Learn to Write a Winning Cup of Comfort Story

Have you always wanted to learn how to write an inspirational story? Maybe you want to see your inspirational story printed in a Cup of Comfort Book, or Chicken Soup for the Soul book.

One of my true, inspirational stories, “Teaching Josh” will be published in August 2009 in a book entitled, My First Year in the Classroom published by Adams Media. I have also submitted stories for upcoming Cup of Comfort Books.

So, here’s your chance to learn how to write these inspirational true stories!

In this webinar, the publishers of the Cup of Comfort series will guide you through the story creation process so that you’ll be able to write a successful story every time! The webinar will cover many topics:

Story Basics: The definition of an inspirational story and a discussion of its structure, voice, point-of-view, and more!

Top Ten Reasons Why Stories Are Rejected: A straightforward discussion of the ten pitfalls you need to avoid!

Deconstruction of Favorite Cup of Comfort Stories: The editors will break down two effective stories and elaborate on what made them that way.

The Submission and Editing Process: The nuts and bolts of how stories get from your computer to our books!

How to Market Your Published Story: Your story is in one of our books. Great! Now how do you get the word out? We’ll show you how.

Q&A: An open dialogue where your specific questions can be addressed.

This is a can’t-miss event for serious storytellers!

Date: Thursday, April 30th
Time: 1:00 pm EST
Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Cost: $49

Register Here

Writing Conference for Teens and Tweens

“The Write Time:A Writing Conference for Teens and Tweens” (Ages 13-30)

Postponed to Fall 2009.

The Write Time Teens ‘N Twenties Writers Conference (TNT) is an inaugural conference which brings together authors, agents, editors and publishers from throughout the country to share their vast knowledge with the writers who will chronicle and change the world — authors between the ages of 13 and 30. Writers conferences are one of the best possible ways for writers to connect to the publishing world. Between workshops, conversations with other authors and discussions with faculty members, writers conferences provide vital networking and social support and encouragement for the often solitary world of writing. You might meet your future editor, publisher or agent!

The conference will open with a motivating keynote address by Robert Yehling, author of The Write Time. Following the keynote, participants will head to one of four workshops that will take place in each of four 75-minute sessions. Over the course of this single day, participants will take in presentations that include the secrets of getting published, working with agents, freelance writing, novel building, universalizing personal experiences, songwriting, playwriting, using writing as leadership and service, socially conscious poetry, and crafting a writing career. Workshop facilitators will offer their lifetime of experience and share their love of writing, while providing invaluable tips and materials.

During the day, agent Verna Dreisbach will be available for private appointments with young authors who have material ready to be considered for publication. Participants and faculty are invited to the Post-Conference Meet & Greet, from 5 to 7 p.m. Authors Bob Hammel, Bob Yehling and others will sign their books, an open mic will be held, food consumed, and a Bloomington North High School jazz combo will provide live music.

Good Books for Tweens and Young Adult Girls

I admit. I’m not a Twilight fan. I love the romance, but I don’t care for Bella’s character. She’s whiny, obsessed, and seems to have no other goal in life than to be someone’s vampire wife.

When I’m working with the young ladies in juvenile detention, they are often eager to find a book to read. There are many lonely hours to fill while in the small cells.
So what am I recommending to the young ladies I write with in juvenile detention? Books with characters who are real, face challenges, and are empowered to solve those challenges with their wit, courage, and intelligence.

Some of my favorites recently have been:

1. Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Sovay and Pirates by Celia Rees
4. Gilda Joyce and the Ghost Sonata by Jennifer Allison
And be sure to read the first two in this series about Gilda Joyce Psychic Detective.

Jumpstart Writing

When I was working with the girls in juvenile detention, one young lady said, “I can never write unless I am in here.” Another young writer pointed out, “I need something intense to happen in order to write.”

I explained to the ladies in their orange jumpsuits that there were a couple things I do to “jump start” my writing.

1. Read. When I am working with the young men and woman at the detention center, we always read poetry before we write our own. Most of the time, we read from the books which have been created by the youth themselves and published by the Blanche Miller Trust. Sometimes we read from books published by WritersCorp or from some of the great poetry books edited by Betty Franco. Usually, I try to start with poetry written by youth about topics the kids can relate to. I do the same thing with my own writing. At home, I can often be found reading young adult and middle grade novels.  As I read, I am asking myself about the pacing of a story, studying the major plot points, and looking at how a character is created.

