovery.
Much like an author's paper-rendered words in one-
dimensional,
lifeless symbols that merely serve as triggers in the
beholder's
mind to convert them into subjective interpretations
and sensual
experiences . . . the music notes that a composer or
orchestrator puts to
paper are equally hollow symbols, dependent upon
and hostage to the
reader's subjective, sensual, interpretation.
What astounded me was the nigh miracle that,
somehow, my utterly
personal and private visions and emotional impulses
packaged in
abstract, unemotional symbols, nevertheless
managed to survive the
purely technical journey not only into the interpreting
ambassador's
mind and subsequent performance (i.e. a
musician),
but actually
arrived in the eventual audience's perception vividly
intact, alive,
and uncorrupted -- like sensory mirrors of my original
vision; as if
I had directly blue-toothed that vision from my mind
to theirs.
Bloody amazing! There is no logical or scientific
explanation for
this phenomenon in communication, merely proving
the
existence of
metaphysical energies that travel along with even the
most benign
message, the latter of which, in and by itself, serves
merely as a
cryptic conduit and vessel.
What astonished me further, almost in contradiction
to the above, was
the discovery that a soloist's rendition of a creator's
messengered
vision alters its essence to one that is critically
colored by the
soloist's personal chemistry. As such, ten singers
singing the same
song will result in ten virtually different "creations"
and
experiences. It appears that when the ultimate
instrument is no
longer an inanimate one, it is the human performer
him/herself. That
performer becomes the crucial instrument whose
unique soul,
character and chemistry override the dimensions of
the original
creator's vision and morph it into an altered energy,
which either
radiates and captivates, or renders the creation
bland and
meaningless. As such, it is the singer, not the song,
that ultimately
matters the most -- regardless of its author.
In recent years, since I started to write and perform
comedy, I have
found this to be even more conclusively true -- ten
comedians can
tell the same joke (regardless of who wrote
it), yet the audience
will experience ten entirely different jokes. One joke
likely to be as
boring and unfunny as another might be hilarious and
side-splitting
-- same joke to begin with.
What does any of that have to do with writing?
Everything.
Ten authors can use the same premise, the same
words, even the same
title, and yet -- there will be ten different results.
It's all about
not WHAT is written, but WHO writes or says it, and
HOW. It's the
tone that makes the music.
So, every time you look at a best-seller and believe it
to be "not
very good," or "not as well written" as yours, you're
looking in the
wrong place. You got waylaid by your vanity.
You see, dear fellow authors, as the adage goes, it's
not the wand
that matters, but the magic. Even a poorly written
book ("The Color
Purple" was a mess, but it was magical) may
seduce millions of
readers into embracing it, while high literary works of
art may
languish and be doomed to obscurity. Why do you
think not every
language professor has a bestseller out there, or may
not even have a
book published at all? Most don't!
Bottom line -- just showing up is not enough, folks,
regardless of
how well dressed we are. And when anybody, notably
an editor or
agent, sees and possibly "touches" our new
manuscript -- it's a blind
date. We have about twenty seconds to make that
proverbial first
impression for which we never get a second chance
for OUR
metaphysical energy (call it soul) to radiate
and OUR chemistry to
sparkle and click -- or not. And when it does, it is not
a miracle to
which we are fortunate victims, it's magic -- for
which
we are utterly
responsible by the way we live, think, act, choose,
and feel and by who and what WE are and reveal (!),
not
what our
book is. Because the
book is nothing but a bunch of paper filled with cold,
heartless,
symbols, or cybers and digits.
I am including my memorial tribute words to
Dazzling
Dave in this
writing at this point, because I don't feel like adding a
lot of
pretty words, kudos, and gestures of admiration to
those that have
already been wonderfully expressed by so many of
you in other places.
All I have to say is that Dave had the magic of which
I spoke; that
extraordinary sparkle, sensitivity, humor and
omnipotent love, which
irresistibly charmed, disarmed, and seduced
everybody with whom he
connected. Dave made a difference.
Dave and I spent many, many hours in conversation -
philosophical... intellectual... surrealistic... idiotic...
brutally
down to earth... comical... sophomoric and
shamelessly profane,
relishing even disgusting gross-outs with child-like
glee.
Dave and I never met in person. And yet, I mourn his
death more than
I have ever mourned the death of any other friend.
