Amlokiblogs

You don't start out writing good stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:02:00 +0000

Butler had it right, I think. I can't teach myself creativity, or give myself talent--but I can teach myself craft, hope I have talent, and enjoy the process of writing.

My only hope is persistence, so here I go for a day of wrestling with the Muse.

If you're looking for some writing practice, and some feedback, sign up for the I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest..or look up the A to Z Blogging Challenge!

Happy writing, folks!

Oracle by J.C. Martin--#Book-Cover Reveal Tour!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:00:00 +0000

J.C. Martin is an awesome blog-friend and an extremely talented and entertaining writer. So when she said she had a book coming out, I had to step up for Oracle's book cover reveal tour!

I have to say I love the cover (below), and can't wait to read what's inside. But true to Oracle's genre, which is mystery, we the readers must solve a mystery in order to win a $20 Amazon Voucher! For more details visit J.C. Martin's blog!

Official Blurb for Oracle
As the countdown begins, the body count rises.

With London gearing up to host the Olympics, the city doesn’t need a serial killer stalking the streets. They’ve got one anyway.

Leaving a trail of brutal and bizarre murders, the police are no closer to finding their latest murderer than Detective Inspector Kurt Lancer is in finding a solution for his daughter’s disability.

Thrust into the pressure cooker of a high profile case, the struggling single parent is wound tight as he tries to balance care of his own family with the safety of a growing population of potential next victims.

One of whom could be his own daughter.

Fingers point in every direction as the public relations nightmare grows, and Lancer’s only answer comes in the form of a single oak leaf left at each crime scene.

Once the book is released, I'm going to go grab it, and I suggest you do the same. From what I've read of Martin's writing, here's one book you ought not to miss!
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As many of you know, I'm co-hosting the A to Z Challenge in April this year, which basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter. Please drop me picture prompts or story starters so I can write a piece of fiction for each day in April (and credit you and the photographer as well as link to you), either as comment to this post or at atozstories at gmail dot com. Thanks to everyone who have sent in pictures and story prompts so far.

What Books would You Suggest to an Emergent Reader?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:39:00 +0000

I've recently found myself looking for books for teens and adults which would help them "polish their English-language skills."

I've always been an avid reader and though English is not my mother tongue, it is the language I'm most comfortable in--courtesy the books I've read since early childhood. I absorbed grammar, syntax and vocabulary through constant reading, and though that makes me a rather indifferent language teacher, it makes me a competent writer and an excellent reader of the language.

In my opinion, no amount of grammar schooling can replace reading when it comes to learning a language, and it seems other folk have similar opinions (and suggestions) :

The first novel that leapt to mind was Andre Dubus III's "House of Sand and Fog," because it's about a well-educated immigrant from Iran forced to settle for a job as a convenience store clerk. But things don't end well for Genob Sarhang Amir Behrani. Another novel about an immigrant, Jhumpa Lahiri's "The Namesake," has a more hopeful outcome. The writing in both books is accessible (in Ms. Lahiri's case, it's often beautiful).

I looked online for lists of books recommended by librarians and teachers for so-called emergent adult readers. These books are also sometimes known as "high-low," meaning high-interest plots with lower levels of vocabulary. Many of the suggested books are short, which doesn't always make sense to me. One of the most demanding books I've ever read was "The Red Badge of Courage," whereas some of Stephen King's door-stoppers seem ideal for reading practice. Another short book that often appears on these lists is John Steinbeck's "The Pearl," which seemed like a tough slog to me when I read it in school, although I ended up loving it. Also, the idea of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" being a good book for emergent adult readers strikes me as ludicrous. Better one of Larry McMurtry's Western hulks, Pat Conroy's yarns or Herman Wouk's sagas.

So that was Cynthia Cross in the Wall Street Journal with her suggestions.

What books would You suggest for

a. teens

b. adults

who are trying to practice their reading skills and absorb new words through reading fiction?

(These don't have to be classics or bestsellers--- just books that are accessible to the new reader, yet contain plots engaging enough to hold the reader's interest.)

Writers, Do You Challenge Your #AmWriting Through Your Blog?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:25:00 +0000

I woke up today with my writing on my mind, with a perfect ending to my story, and a perfect way to reach it.

I sat down and wrote it in three hours, and sent it off to my favorite beta reader. Wish there were more days like this---but most days come and pass me by with no good words written, nothing I would like to keep. Some days it is a struggle to write, so I just revise.

Which is why, I need practice, more 'active', 'conscious' practice. And to give myself exactly that, I'm writing fiction everyday for the whole month of April for the A to Z Challenge. If you haven't heard about it yet---it had 1300 participants last year, this year the figures would be higher.

This challenge basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter.

I completed the A to Z Blogging challenge last year and not only did I make a host of blog friends, I also saw my blog visits shoot through the roof. I wrote one story a day, and at the end of it, published it as a book of short fiction, A to Z Stories of Life and Death, which got a lot of love from all its readers.

If the prospect of a month-long blogging challenge excites you, read the founding host Arlee Bird's explanation of the nitty-gritties of the challenge.

And like I said in my last post, I need your help to complete the challenge, so drop me a few leads in that post! (Thanks to Stuart Nager, Rae Weaver and Arlee Bird for your prompts via e-mail!)

