A Slice of Orange

Home

The Artist’s Way

August 29, 2009 by in category The Artist Way by Gillian Doyle tagged as ,

In July, the day before my scheduled blog post here on a A Slice of Orange, my mother passed away after only three weeks on hospice. She had moved into an Alzheimer’s care facility in March but had not yet reached the “tipping point” when a patient is no longer cognizant of reality. For this I am grateful. Ultimately, she succumbed to kidney failure. She was not in pain, but it was difficult to watch her struggle to hold on until my brothers arrived from out of state.

Not surprisingly, I did not have the time nor the state of mind to fulfill my obligation to write a blog entry for A Slice of Orange.

These last few weeks — months, actually — have been a deeply spiritual journey. All of life is a spiritual journey, as I see it. But some times much more than others.

Since starting this ARTIST’S WAY blog on A Slice of Orange, I have had to choose my words carefully because spirituality can be a sensitive subject, open to different interpretation by each reader. For this reason, I have avoided delving too far into the spiritual aspect of our creativity . . . of the Source of our creative natures, whether it is called God or Divine Mind or Universal Intelligence. But as the months progressed, as I have struggled with my own spiritual challenges during my mother’s illness, I have found it harder and harder to step gingerly around this subject.

And now another aspect must be considered —

A Slice of Orange is owned by the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America — a business-oriented nonprofit organization that must adhere to state laws governing nonprofits as well as laws of the Internal Revenue Service. For this reason, the chapter blog needs to have basic guidelines for content. Understandably so.

Ultimately, the OCCRWA board is held accountable by the National organization to follow state and IRS laws. One of these rules is that the nonprofit business organization cannot benefit any individual, but only the group as a whole. In simple words, no author can be singled out for publicity. And yet, that is exactly what my blog has been doing for THE ARTIST’S WAY author, Julia Cameron. Also, I have been promoting the ARTIST’S WAY workshops at the Bodhi Tree in West Hollywood. I don’t receive any compensation, but it is an endorsement that is appearing here in the chapter’s blog.

As a member of the current OCCRWA board, I understand the need for regulation of subject matter and language, as well as the limitation of author promotion. While I did vote in favor of the new guidelines, I knew that the spiritual basis of the ARTIST’S WAY would no longer be appropriate material for A Slice of Orange as a representation of the chapter. These rules are in the best interest of OCC’s blog to serve as an encouragement to writers while following the letter of the law for nonprofit business organizations.

For quite some time now, I have been drawn more and more toward a spiritual calling. This past year as my mother’s caregiver, I have put almost everything else in my life on hold. I am now at a point where I can take a bolder step toward this calling, perhaps even ministerial school. (Stranger things have happened! )

Thank you, OCCRWA, for allowing me to share my own thoughts about the ARTIST’S WAY these months. I have enjoyed this opportunity.

Namaste
– Gillian Doyle

www.gilliandoyle.com

3 0 Read more

Ten Steps to Publication

August 28, 2009 by in category Archives tagged as , ,

On Saturday August 22, Charlotte Lobb and I taught a full day workshop sponsored by OCCRWA. It was a special workshop arranged by the OCC Board to offer more resources for writers, and it was the second such workshop offered this year. The first one was a Plotting workshop by Diane Pershing back in January.

I discussed Character and Conflict, and Charlotte talked about Point of View and Dialogue. Every writer can always learn something new, even after many books (I picked up some great tips on dialogue from Char.) It was a small group, only about 17 people or so, which made for an intimate class that encouraged discussion. This made me think about the great resources available to aspiring writers from groups like OCC, which sounded like a good topic for a blog.

Ten Steps to Publication:

1. Write. If you don’t write it, you can’t submit it and no one can publish it! Find your own schedule, your own rhythm. Every writer’s life is different, and every writer’s process is different. Find what works for you and do it, no matter what. Make the time.

2. Join a writer’s group. OCCRWA is a great example of a valuable writer’s group. There are monthly meetings with two speakers every month! There is the contest, which gets your work in front of published author and editor judges. There’s the newsletter and the email loop. There’s cool special workshops like the one Char and I just did. The most important thing a writer’s group can offer, however, is support. No one understands the angst of a writer better than another writer.

3. Get a critique partner or group. Writers tend to be introverted individuals who hang out alone in front of their computers. Some of them are even too afraid to show their work to anyone. In my seventeen years as a serious writer, I have found critique partners/groups to be an invaluable objective eye. Every writer has a blind spot. Is there a phrase or word that you overuse? Is there a grammatical error you always make? Your critque partners will find it and alert you to it before you send off the manuscript.