2. Mining Memories: It’s true. I am most motivated to write when I am fired up about something. But, I can’t live my life fired up about things. So then what? Lately, I have been “mining my memories” in order to find the emotion. To help me with this process, I am reading the following:

Writing the Sacred Journey by Elizabeth J. Andrew
Old Friend From Far Away by Natalie Goldberg
Writing as a Way of Healing by Louise DeSalvo

Each morning, I begin by using one or two of the writing prompts which take me back to how it felt to be eleven, twelve, thirteen, or fourteen, and then I can use that emotion in my current work in progress. Sometimes, I also get plot ideas from the writing prompts. For example, one of the topics said, “Write about a piece of furniture that you were in awe of as a child.” This took me to a large sideboard we had with a secret drawer, and suddenly that sideboard and secret drawer gave me a key plot point for my middle grade novel.

3. Working with Youth In the Community: As a writer, I do not seclude myself into isolation. Yes, I need solitude and quiet to write, BUT…not all the time. It’s very important for me to maintain connected to the youth in my community. I do this in a number of ways: volunteering with the youth at the detention center, doing art collages with youth at a homeless shelter or YMCA, attending high school basketball and baseball games, and presenting workshops to youth at libraries and school visits.

Writing Through Tough Economic Times

Editor lay-offs. Closing of imprints. School and library funding slashed. What’s a writer to do? Keep writing!You may have to reinvent yourself a bit. But if you’re a writer, you write. No matter what. One of the ways I’m reinventing myself during this time is by working on an adult romance for one of the Harlequin Lines along with continuing to work on my children’s writing. I’ve done a lot of research about adult romances when I wrote my YA romance, and it occurred to me that I could write romance for adults as well as for YA.

But, there are other ways to survive through tough times besides changing what you write.  For example,  find a place to volunteer. When I left teaching five years ago, I had a lot of time on my hands. What did I do? I began to volunteer at the local juvenile detention center. And what happened from that volunteer work?  That little volunteer work  shaped a good portion of writing career and I still do it four years later! So you never know what might happen when you set out to reinvent yourself!

If you’re looking for other ideas of how to surive tough times, check out my latest article: Recharging the Writer Battery: Six Ways to Write Through Tought Times which has been published with Writing-World.Com.  And then ask yourself, how can I reinvent myself? It’s a time for innovation, not despair!

Amelia Bloomer Project

One of my courses for educators in the Seattle Pacific University SPIRAL Program is  “Empowering Girls with Stories: Strong Female Voices in Children’s and Young Adult Literature,” I am always on the look-out for award winning books which honor and celebrate strong female voices.

The Amelia Bloomer Project honors “exemplary books that celebrate the strengths of girls and women and nourish their potential”. The Amelia Bloomer Project produces an annual list of books for young readers, birth through age 18, that contain significant feminist content. We need not just cardboard “feisty” or “spunky” female characters, but tales of girls and women who have broken barriers and fought to change their situations and their environment.

The 2009 List has been announced.

Reading Rainbow PBS Writing Contest for K-3rd Grade

PBS is sponsoring the 15th Annual Writing Contest for Kids in grades k-3rd.  Click here for more information.

Golden Kite Award Books Announced

THE SOCIETY OF CHILDREN’S BOOK WRITERS AND ILLUSTRATORS ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS AND HONOREES OF THE 2009 GOLDEN KITE AWARDS

The Golden Kite Award is the only award presented to children’s book authors and artists by their peers.

Golden Kite Award Winners:
Fiction: DOWN SAND MOUNTAIN
by Steve Watkins
Candlewick Press

Nonfiction: A LIFE IN THE WILD: GEORGE SCHALLER’S STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE LAST GREAT BEASTS
by Pamela S. Turner
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Picture Book Text: A VISITOR FOR BEAR
by Bonny Becker, illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Candlewick Press

Picture Book Illustration: LAST NIGHT
Illustrated and written by Hyewon Yum
Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Golden Kite Honor Recipients:
Fiction: THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX
by Mary E. Pearson
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Nonfiction: THE MYSTERIOUS UNIVERSE: SUPERNOVAE, DARK ENERGY, AND BLACK HOLES
by Ellen Jackson; photographed and illustrated by Nic Bishop
Houghton Mifflin

Picture Book Text: BEFORE JOHN WAS A JAZZ GIANT
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Sean Qualls
Henry Holt Books for Young Readers

Picture Book Illustration: I LOVE MY NEW TOY
Illustrated and written by Mo Willems
Hyperion