I'm helping host the challenge this year with some great bloggers. We're also running a video challenge for A to Z with videos like this one. Go the blog for the announcement--some cool prizes are waiting for you!

Another, shorter, but no less challenging creative writing event I've decided to participate in is the I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest. It is an awesome event hosted by Cassie Mae at Reading, Writing, and Lovin' it! and Angie at Live to Write...Edit when Necessary.

This blogfest encourages us writers to delve deeper into our characters and here's how we do it:

February 6th - Monday: Characters on the couch: Have one of your characters answer the following questions (to make this work to your benefit, choose a character who is the hardest for you to write :) Max 250 words (Not including the questions—only the answers).

1.      What is your biggest vulnerability? Do others know this or is it a secret?

2.      What do people believe about you that is false?

3.      What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw? Why?

4.      What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality? Why?

5.      What do you want most? What will you do to get it?

February 8th - Wednesday - Dialogue Introduction: Have two characters introduce each other using only dialogue—no backstory, no internalization, just dialogue between the two. Max 250 words.

February 10th - Friday - Emotion Flash Fiction: Emotion is the engine of a story. Pick an emotion and in a flash fiction piece of 250 words MAKE us feel it! We want to connect with your character. This will be a challenge in 250 words.

So, if you have the time to spare, go gear up for these challenges. As a writer I think I need challenge and discipline, and I'm doing what I can to get it through my blog.

What about you? Do you ever challenge yourself through your blog?

In which I Challenge You to Challenge Me!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 13:50:00 +0000

Writing based on prompts is a tricky business, photo and painting prompts more so.

But that is what I plan to do everyday this coming April, and add a word/sentence prompt into the mix, sort of furthering what I did last year during the A to Z Blogging challenge, which led to A to Z Stories of Life and Death. (The A to Z Blogging Challenge basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter.)

Since I'll have hosting duties, I'll pre-schedule at least some of the posts this year.

So I'm asking you, my blogging audience, to challenge me with an interesting picture that you would like me to write on, and drop me story starters, each sentence/phrase beginning with a different letter (i.e. the first word of the starter must start with a different letter from A to Z). You can do this in the comments on this post. I'll keep sending out this call till I have 26 pictures and 26 prompts that really challenge me! Of course, when I post each prompt during April, I'll link to you and explain why I chose it. You may also mail me the pictures and story prompts at atozstories at gmail dot com.

You need not be participating in the A to Z Challenge to challenge me with either a story starter, or a picture, or both. The more the merrier! Last year I had asked for word prompts, and I got loads to choose from! This year, I'm taking it a step further.

As a sort of warm-up and illustration of what I hope to do, I'm pasting below a painting, a story starter, randomly chosen, and the resulting story.

Painting by Edgeworth Johnstone, titled, "Orchestra"

Story Starter: You must not....

Story:

"You must not use scissors to cut out hearts", she said, walking towards him in cold, steady steps, "you must use a surgeon's knife. You wear a surgeon's cap, so get rid of the scissors. Scissors are for paper, not flesh and blood."

They had met many years ago, him and her, both walking their dogs. They had taken the longer route home. Scissors and knives had little place in their lives, at the time. Those things lived in kitchen drawers, just like in every other home, useful, indispensable, harmless.

This was before they had figured out they shared dreams. A decade went by, the dogs that had introduced them died, and they did not get new ones. They pillowed their heads next to each other, less than an arms length apart, and watched birds as they slept, birds, and platypus, and sting rays and fish with beaks larger than their bodies. They saw the blood, flowing, spilled, congealed like flavored yoghurt in bowls, and neither spoke of it to the other.

They woke up, kissed, careful not to breathe on each other before they brushed their teeth, and went off to work, lunch boxes and train passes in hand, waving to each other, smiling innocuous smiles. They never spoke of the cranes that danced with their beaks open, sharp as knives, the cockerels dazzling them with their plumes, the buzzards that looked from high up above on pregnant mermaids, of tribal men dancing, their hands like pitchforks, glowing by the campfire.

Until that night when she found him at the kitchen table at 2 a.m, red scissors in hand, bending over blood. She leaned on him as he cut, and they spoke, in short words and long, shaky breaths, of their dreams. Now and then, they glanced out of the window, smiling at those shifting noises of the night that go unexplained.

Outside in the darkness, the night shivered, and grew afraid.

#Writers, How Much of YOU Do You Put into Your #Stories?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

Guilie Castillo-Oriard has asked a pretty seminal question in her guest post at Daily (w)rite : Dear Writer, Would You Kill to be a New York Bestselling Author?

Her advice is to go out and live, the way Hemingway did, doing all sorts of things, taking on odd jobs, engaging in different experiences, so that your writing comes alive. It is a sort of vindication of "Write what you know", as well as a statement : "Get to know what you don't know, and then write about it."

This set me thinking: how much of our lives, experiences, incidents, people, feelings, go into our writing?

In my case, quite a bit, which is what frightened me in the first place--am I undressing in public?

But after nearly four years of writing (however miniscule that might be), now I know that whatever part of me goes into my writing transforms itself---it follows the demands of the story, not my historical truth, but the fictional truth that I create. This fictional truth is a lie (sometimes even a twisted lie) in a sense, because it does not accurately reflect my lived experience in all its details.

