November 2, 2016 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — Book Awards, Milestones, and Changes — Oh My! And November Question of the Month

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

*****

I didn’t intend to drop off the face of the blogosphere a couple of weeks ago. Life happened, with a lot of things going on at once, so blogging had to take a backseat.

First, for anyone who didn’t see the announcement on my Facebook page, my first book, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, did win the award in the Independent Publishers of New England Book Award contest in the Fantasy/SciFi category. Whoo, hoo! I had a great time at the IPNE fall conference in New Hampshire on October 21^st and 22^nd where I went to accept the award.

ipne_bookawardwinner_image_oct2016

Second, I reached another milestone with my blog. This will be my 300^th post!

And third, life happened in the form of my getting a new job. It happened in a whirlwind and rather unexpectedly. It’s definitely a good thing, but the difficult part is that this job requires an intensive ten-week training course, which will consume pretty much all of my waking hours from November 14^th until late January. I know the job itself will be interesting and rewarding, but the training will be a challenge.

Which brings me to my insecurity for this month (and for the next few): My writing time will be nonexistent for the next ten weeks and probably beyond until I get settled into the new position. It’s going to be hard to live without it. I had hoped to publish one book a year to build up a backlist, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish the book I’m working on and get it out by the end of 2017 or not. It’s still a possibility. It’ll just have to be a fall/winter book instead of a spring one like my first two.

Blogging time will also be nonexistent. I will keep the author promo commitments I’ve already made. I’m in the process of scheduling those posts now, but other than that, after November 14^th, I won’t be around much, if at all.

Here’s to a successful training session, and Happy Holidays to everyone!

*****

And now for the November IWSG question:

What is your favorite aspect of being a writer?

My favorite aspect is writing the first draft. When I sit down at the keyboard and the story is playing like a movie in my mind and the words are tumbling out of my head like a waterfall and I can barely get them down fast enough. I live for those moments.

October 5, 2016 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — Book Awards! And October Question of the Month

*****

I know there are quite a few book award contests out there, and I’ve often wondered if it’s worth the upfront cost to enter them. Sometimes it feels like throwing money down the drain. If you don’t win or place, you have nothing to show for the investment.

And are all those contests really legit? Or are some of them created by unsavory characters preying on authors desperate for any recognition that will lift their books up out of the ever-widening sea of published novels? And if the contests aren’t big name like, for example, the Hugo Awards, will readers be influenced to buy your book if you do win?

I don’t know the answers to the first two questions, but I’m about to find out the answer to the third one. I received notice a few days ago that my first book, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, won a Finalist award in the Independent Publishers of New England Book Award contest I entered a while back. Whoo, hoo! I’ll be going to the IPNE fall conference in New Hampshire on October 21^st and 22^nd to accept the award and hopefully do a book signing, and just enjoy the conference. It will be interesting to see if the award and the publicity surrounding it have any effect on sales.

What experiences have other authors had with book contests? What ones did you enter? If you won or placed, what happened then? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.

*****

And now for the October IWSG question:

When do you know your story is ready?

My basic rule is that if I can read through my story without tinkering or making any edits, it’s ready. Of course, this is after it has gone through the necessary revisions and professional editing. But if I can read through it and not find anything that feels just a little off, and if everything reads smoothly without any wording that trips me up, it’s done.

*****

And Don’t Forget the 2016 IWSG Anthology Contest!

Last year’s contest was science fiction — parallel world/alternate history — and the result was Parallels: Felix Was Here. This year, there’s a new theme and all members are invited to submit.

Eligibility: Any member of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group is encouraged to enter — blogging or Facebook member. The story must be previously unpublished. Entry is free.

Word count: 3000-6000

Genre: Fantasy

Theme: Hero Lost. It could be about a hero turned villain, a villain’s redemption, a hero’s lack of confidence, a hero’s lack of smarts, etc. It can be about any kind of hero including superheroes, mythological heroes, unexpected or unlikely heroes, or a whole new kind of hero. This theme has plenty of scope and we’re open to pretty much anything along these lines. No erotica, R-rated language, or graphic violence.

Deadline: November 1^st, 2016

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted, previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details and if you are part of the Blogging or Facebook IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.

Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.

We’re excited to see the creativity and enthusiasm that’s such a part of this group put into action. So don your creative caps and start writing. And spread the word!

October 16, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit and now hosted by Lexa Cain to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

I can’t believe October is half over already. Where did it go? Things to celebrate this week:

The interview I did on the local cable TV channel (LCATV) is on the air now. I noticed I talk with my hands quite a bit, not that that’s bad or anything. Here’s the link for anyone who’d like to see it: http://lcatv.org/node/196156. It’s Vermont Treasures #31.
I got all my materials sent to the Independent Publishers of New England, so that my book can be represented and sold at their tables at the Boston Book Festival and the New England Library Association Conference. I won’t be at the events in person, so it will be interesting to see how this works in terms of sales.
We made our traditional fun trek through the corn maze, then went on the hayride down through the “gauntlet of horrors” to the pumpkin patch and my kids picked out pumpkins.
I got some more yard work done. Yay!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

September 11, 2015 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

I never thought I’d say this, but this week I’m celebrating book promotion!

I signed up for the Burlington (VT) Book Festival at the end of this month. I’ll be manning the League of VT Writers table again and hopefully doing some selling.

I’ve also signed up to have my book displayed at the Independent Publishers of New England table at the Boston Book Festival in October. As a member of the IPNE, I get to have my book listed in their catalog as well as having it on their table for thousands of people to see. It’s a great opportunity to get the book out there, even if I’m not there in person.

In November, I’m scheduled to participate in my local artists’ guild’s craft show, and in two weeks I’ll be back at the local Farmer’s Market for their craft day. All the towns around me have Farmer’s Markets, so I’ve been checking out the possibilities there, too.

This morning I signed an agreement with the book distributor of my local Kinney Drugs to display my books in the Milton store. I had noticed in the past that they’ve had VT author books on their counter and asked if they would stock mine. They said yes!

And best of all — thanks to Cherie Reich’s September IWSG post, I learned about the Readers’ Favorite book review site. I submitted my book for review the next day and received my review yesterday. Now I get to display this on my site!