And yes, even he
and I would get tired of each other's shit, but we
never shut up, and
we never will. Our conversations continue, even if
only in the
magical garden of our spirits.
C ya, Dave. I love you.
Mark Wirtz (aka Michael
Sinclair
Georgia
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FROM THE EDITOR - Rebecca Buckley |
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SHAKESPEARE
Just the sound of that name or seeing it on the
written page would shoot doom and dread through
my veins in English Lit classes. I didn’t
understand his pieces, didn’t like them, and most
times didn’t read them when they were assigned. I
would pray I wouldn’t be asked a question about
his “Comedy of Errors” or “Richard the Third”
or “Merchant of Venice” and so on. I’m surprised my
teachers didn’t notice me slinking down in my chair
during the Shakespeare sessions. Or did they?
Regardless, I managed to slide by with average
grades that I accepted graciously on the way out the
door.
All through my life when asked if I was familiar with
this or that of his writings, or asked if I’d like to go to
a Shakespearean play, I’d shrug my shoulders or say
no, and would change the subject, never to return to
it. I’d even visited The Globe Theatre in
Stratford
upon Avon and still felt an aversion to him, but loved
his town in England.
So, what is it about this man, this writer of
the Elizabethan Age, considered the greatest
dramatist the world has ever known and the finest
poet who has written in the English language, who
leaves me cold and at the same time makes me feel
so stupid and unlearned? What is it about his work
that has captivated so many for so long? My god,
the poems and plays he wrote are stamped indelibly
in the history of literature and stage. Movies have
been made about him, as well as his work. Give me
a
break! Quit hounding me, Bill!
And what about James Joyce and his “Ulysses”?
Have any of you read “Ulysses”? Have you read any
of Joyce? For some reason I’m drawn to this
controversial Irish author of the 20th Century,
although I'm angry with him for making his wife Nora
wait 20 years to marry him. He didn't marry her till
he was nearing death. Nice guy. They lived
together
and
had children, but no marriage. Living in "sin" was
unheard of
in those days. So they moved to France where it
was more acceptable. Okay, Rebecca, back to the
man
and
his writing . . . yes . . .
I’ve read his “Dubliners”, which is
terrific. “Finnegans Wake” was his, you know. So,
why is it I get James Joyce and for the life of me, I
don’t get Shakespeare? It’s got to be a brain block.
Thomas Hardy. He’s not an easy one to read.
Especially his “Far From the Madding Crowd” (I
used to call it the "maddening" crowd, until someone
with the initials J.B. let me in on the truth). Hardy
drones on and on in that book, doesn't he? I loved
the British television mini-series of it.
And don’t take me wrong, I do enjoy his writing, I
just
have to be able to concentrate solely on it when I
read. No distractions, whatsoever. I've even visited
his beloved Dorset. Do you know
that he had an unpublished novel “The Poor Man and
the Lady”? It was his first novel. Wouldn’t you
love to get your hands on that manuscript? Next he
wrote “The Mayor of Casterbridge”, “The
Woodlanders” (which I just purchased in Cornwall,
but haven’t read), “Tess of the
D’Urbervilles”, ‘The Pursuit of the Well-Beloved”,
and “Jude the Obscure.” That was it for novels.
Over the next 30 years he published 900 poems and
his epic drama in verse, “The Dynasts.”
So, why am I so interested in Thomas Hardy and
James Joyce and not William Shakespeare? Oh,
almost forgot. I totally get Fyodor Dostoyevski.
Have read his “Crime and Punishment” and other
works, and I love it all. Go figure.
All four of these authors are complex reads. The
authors, themselves, were complex. Their lives were
complex. And if I can understand Joyce, Hardy, and
Dostoyevski, I should be able to understand good ol’
B.S., I mean, W.S.
In fact, I just happen to have a volume of his
complete works and it includes the story of the times
and life of Shakespeare. Maybe it will help me get
to know him. I seem to enjoy a writer's work more
when I
know something about him, aside from his writing.
And maybe some of his words and
techniques will rub off on me. Yep, methinks
it’s about time I get to know Mr. Shakespeare.
(Hey,
he’s rubbing off on me already.) And just maybe
through him I’ll learn to understand poetry well
enough to write it. I’ve learned from the other three
gentlemen.
Regardless, and for whatever reason, of late I’m
being drawn to this man that I have always abhorred,
steered clear of, shunned and ignored. But then
isn’t that the way a good romance can begin?