But in another sense, it is true--in each of my stories I'm trying to say something---about people, their motivations, about life, its unpredictable trajectories---the story comes of itself after a few drafts, the characters develop their own motivations. If some part of a story is based on my personal life history, it only exists there because it fits what the the story needs. If some characters resemble people I know/ knew in real life, they also differ in essential ways.

This difference is not because I want to change or hide the truth of what happened to me or to those people, it is because those characters become real, their stories real ---with their own attitudes, characteristics, philosophies---and my subconscious does not differentiate between history and fiction when I'm writing. Just as research shows that when we are dreaming, our subconscious thinks of those events as real---and in order to prevent bodily injury, our brain has devised mechanisms that keep our body inert while we sleep and dream.

Besides, I think once I begin a story, I become the character, and use only my vivid sensory memory to give reality to a character I do not remotely resemble, for instance, the frustrated gay man in a Singaporean train in Peeping Toe---yes, there is me in that story, too, but it is in the details of clothes and behavior I've observed while traveling in the trains myself. Sometimes the similarities are deeper, but then, so are the differences. Because when I write, I use my memory merely as a springboard, it does not guide the depth or extent of my dive into the character's world.

Which is why, when I worked with different stories and different characters in A to Z Stories of Life and Death, I found myself becoming different people, adding myself and my experiences to those people, but also watching them from up above. Their truth is a fictional truth, not one of memory, and yet, readers have come away moved, sometimes identifying with the characters, often empathizing with them.

So I agree with Margaret Atwood when she says:

“Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté.”

What about you? How much of your own story do you put into your stories, and what is your take on writing lived experiences?

Amlokiblogs Turns 4!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:02:00 +0000

When I started this blog on writing, I had no clue I would carry it forward for four years.

It has had its ups and downs, but Amlokiblogs is four years old today, and hoping to continue. Last year I helped host the Rule of Three month-long blogfest, and this April, this blog will co-host the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Thanks to everyone who came by to comment and all the friends I've made through this blog, last year felt better than it could have done. Amlokiblogs now has more than 300 followers, but I can say all these followers mostly joined because they genuinely wanted to follow my posts---I've never hosted a giveaway for followers etc. (No harm in that, really, but I haven't done that---just saying)

So another year begins for Amlokiblogs, and all I can hope is that through this blog I'll learn more as a writer, grow as a person, and make bunches of new friends.

Happy writing, folks, and thanks for dropping by Amlokiblogs!!

Welcome to A-Z Blogging Challenge 2012!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:37:00 +0000

Happy New Year and welcome back to Amlokiblogs!

Regular transmissions resume today, and I'd like to start with a big announcement:

The A-Z Blogging Challenge 2012!

The biggest blogging event I took part in in 2011 (make that the biggest blogging event ever) was the A to Z Blogging Challenge, April 2011.

This challenge basically requires 26 posts in 26 days based on 26 letters of the alphabet, one post beginning with each letter.

If the prospect of a month-long blogging challenge excites you, read the founding host Arlee Bird's explanation of the nitty-gritties of the challenge.

This year, Arlee Bird, or Lee as we, his Ninja army of followers call him, has asked me to host the challenge along with an awesome team of bloggers who I have listed below.

Check out their blogs, and dive into the challenge early---sign ups begin on Jan 30th 2012!!

Awesome hosts of the A-Z challenge:

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)

Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

We had 1300 participants last year, I have a feeling this year would be double the number.

We'll all have mad, crazy, fun--discovering new friends, re-visiting old ones, giving and receiving comment love---and most important of all--giving our blogs the love they deserve!

Welcome to A-Z Blogging Challenge, April 2012!

Dear Authors, Is Social Media All That Effective?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:33:00 +0000

My blog had slipped into hiatus for a while because I got locked out of my blog, but Amlokiblogs is now back with a guest post by Sabine Reed, in which she talks about the importance of social media to us writers.

The topic of self-promotion by writers has been discussed in my blogs before ---Sabine offers her take on the subject today.

Take it away, Sabine!
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Social media is widely used by authors, print on online, to promote and market their books. However, according to a study done by company called Outbrain, the social media sites such as StumbleUpon, digg, reddit and twitter are not as effective as google, Aol and yahoo. In fact google leads the pack, by driving most of the search traffic.

What does it mean for an author looking at social media as a means for promotion? Well, for one, it shows that the most effective way to get traffic to your website or blog is to have it listed on google, yahoo and other such sites. Also, creation of new content is more effective as a way to promote your book than time spent on facebook and twitter, among other social media. If you have a blog, it’s crucial that you update its content on a regular basis. Blogging twice a week minimum is a good idea.

For a writer, however, creation of new content mainly refers to new books.

Writers should write. The more books you have out there, the greater the number of people who will find out about you.

In fact, most experienced writers such as JA Konrath have been saying the same thing for a number of years. And don’t forget that Amanda Hocking had a number of books published within a span of one year, and shot her way to fame not because of her promotional activity but because she had a lot of work that was read by a lot of people who generated sales for her future work. And, of course, because she wrote great book that were well-liked and readers recommended her to others widely.