4. Enter contests. Entering contests is a good way to get objective feedback, but you should have reasons for choosing the contests you enter. The Orange Rose from OCCRWA is one geared to get your manuscript ready for the Golden Heart or submission to an editor or agent. Or maybe you want to enter a contest because a certain author or editor is judging. Perhaps you’re worried about your synopsis so you enter a synopsis contest. Always have a reason, even if that reason is just to support your local chapter. 🙂

5. Know when to stop editing the first three chapters. Many aspiring authors write a dynamite three chapters, then edit them until they squeak. There is such a thing as editing the life out of pages, and you want to avoid that. Walk away from chapter three and move on to chapter four. An editor can’t buy only three chapters of a book.

6. Finish your book. As stated in number 5 above, an editor can’t buy only a few chapters. They need to see the whole book. Just do it. You will be astounded at the sense of accomplishment you get from writing The End.

7. Read new authors. The new authors are the writers who sold their work within the last year. This tells you what editors are buying. Plus you get some great reading material!

8. Learn about the market. Writing is a joy, an outlet, a balm to the soul. Publishing is a business. If you want to get paid for your work, you need to learn about the market. Read the RWR. Subscribe to Publisher’s Marketplace (http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/) so you can get Publisher’s Lunch, a daily email that tells you the news in the marketplace. There is also a daily email listing the deals made that day by editors and agents for all genres of books–and the subscription is only about $20 a month.

9. Set goals. No one gets anywhere without setting goals. If the idea of writing a whole book overwhelms you, then concentrate on writing the next page, or the next paragraph, or the next chapter. Keep your goals realistic according to what you can reasonably accomplish. Setting impossible goals guarantees failure. Remember: how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!

10. Let go of the fear. We all have a fear about getting published. I’ve published 11 books (#12 currently in the works), and I still get nervous around release time. Every writer is worried someone will tell her that her baby is ugly. Don’t project, just deal with the here and now. And don’t be afraid to finish that book and send it out. We’re all dying to hear what you have to say!

See you on the shelves!

8 0 Read more

A Fantasy Life

August 27, 2009 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

By Janet Quinn Cornelow

I have a new book coming out from Whiskey Creek Press in September. Wanted: True Love is a contemporary, fantasy romance. Bree-Anna, the heroine, is a witch coming up on her 200th birthday and needs to find true love to break a curse that was put on her by Gerard, a warlock. Unfortunately, every time Bree-Anna thinks she has found true love, Gerard steps in and something untoward happens to her suitor. Now she has met Quint. A hunk that she can really go for, if she can keep Gerard away from him. She only has two weeks to make Quint fall in love with her. And she can’t use her magic.

I have finished the galley and now I am waiting for the new cover. It just doesn’t feel finished without a cover and I have nothing to put up for a picture this month because I don’t have a cover.

I am still recovering from hurting my back and have gotten no writing done. I went to the movies yesterday and am paying for it today. My back does not like sitting for long times without moving. That could be why I am not getting much writing done.

0 0 Read more

September Online Class: “Plot That Novel Your Way” w Sue Viders and Becky Martinez

August 26, 2009 by in category Archives

“Plot That Novel YOUR Way” with Sue Viders and Becky Martinez
September 14, 2009 – October 10, 2009
Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassSep09.html

COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Enrollment deadline: September 13, 2009
If you have specific questions, email occrwaonlineclass@yahoo.com

ABOUT THE CLASS:
Plotting is never easy, even for the seasoned writer. How do you keep everything straight and go in the right direction? While this class is aimed at the beginning writer, any level writer can benefit from this overview of various plotting systems. It provides explanations of ways to plot and goes into detail on how authors who write by the seat of their pants can use those ways to make their own plotting—or lack of it—easier.

To give you some idea of how the class will be conducted, here is a brief outline of the subjects we will be discussing in depth during the coming weeks. We’ll be including assignments to go with the various lectures, and discussing the assignments with the class members. We’ll also leave plenty of time for students to ask questions at any time.

Plot that Novel YOUR Way Outline

Week 1
1. Introduction & Greetings
2. Lesson One – A Quick look at Plotting using the 5 W’s
3. Lesson Two – The 3-act structure & Building an Outline

Week 2
1. Lesson Three – Plot Points & Turning Points
2. Lesson Four – Using the Story Board for Pacing

Week 3
1. Lesson Five – Introduction to the Plotting Wheel
2. Lesson Six – Plotting Wheel pt. 2

Week 4
1. Lesson Seven – Putting it all Together
2. Lesson Eight – Plotting backwards & No Plotting
3. Wrap Up – Discovering the Method that works best for you

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS:

Sue Viders is the author of more than 20 books, numerous articles and columns for both artists and writers. An international art marketing consultant, she was the director of the Art Education Division of Color Q, Inc. for over 30 years. Her first writing book Heroes and Heroines, Sixteen Master Archetypes, is used in many colleges and universities from creative writing master programs to screen writing courses. Her latest book, 10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters is gaining use as a practical workbook for writers who want to further develop their characters. She is a practicing artist, seminar leader, and educator with on-line classes both for writers and artists.

Sue lives in Lone Tree, CO with her husband. Her five grown children and six grandkids live nearby. She is currently working on a coffee table book about the art of money with one of her daughters and a children’s book with her 15 year-old grandson.