Rebecca Buckley
California
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CURTAIN TIME - Jim (J.B.) Buckley |
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MOVIES WITH A NOVEL
APPROACH
Do W.O.W.s usually/ever/never entertain,
during the creative process, the hovering possibility
that those divinely easy-flowing, painstaking
paragraphs might just possibly be Oscar-
bound? If Dan Brown did – and it’s more
than likely he did - after all, the movie is there in
your head as you read: vivid, wide-screen, clear as
a bell.
So what happened? His DaVinci turned out
to be
disappointing to the critical press; sounds like it
shoulda stood between its book covers. The
incessant global shenanigans that the movie ignited
may have been a bore, but fellow authors are to be
very proud of Dan Brown just the same. Imagine him
being on the set along with Akira Goldman,
the guy who adapted Brown’s inevitably controversial
opus to the screen, as well as Ron Howard,
the director. If he saw anything being filmed which
he considered unfair to his imaginative bestseller, he
was too bashful to complain or, if he did complain, he
was probably charmed by Ron and/or Akira into
waiting for the editors to further screw it up.
The New Yorker critic, Anthony
Lane, confesses (issue of 5/9/06), “I
have never managed to crawl past page 100. As I
sat down to watch "The DaVinci Code" I
therefore was in the lonely, if enviable position of not
actually knowing what happened.” And then he gets
coy, “As far as I am qualified to judge, the film
remains unswervingly loyal to the book and so I
welcome this fidelity because it allows us to propose
a syllogism: the movie is baloney, the movie is an
accurate representation of the book, therefore the
book is also baloney.”
An amusing critique, but if it is baloney, it is thought-
provoking, entertaining baloney, especially in causing
heads of state and religions to erupt with wrath and
boycotts. Although the Pope, whose religion is not
notably glamorized, seems to be taking it all as
refreshing publicity after the embarrassments that
are popping up so frequently. One is the naïve
suggestion that Jesus and Mary had a child. And
some eager innocents grabbed as proof that all we
humans, of all colors, talents and sins must surely be
descendants of the Christ Family. That is something
to boggle the mind!
It is surprising that the current Hollywood habit didn’t
require this brainy thriller be slightly porno’d with the
obligatory shot of brazen sexual intercourse. Does
the author dare to suggest in his final
passage a teasing romance between the leads – with
a sequel in mind? Well, hell! They’re in Paris, man!
They could at least have Lunch at the Louvre,
if not Love at the Louvre! (No plug
intended, R.B.)
It’s still a thrilling read, if not a thrilling film, with a
lovely final scene, to which our boys have added a
brilliant touch (a la Ernst Lubitsch). Tatou is
taking leave of Tom, she stops at a reflecting pool,
glances back to make sure he’s watching, and places
her foot to test the water. Why? To see if she
can walk on it of course. She shakes her head ever
so slightly with a disappointed smile and walks off
into the sunset. But it makes sense. If you are a
blood relation, you should be able to, right?
A fantastic gimmick will get a producer’s attention
despite the quality of the writing being somewhat
less than Dan Brownish. His DaVinci tome’s success
may have inspired the just-published “Crows over the
Wheatfield” by Adam Braver. It, too,
attempts to
solve a secret. This one is about the final days of
Van Gogh. However, Merle Rubin’s
review in the L.A. Times
(6/13/06) will probably have no influence on
there
being a movie version.
Rubins says, “Foggy
thinking
here seems to go hand in hand with bad writing. It’s
been a long time since I’ve encountered a book as
poorly written as this. We’re not talking here about
bad writing in the sense of purple prose or over-the-
top experimental pyrotechnics, or the kind of clichéd,
slick yet serviceable prose that moves you along from
one page to the next of the latest potboiler. This,
on the contrary, is bad writing you trip and stumble
over. Writing you don’t expect from any professional
writer like Braver, who teaches creative writing and
whose books have enjoyed some critical success.
This is prose you’d downgrade on a freshman
composition paper: awkward, imprecise, flaccid and
tin-eared, riddled with faulty diction, misused
prepositions, dangling participles and mangled verb
tenses.”
I’ll wait for the movie.
Jim Buckley
California
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WIZARD SHORTS |
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This will be a continuous offering, so all of
you
talented Wizards
are encouraged to submit your real-life short stories
and commentaries
for our
upcoming quarterly issues to be published in
SEPTEMBER and DECEMBER.