Self-published authors have a distinct advantage over authors with publishing houses because they can publish their new books according to their own schedule. You can read more about this here.

In light of the same study, another way to get your name out there is to generate new content by way of a blog or articles. It will also raise your ranking on Google, and if you create good content, people will be driven to your blog. It’s your choice of course whether you want to spend the valuable time you have writing your new book, or writing a new blog post.

In the long run, I think, for a writer, another book would be a better bet.

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Author Bio:

Sabine A. Reed is the fantasy author of The Black Orb. She also writes her own blog Writing and Publishing Resource to help new writers.

Twitter handle: @SabineAReed

Writers, Have You Logged In 10,000 Hours?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:42:00 +0000

I haven't been too well these past weeks, not writing or blogging much, but I want to chat with my blog-buddies, not stay mum on the blog, especially after my first rant (against writers) in nearly 4 years of blogging!

So, I'm re-posting an old post, because I'm curious...what do we writers think about the 10,000 hours rule, and how many of us have logged in those hours?

I was reading an old Reader's Digest Interview by Malcolm Gladwell, where he says: (emphasis mine)

An innate gift and a certain amount of intelligence are important, but what really pays is ordinary experience. Bill Gates is successful largely because he had the good fortune to attend a school that gave him the opportunity to spend an enormous amount of time programming computers-more than 10,000 hours, in fact, before he ever started his own company. He was also born at a time when that experience was extremely rare, which set him apart. The Beatles had a musical gift, but what made them the Beatles was a random invitation to play in Hamburg, Germany, where they performed live as much as five hours a night, seven days a week. That early opportunity for practice made them shine. Talented? Absolutely. But they also simply put in more hours than anyone else.

This set me thinking. Does this hold true for writing as well?

Of course, I went back and picked up his book Outliers that describes this 10,000 hour rule (which basically states that you can become an expert at anything provided you put in 10,000 hours of practice), and then did some digging on the research behind this theory (and it IS a theory, not proven fact), and found this article: What it takes to be great --

Turns out that it is not 10, 000 hours of blind slogging, it has to be 'deliberate practice':

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call "deliberate practice." It's activity that's explicitly intended to improve performance, that reaches for objectives just beyond one's level of competence, provides feedback on results and involves high levels of repetition.

For example: Simply hitting a bucket of balls is not deliberate practice, which is why most golfers don't get better. Hitting an eight-iron 300 times with a goal of leaving the ball within 20 feet of the pin 80 percent of the time, continually observing results and making appropriate adjustments, and doing that for hours every day - that's deliberate practice.

Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, "Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends."
Evidence crosses a remarkable range of fields. In a study of 20-year-old violinists by Ericsson and colleagues, the best group (judged by conservatory teachers) averaged 10,000 hours of deliberate practice over their lives; the next-best averaged 7,500 hours; and the next, 5,000. It's the same story in surgery, insurance sales, and virtually every sport. More deliberate practice equals better performance. Tons of it equals great performance.

Continuous and consistent efforts at improvement, trying to learn something new each day, new skills, setting new goals ---that is what deliberate practice is all about.

I sat back and thought about how many hours of 'deliberate practice I've put in over the past 3 years of writing fiction, and I think it totals up to 2000 hours, at the most (and here I'm including all the time I read books on writing, or stared off into space trying to figure out a plot hit my head on the wall on empty days!)

So, if I want to write well, I have 8000 more hours of practice ahead of me, and of course it doesn't stop there, because even experts need to keep updating themselves!

While this is daunting, it also reassures me. Even if I have zero talent (I hope not, but there is always that possibility lol), I have hope if I put in the hours of 'deliberate practice'.

Have you finished your 10,000 hours? Do you think the theory makes sense?

5 Things Writers Do That IRRITATE Me

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:02:00 +0000

I'm part of the writing community for a while now, and I have to say that 99% of the writers I've met have been solid gold in terms of professional courtesy.

But lately, I've been encountering the 1% that is annoying the hell out of me, and for possibly the first time on this blog, this is a Rant. I know most writers don't do any of the following, but this is addressed to those who do. I need to figure out if I'm the only one who's irritated with the following set of behaviors.

I'm tired of writers who:

1. Relentlessly hawk their book on Twitter, Google+, Facebook, Blog:
I get it. You want us to find your book. But it is irritating to find only your book whenever we come across you on the www. I'm sure I've ignored perfectly good books because their authors bombarded me with mails and non-stop social media campaigns. Be subtle, find the golden mean. You're a writer. It shouldn't be too difficult.

2. Auto DM me on Twitter the minute I follow them: Yes you would like me to Like your FB page, comment on your blog, bring you a bouquet of roses, whatever. But can you wait to strike up a conversation, get to know me, before trying to plaster your face all over my internet?

3. Send me review copies of their book without asking me first: Sure, you want to be reviewed. Who doesn't? Ask me to review it, and if I can, I'll do it. Send me a reminder, or two. But do you have to foist a book on me without any preamble and then bug me Every Other Day on Twitter or email asking me when I'd review you?