Her latest product for writers is Deal a Story; an interactive card game consisting of 101 cards and six sections and is based on her Heroes and Heroines book. Check it out at www.dealastory.com or at her blog http://dealastory.blogspot.com

Becky Martinez is an award-winning former broadcast journalist and published author who teaches classes to writing groups and conducts online writing workshops. Her latest book, a romantic suspense, will soon be published by The Wild Rose Press. Her first published romance novel was an Aspen Gold finalist. She has had several short stories published, including “The Problem” in July 2008 by The Wild Rose Press and she contributed a short story to an anthology that was a 2007 New Mexico Book Award finalist.

With Sue Viders, Lucynda Storey and Cher Gorman, she co-authored the writing book, Ten Steps to Creating Memorable Characters, a workbook for writers.She is currently working with Sue Viders on a new book on plotting.

In addition, she has worked as a publicist, public information officer and public relations consultant in the Denver metro area and has taught classes and workshops on marketing, public relations and broadcast journalism.

Enrollment Information at http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclassSep09.html

COST: $20 for OCC members, $30 for non-members
Enrollment deadline: September 13, 2009

Coming in October – Muse Therapy – D. D. Scott style – is all about injecting life into tired and/or stressed out muses. I’ll give writers fun and fabulous tools to analyze their muses’ funks, reign in their creative divas and up their page counts.

http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html Check out our full 2009 list of workshops.

Want to be notified personally two weeks before each class? Be sure you’re signed up for our Online Class Notices Yahoo Group! Sign up at the bottom of http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html or send a blank email to OCCRWAOnlineClassNotices-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

********** permission to forward this blog**********

0 0 Read more

Audio-visual Resources Expand Understanding of Google Book Search Settlement

August 24, 2009 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

Yes, it’s me again sharing information on the Google Settlement!

Much has been written about the Google Book Search Settlement. For those who want a better understanding of the Settlement but are a bit print-weary, audio-visual resources have become available in recent weeks that can clarify and expand that understanding.

For a general overview of Google Books and the Settlement on YouTube click here .

For a better understanding of the role of the Settlement in leveling the educational playing field for minority students and students with disabilities click here

For a discussion of what the Settlement means for publishers click here. There’s information on a webinar below as well.

I have to note that I do get irritated at those that trumpet “all content should be free.” Hey, I’m sure we’d all like everything to be free! But if someone started announcing that all lawyers should work for free, or all milk should be free, we’d see the absurdity of that statement! Why can’t they acknowledge the same value for Intellectual Property (IP) or the written material many sweat blood to create.

Not only do some feel their work has actual value, but they need to make a living at their work–and writing is work indeed. They also believe the creator or copyright holder ought to have some control over the material.
If you haven’t guessed by now, I want this settlement to go through in order to ensure authors and publishers are offered some protection and to help ensure copyright is respected. As I said in a previous post, while the settlement is not perfect, it’s an important first step. It literally took years, and involved a group of very smart, committed representatives for authors, publishers and a global search engine. I don’t see anyone raising their hand to do better.

Without the settlement, we remain in a lawless frontier, and the implications would be devastating for copyright in the digital arena. There are a lot of people who can benefit from a state of anarchy, but it’s time for content creators and those that value content to draw a line in the sand.
As noted previously, if you’d like to learn more about the settlement, you can also check out the information on the Author’s Guild and the Association of American Publisher’s websites.

But there’s also a recent Webinar hosted by Publisher’s Weekly you can access. Go to www.PublishersWeekly.com, click on “Tools” to the far right of the top navibar, then Webcasts and register for the webcast:
Google Library Project Settlement: What It Means for Publishers (or just click on the link!).

You will be able to access the webcast archive for one year following the initial webcast.

Description of the Webinar:

In a webinar first, the leaders involved with the crafting of the Google Library Project Settlement will share with the publishing industry the benefits of the agreement for publishers and authors. If approved by the Court in October, the agreement will create one of the most far-reaching intellectual, cultural, and commercial platforms for access to digital books for the reading public, while granting publishers unprecedented opportunities and protections. Presented in collaboration with Google, The Association of American Publishers, and Publishers Weekly, the web session is a must-attend event.

PANELISTS
Richard Sarnoff, Co-Chair, Bertelsmann, Inc., AAP Board of Directors
John Sargent, Chief Executive Officer, Macmillan, AAP Board of Directors
Jan Constantine, General Counsel, Author’s Guild
James Gleick, Author
Michael Healy, Executive Director Designate, Book Rights Registry

MODERATOR
Jim Milliot, News Director, Publishers Weekly

Thanks for listening! I think it’s important.
0 0 Read more

Copyright ©2017 A Slice of Orange. All Rights Reserved. ~PROUDLY POWERED BY WORDPRESS ~ CREATED BY ISHYOBOY.COM

>