In this issue we have the following contributions by
four of our authors for your reading enjoyment.
You may print them and read at your
leisure.
HEMINGWAY, NO WAY
By Larry L Evans
Michigan
DINNER WITH DAISY
(An excerpt from “The Last of the
South Town Rinky
Dinks”)
By E. Don Harpe
Florida
ELVIS, UPSTAGED
By Caryn Bruer
Arkansas
INDEPENDENCE DAY
By Pat Barnhart
Florida
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HOW TO WRITE A QUERY - by Caryn Bruer |
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Write what you
Know:
The first step to writing a terrific query letter is to
know what it is that you're writing. Are you writing
fiction or nonfiction? If you're writing fiction: what
genre and/or sub genre (historical romance; cozy
mystery; epic fantasy, etc.).
How long is your manuscript?
If you are writing fiction, you have probably finished
the manuscript and you're now looking for an agent
(or editor), so you know the approximate
length (word count) of your material. You
should have checked the industry standards of
various genres. Cozy mysteries, for example, are
between 60,000-85,000 words; thrillers are closer to
100,000 words; contemporary romances (not
category) are 95,000-100,000; fantasy novels
are 90,000-140,000.
Complete or Not Complete, That is the
Question:
Have you finished your manuscript? Most
agents/editors only want to see material if it has
been completed. There are some instances in which
this is not the case, but it's generally accepted that
you should only query if your material is complete.
What I like about You:
Now is the time to wow us with your fantastic
credentials. Have you published with major publishers
in 10 languages and sold over 10 million copies?
That's what we want to know! Okay, maybe you
haven't had such luck. However, have you sold at all?
Won any contests? Earned your MFA in Creative
Writing? Studied with a major author? Member of any
professional organizations (RWA, MWA, Sisters in
Crime, etc.)
Name, Date and Serial Number, please:
Okay, maybe we don't need your serial
number, but please, PLEASE be sure to give us your
details. We need your name, address, phone number
and email address. Also, please don't forget to date
your letter. If your material has been in our office for
a while, we need to know, so we look to the date on
the cover letter.
Comparisons:
Like or As. Similes. A helpful tool is to compare your
work to others of a similar nature. Of course, I'm sure
yours is much better, but still, humor that NY
Times Best-selling author and compare his/her
book to yours.
What's it about?
Don't let the agent/editor guess the storyline. Put it
down in a couple of sentences. This should be one
short paragraph that summarizes the whole book. You
should be able to boil your story down to just a few
lines. However, with those few lines you need to
capture the agent/editor's attention. So, make sure
you mention what makes this story SPECIAL.
Let it Flow, Let it Flow, Let it Flow:
Now you need to combine all of these elements
together into a cohesive, coherent one-page pitch.
Pay attention to spelling and grammar. Make sure the
letter "reads" well and doesn't sound disjointed and
fragmented. This is where the agent/author will be
checking out your writing style.
3-2-1 Contact:
Don't forget a SASE. If you live overseas, you can be
forgiven the SASE and we will email you. But don't
make it hard for us to contact you—include the
SASE.
Caryn
Bruer
Arkansas
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QUOTABLE QUOTES - Ina Goodling |
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"My heart took delight in my work and this was the
reward for all my labor."
Ecclesiastes 2:10
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1
"Everything is possible for him who believes."
Mark 9:23
"A friend loves at all times."
Proverbs 17:17
"He has made everything beautiful in its time."
Ecclesiastes 3:11
"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul
and healing to the bones."
Proverbs 16:24
"Every moment Nature starts on the longest journey,
and every moment she reaches her goal."
Goethe
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you
were to live forever."
Mahatma Gandhi
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
Albert Einstein
"The salvation of mankind lies in the hands of the
creatively maladjusted."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"All that we see or seem, is but a dream within a
dream."
Edgar Allan Poe
"We cannot do great things. We can only do little
things with great love."
Mother Teresa
"Two roads diverged in a wood; and I,
I took the one less traveled,
And that has made all the difference."
Robert
Frost
"Man has his will, but woman has her way."
Oliver Wendell Holmes
"Love doesn’t make the world go round.
Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."
Franklin P. Jones
"You give little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give."
Kahlil Gibran
"Words are like leaves, and where they most abound,
Much fruit of sense beneath is rarely found."