4. Guest post on my blog, but neither promote it nor respond to Comments: You're the guest on my blog....do your best to attract an audience for yourself. I'm doing my best to promote it, but I can't be the spammer I hate. Do your bit, please. Also, respond to the comments addressed to you. It is not only polite, but also the only professional thing to do.

5. Never respond to critiques: If you've asked for a critique and received it, be decent enough to thank the person who took the time to read your novel/ story/screenplay. You may not like what they said about your work, but that is no reason not to be gracious.

Right. Rant over.

Do you disagree with any of the points I've made? Have you come across such behavior in writers and been annoyed with it? Am I the only mad crazy hatter, getting annoyed all by myself?

As a writer, do you support any of these 'writer-behaviors'?

Behold the Rule of Three Champions, and The Heart of the World

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:21:00 +0000

The Rule of Three now has its official winners.
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Between falling sick, and judging the Rule of three with my three co-hosts, I've been trying my best to keep up with all that is life, and writing, blogging, tweeting, reading. I'm now reading the The Heart of the World by Ian Baker.

To give you an idea of the sort of read it is, here is a bit of the blurb:

The myth of Shangri-la originates in Tibetan Buddhist beliefs in beyul, or hidden lands, sacred sanctuaries that reveal themselves to devout pilgrims and in times of crisis. The more remote and inaccessible the beyul, the vaster its reputed qualities. Ancient Tibetan prophecies declare that the greatest of all hidden lands lies at the heart of the forbidding Tsangpo Gorge, deep in the Himalayas and veiled by a colossal waterfall. The heart of the Tsangpo Gorge remained a blank spot on the map of world exploration until world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker delved into the legends. After several years of encountering sheer cliffs, maelstroms of impassable white water, and dense leech-infested jungles, on the last of a series of extraordinary expeditions, Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team reached the depths of the Tsangpo Gorge. They made news worldwide by finding there a 108-foot-high waterfall, the legendary grail of Western explorers and Tibetan seekers alike.

I'm not really a non-fiction person, but this book is research, and I'm loving it! If you come across this book, I suggest you pick it up for a strange and fascinating read.

Writer, Is It Time to go Indie?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 12:33:00 +0000

Technologically there has been no easier time to go Indie. It is cheaper, easier, faster than ever before for the writer to bypass the publisher and directly connect with his or her readers. So should all writers consider the indie option?

My personal views are somewhat reflected on this page, but today, in this guest post, writer Jeff Benington is here to give us his take on the Indie-Traditional debacle:

What’s a Writer to Do?

By Jeff Bennington

One of the biggest stories in the news is the state of the publishing industry. E-reader sales are exploding, Amazon is making up the rules as they go, and readers are buying books at prices that go back decades.

What’s really intriguing is Amazon’s impending grip on the new age of publishing. They are buying book rights and signing authors with the power to create bestsellers via their logarithmic fairy dust.

So what’s a writer to do? Should he sign with an agent? Should she pursue traditional publication or go indie? How do novelists plan their projects and career objectives with so much turmoil in the field?

The answer: No one really knows.

With each new day it seems that there’s another twist to the game. A couple years ago, the words “self-published” tasted like mothballs in the mouths of many people. Today, “indies” are quickly gaining acceptance among readers. A few months ago, $2.99 was a rock-bottom price for an ebook. Now, 99¢ novels are selling by the millions and populating the Kindle store’s top 10.

One has to ask… what’s next?

It seems like the only thing a writer can expect is change. And if I’ve learned anything about life, I’ve learned that the best way to manage change is to have loose expectations and believe that today’s norm could turn on a dime.

My wife and I came to an agreement a few months back. We decided that I wouldn’t accept a publishing deal unless it was life changing, because as things stand, I can do almost everything it takes to publish my work and grow my audience without giving away a huge chunk of the profit. In fact, I recently turned down a publishing contract with a small press because it just didn’t make sense. Not now anyway.

Funny thing is, I would’ve jumped at the chance two years ago!

All to say, I think writers need to be flexible, ready to bend with the publishing ebb and flow no matter where they are in their career.

In the meantime, the most important thing you can do is keep writing. If your first book has meager sales, look for ways to improve book number two. Continue honing your craft and building your platform.

Keep on writing and don’t look back.

Write as if the indie revolution will last forever, but be prepared that everything could change again in 2012.

# # #

Jeff Bennington is the author of the Amazon bestselling ghost story, Reunion, and Twisted Vengeance, a supernatural thriller coming December 2011. He blogs at The Writing Bomb and is the creator of The Kindle Book Review.

Rule of Three Shortlist

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:52:00 +0000

The Rule of Three Shortlist was announced yesterday. Please go read the stories and place your vote. The voting results don't show to keep it fair and square, but the votes ARE being counted :)

I have been missing from my blog and everywhere else because of illness: not been online for the past 5 days. But things should pick up by Wednesday, so watch this space!

In the meanwhile, take care, all, and happy writing!

Writing in a Shared World!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:10:00 +0000

I met multi-talented storyteller and writer Stuart Nager via Daily (w)rite earlier this year, and this led to not only a very vibrant, writer-ly friendship, but also, eventually, The Rule of Three Blogfest: a shared-world writing concept. Stuart created this world, the town of Renaissance, which about 60 writers shared for the month of October, creating characters and stories.

Today, he is here to talk about the shared-world writing concept ...so take it away, Stuart!
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I love the whole idea of a shared world/shared universe in writing. Different writers add their own unique voice to a grounded landscape/concept. I’ve read many series with that concept and have always loved the different take on world building. Sure, many writers will create a whole series of books on their one imagined world (Discworld, Darkover, Ringworld, etc), but it is normally the same author playing in their own backyard.

A shared world allows others to add on while obeying some of the “basic guidelines”. They add, expand, and offer new ideas to other writers. Some of the best of the shared world books I’ve read incorporated places or story beats from other writers, making the work connective and “real.” This is not fan fiction: it is sanctioned writing within the same construct. Some fan fiction gets the official OK from the author (I know there was at least one Darkover book that Marion Zimmer Bradley endorsed), but what I’m talking about are the ones where the work is part of canon.

My foray into the shared world concept came about through a side door for me. If you saw the #REN3 hash-tag floating around Twitter, or seen postings about The Rule of Three Blogfest, well you can thank/blame my co-hosts and I. The month long creative writing challenge ran in October 2011, but its roots go back to when Damyanti emailed me in July 2011.

She asked if I would want to co-host a blogfest in October. She and I had become friendly, starting with our mutual postings and commentary during the A to Z Blog Challenge in April 2011. Previously, she even approached me to begin an actual hand written correspondence with her, which we still continue to do, sporadically, but we make the time.

I was flattered about the request for the blog festival, but really wasn’t sure if this was something I’d want to do. I let it sit for a few days. I’m not that crazy about certain of these blog hops, which seem solely to boost blog numbers. Not at all what I am interested in: I want to write, and I want to connect with others who are serious about writing, not about blogging. There is a big difference, to me.
If I was going to be involved in running a blog fest, then it’d have to be something I’d really want to participate in. I will not join a “Post a Photo of Your Favorite Kitty” blog hop, or other such claptrap (to me: if you like that sort of thing, my apologies). If it’s creative, if it’s challenging, I’ll do it. That’s what I needed to make myself want to do this. I sent Damyanti my ideas in the hopes we could dialogue it out.

The idea of the Rule of Three came to me first: I am a professional storyteller and have an MA in Oral Traditions. Three is a powerful number, and comes up in religious scriptures, myths, legends, fairy and folk tales, fables…etc. You name it, it’s there. Plus, as a performer, there is also the Rule of Three when doing a set up for jokes and more. Two isn’t enough; four is too much. Examples of Threes: little Pigs; Bears (as in Goldilocks); Billy Goats Gruff; The Tinderbox (three dogs); the witches in Macbeth; the fates/furies; Holy Trinity; etc.

I also love Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon: the same story, told from four different POVs. Which one is the correct one? Why are there variations, from the different perceptions? Who is lying? Who is mainly telling the truth? It’s an amazing movie (and I still have to read the original source material). I thought that it’d be fun to do a series of stories, spotlighting one main character for each story, then tie up the whole thing in one final tale, a coda. Three POVs of the same story? Three characters who may or may not move a story to a conclusion none envisioned? The ideas just excited me.

Next came the shared world concept. As I stated above, I’ve loved shared world books for a long time: Thieves World created by Robert Lynn Asprin; Wild Cards by George R.R. Martin; Bordertown by Terri Windling. That is not counting my first love of shared worlds: COMIC BOOKS!! There is a DC Universe, a Marvel Universe, a CrossGen, Image, Valiant, Kirby, etc. universe, where the comic book heroes of the publishers can interact/crossover into other books. I love shared worlds. So many stories to be played with, all from the one cooperative setting.

You need a set “bible” to ground the world they live in, with some of the parameters built in. Once established, it can be open season within these parameters. It can grow more back story than was originally envisioned, expanding the world until it teems with the billion possibilities that stretch far beyond the one writer. So…I created the town and environs of Renaissance:

Renaissance is an outpost town in the middle of nowhere, but many routes (the TARGE, KRIS, and VILLEIN are the largest of routes, but not the only ones) pass through or by the town. The SCHIAVONA desert is encroaching on one side (to the West), a once lush forest (the CULDEES) lies to the East and South. A large river, the ESPADON, runs through the forest of ASSART, but it is not close by. The ROUNDELI Mountains are to the North, far, far away, and when you look towards them you don’t know if they are an illusion or not. Closer by are the smaller hill chain, the MAIN GAUCHE and the MINOR GAUCHE, that fed the mining, creating caverns (the KASTANES) and passages (one particular passage is known as HERIOT’S PASS) lie underground.
The town has had a number of identities throughout it’s history: A trading post; a mining town; a ghost town until it was rediscovered; a thriving community; the scene of a number of great battles; the scene of one great tragedy (that led to its Ghost Town standing); a town of great joys and celebrations, and so much more.
At this point in time, there is a general population of 333. A mixture of a community. It boasts families that have lived there for generations upon generations, but they are in the minority, and are not in positions of power. There are traders who have come back here, at the end of their many travails, to settle in. The new families and power players have taken this as a last refuge for themselves, hoping to rebuild lives torn apart on the way here.

EVERYONE has a secret!

Welcome to Renaissance.

Enjoy your stay.