Alexander Pope
"Be silent — or say something better than silence."
Proverb
"Attempt the impossible in order to improve your
work."
Bette Davis
"Things don’t change. You change. Your way of
looking, that’s all."
Carlos
Castaneda
There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to
give our children.
One is roots, the other, wings.
Hodding
Carter
The very substance of the ambitious is merely the
shadow of a dream.
- William Shakespeare
"The purpose of a life is a life of purpose."
Robert
Byrn
Ina resides in California.
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WE HAVE NO CHOICE! - Barbara Watkins |
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Numerous sleepless nights and countless
characters
evolving filling a mind with images of far away
places are only a few characteristics of a writer. The
love of storytelling and being able to share one's
unique ability and style is the ultimate dream.
No amount of rejection letters from an editor or
publisher can break the spirit of an aspiring writer.
This want and need to communicate
our thoughts and fantasies in our writing, so that
others can dream through our eyes, is sometimes
overwhelming.
But we'll keep dreaming and conjuring up images.
We’ll keep inventing mystical places and thought-
provoking stories. You see, it's not our job, it's our
responsibility to us to express our God-given ability
and share with others.
Barbara Watkins
Missouri
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BOOK OF THE MONTH |
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In this issue are the books chosen to rule as
Book of the Month for the
months of March, April, and May. A panel of peers
read and rated the three books that were randomly
drawn for that particular month and the best of the
three was selected.
Our panel
of three
authors serves for a three-month term. (Appears
to be all about three, doesn't it?)
If
you
would
like to be considered for an upcoming panel term,
please let us know. The books will be sent to you in
either PDF, RTF, WORD, or hardcopy.
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MARCH |
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Click
on the bookcover to see a larger view and read more
about our Charter Member - EDD VOSS - and his "A
Tree for America". Edd lives in Washington and
also writes short
stories and some of those are in the Amazon.com
Shorts program. He's a down-to-earth, fabulous
writer and you will definitely want to read much more
of his
work.
CONGRATULATIONS, EDD!
We had two winners in March. Another good writer,
with shades of Damon Runyon in his work,
JEFFERY S. MILLER, a Nevada resident, is someone to
watch for on
the up-an'-comin' lists. You can bet there's
more "Higgins"
adventures on the horizon, and you'll want to read
and collect them
all.
CONGRATULATIONS, JEFFERY!
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APRIL |
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CLAUDETTE MILNER lives in North Carolina and has
written
a gripping book - "Children of Plains Estates" - for
young people and it already is a helping tool in
schools and homes with the multitude of emotional
struggles our youth are experiencing today. This is
a
must read, regardless of age. She's shopping the
second book of
the series as we speak.
CONGRATULATIONS, CLAUDETTE!
Two winners again this month! CHERYL HILL shares
this month's
stage with her first murder mystery - "Family
Tradition". She lives in Nevada and has also
published
a second novel -
"Reverse Time" - about a female correctional officer's
first year at a detention facility. We expect to see
a lot from this very talented writer.
CONGRATULATIONS, CHERYL!
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MAY |
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IN LOVING MEMORY OF A FELLOW
AUTHOR
T.O.Y.S. : Tired of Your S*#@%!
by J. David Jamesson
A FABULOUS READ! He tells it like it is!
The following was in
The
Las
Vegas Nevada
Review.
Published February 16, 2006
BURRESS, J. (aka J. David Jamesson)
J. David Burress, 50, of Henderson, died Feb. 8,
2006. He is survived by his wife, Deborah S.; sons,
Jeremy and Shawn; daughters, Krystal and Shasta,
all of Henderson.
HIS SPIRIT AND HIS BOOK LIVE ON!
CONGRATULATIONS, DAVE!
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JOIN Wizards of Words! |
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STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS |
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STAFF:
Editor/Production: Rebecca Buckley
Assistant Editor: Patricia Barnhart
REGULAR BYLINES:
From the President, Caryn Bruer
From the Editor, Rebecca Buckley
For Better or Wirtz, Mark Wirtz
Curtain Time, Jim Buckley
Quotable Quotes, Ina
Goodling
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS THIS
ISSUE:
Larry Evans
E. Don Harpe
Patricia Barnhart
Barbara Watkins
You may refer to the member pages on the W.O.W.
website for more information on the above individuals.
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