Damyanti took to my ideas, and we just went from there. I’ve had to tweak a few things here and there. I didn’t name all the geographical things at first, which was silly of me, and Damyanti wisely pointed it out. I wish I HAD created that ONE Saloon/Tavern in Renaissance, a place any of the characters could wind up at one time or the other. I still might.

We wound up with Sixty-five writers sharing stories set in Renaissance. A few dropped out, but what we had was amazing. The authors added to world, week by week. Our Atlas/bible grew, and the world around Renaissance was enhanced, waiting for further fleshing out.

I love shared worlds. I wonder where this one will take us.

------

To read more of Stuart's creative fiction work, go to his Author's Page on Amazon , and his blog Tale Spinning . Stu writes about creativity, arts in education and more on his BornStoryteller blog

Reading, Writing, Dreamstorming

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:16:00 +0000

I've been reading like a mad hatter this past two weeks, writing a fair spell, and feeling dizzy as a result. The Rule of Three has exhausted me, and I haven't even read all the entries for all episodes yet!

Today I talk about a drafting technique—Dreamstorming, at Chris Eboch’s blog, and no, this has nothing to do with dreams. I'd love to chat with you there.

On a different note, writing friend Melanie Lee has interviewed me about my love for tea, and how it relates to writing.

Happy Halloween, one and all…and happy writing!

Rule of Three Writing Challenge: Renaissance: Concluding Episode

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:01:00 +0000

We're in the concluding week of the Rule of Three! Thanks go out to all the participants who posted such intriguing stories. I'm now terrified of the judging that lies ahead.... though we've divided the judging into various subsections like plot, story, use of prompts, language, use of settings etc. but you guys have made the job incredibly hard.

Huge thanks to co-hosts Storyteller and author, Stuart Nager, Flash Fiction Author Lisa Vooght, and Fighter writer, J.C. Martin.

Before you read below, make sure you've read Episode 1 Episode 2 and Episode 3 so it all makes sense.

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Demeter trusted her dark old minions more than the white new ones, and with good reason. The old ones had sprung from her—they bore her insignia before the enemy charmed them. As she sped back to her home, her head hung over with the poison, Aubrey cursed the frightened cherub who came barrelling in from the window and fair crashed upon her with the news.

Aubrey Demeter needed speed, not cover, so she sloughed off her unwieldy body, becoming her lissome self, the very embodiment of Life in a woman’s perfect body. The coils of her hair slithered at her touch, their tongues tasting the night air.

Charon, that old fox, had reduced her shop to ruins in the time it had taken her to fight back from sleep. She felt her essence slip away as Death attacked her last seed upon this land. She stopped a heartbeat at the threshold of Eve’s door, Medusa-like, bidding her servants rise from her hair, go forth and multiply, to surround that cur of a Heriot from without.

“Drinking from those lips will do you no good, Heriot,” she sang as she threw the door open, “how about something a little older, stronger?”

Eve looked tanned even under the moonlight, her paleness gone, along with most of her waxy flesh. She swung in Heriot’s arms, as he held her still in the kiss of death. He looked up now, with those kohl’ed eyes that mirrored those of Demeter.

Demeter did not wait. She flicked her wrist as if conducting an invisible orchestra, and they came. They flooded in from the windows, susurrating their displeasure. They lunged at him, making him lose his grip on Eve, who fell back on the bed.

Herion’s whistle brought them to a stop—it rent the air as he raised both his swords above his head.

“Sister, have you lost your mind?” he said as he swung them in circles around him, “They’re mine to command, not yours. I claimed them many ages ago, on some planet or the other, as creatures of the netherworld, my father’s domain.”

“Let them obey you, then,” smiled Demeter, swaying.

Charon whistled again, but they pressed on, only the whirl of his swords keeping them at bay, slicing them into speckled, bloody bits. Still they came, as outside the moonlight waned. And then came the nine-headed one, and coiled her body and stench around him.

“Hydra? screamed Charon, in horror and recognition.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t steal my Cupid, dear brother. You stole him, and I stole your favorite. A mother’s debt is hard to pay, and even Hydra cannot evade it.”

Charon made a choking sound as he was dragged out of the room. “But she cannot kill me.”

“No. But she can take you away, so I have time to build this world back again,” smiled Demeter, walking to Eve’s bed, lifting her. Outside on the streets of Renaissance, another day dawned.

“But I’ll return,” wailed Heriot’s voice from downstairs.

“The same old story. Wake up, Eve," said Demeter, kissing her seed on the mouth, and fading slowly into the morning air, “come awake so I can sleep a spell.”

“Aubrey?”said Eve, “Aubrey?” and looking down at herself, started. She tide of her flesh had abated, leaving a beautiful woman in its wake.

“Anyone here?” replied a man’s voice from the stairs.

Eve rushed to the door, to see a young man before her.

“Who are you and what's your name?” she said.

“I was just passing by when I heard cries. I’m Adam.”

----------------------

Prompt: There is a new arrival in town.

Word count: 598

Flash Fiction for the Third Write Campaign Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 02:22:00 +0000

Rachael Harrie is rounding up her Writecampaign with the the third challenge, and of course, like the first and the second, my third entry is again flash fiction. Here's what she has asked us to do:

Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:

that it’s morning,

that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach

that the MC (main character) is bored

that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting

that something surprising happens.

Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise." (NB. these words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning other than the one you give them).

And without further ado, here's my entry : (No 127 on the list!)
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On the dawn of his fortieth birthday, Brad surveyed the beach, to make sure he was alone. The breeze further ruffled his long hair, tangling it with his scratchy beard. This body with its many appendages and extensions bothered him.

Today he would visit the land of Wastopaneer one last time, but the perils of that land didn't scare him as much as the ghouls of this Earth, especially the ones called Women, who'd reduced his name Bradaeger Lutalac to the harsh, monosyllabic Brad, a name his tongue could barely taste. They called his world, the divine Synbatec, Saturn. Brad hated the sound of that word.

An Earth year, ten days of his life, he had to spend each yearly trip to Wastopaneer, frolicking with Women, to test his detachment. He had to admit it was fun, this listening, tasting, touching, feeling, seeing, smelling, instead of just being, like he and his kind. But only for a while. He couldn’t wait to get out of the clutches of Earth Women, who hungered for his body, no matter how he hid it.

His being longed for the rancid smell of the Tacise, and just when he had given up, he got a whiff of it. The wormhole had opened, and they would be here soon, to take him to Wastopaneer for his final rite of passage. Brad checked behind him: no pesky Women trailing him into another world this time.

“Greetings, Lutalac, you may take off your clothes now,” smiled a Woman’s voice, and Brad whipped around to see the spidery forms of the Wise Tacise before him, accompanied by the gloriously unclothed Woman stowaway who had tried to tag him to Wastopaneer last year.

“Welcome, Lutalac,” chorused the Wise. “She will be your last test of detachment upon Wastopaneer.”

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If you liked the 200-word piece and would like to read more of my stories, check out A to Z Stories of Life and Death, available on Kindle , Nook and Smashwords.

The Fourth Prompt of the Rule of Three..and exciting announcements!!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:50:00 +0000

Writing in Renaissance has been a pleasure, and reading the stories by other writers has been a wonderful, engaging experience. Next Wednesday and Thursday will see the exciting conclusions of 65 stories set in the town of Renaissance.

Thank you to everyone who participated as writer or reader, to my amazing co-hosts, Storyteller and author, Stuart Nager, Flash Fiction Author Lisa Vooght, and Fighter writer, J.C. Martin, and to the authors who donated books as prizes.

All the best to all of us, hosts and participants alike: the last episodes would rock the world of Renaissance!

Remember: you must use at least one of these prompts.

The misfortune is resolved/accepted.
Relationships mend/ are torn asunder.
The final event becomes another secret for generations to come.
There is a new arrival in town.

Don’t forget: please include the following -

Links to all three previous stories
The prompt(s) you are using for this last section
Word Count

What Comes Next:

In November, Stuart, Li and JC and I will be going over the stories, selecting our favorites, sending them back and forth, and choosing our shortlist entries.This won't be easy, so bear with us while we deliberate!!
A poll of the shortlisted entries will go up on the Wed, November 2 for readers to vote on.
On this date, we will also request all participants to sign up on a new linky list for a postmortem/analysis/reflective feedback post. In this post, tell us what the Renaissance experience was like for you, and any suggestions for improvement.
The poll voting will close on the 9th of November (Wed). Winners will be declared on Friday, Nov.11.

We also have a few other surprises to announce…well, one really big one, which we’ve kept under wraps, and another that has been hinted at. So… stay tuned and look for an email or two before it’s announced on our blogs.

And now, a word from one of my co-hosts: Stuart Nager.

Contest News:

CONTEST: What did Mississippi Lil give to Gid at the end of Chapter Three of my story (click here)?

Hi Folks: I’m actually very serious here. You can thank Golden Eagle for this idea: she innocently stated, in the comments section of This Weeks Posting, that she was wondering what was the ” something cold and hard” Mississippi Lil gave Gid, to “use it well”.

So…what was it?

Be inventive, staying within the confines of what I’ve been setting up here, be descriptive. in something “normal” in what you think she passed to him. Or be descriptive inventive. Just be specific. I don’t need a storyline, just that “thing.”

Post those thoughts in the comments section by 5:00 pm (EST), Sunday October 23rd.

On Sunday night, I will post a poll for you to vote on. The poll will only be open for 24 hours (from when I post the poll-time tbd): it will close on Monday evening October 24th. The item that gets the most votes will be it. It could change the story, and that would be fun for me to work around. Yes, I have NOT written Part Four yet. Haven’t even started word one on it. I’ll start the story after the poll closes.

What will you get? Mentions here, links to your website, fame and glory, and I’ll do one of my Writers Interviews with you, that I post on BornStoryteller (my other blog). How is that? Best as I can do. Hope you’ll join in.

Stu

Rule of Three Writing Challenge: Renaissance: Episode 3

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:58:00 +0000

We're in the third week of Rule of Three! Thanks go out to all the participants who posted such intriguing episodes for their stories. I love the sheer variety and talent out there, some of the episodes have made me jealous!

We've divided the judging into various subsections like plot, story, use of prompts, language, use of settings etc. but you guys have made the job incredibly hard.

Huge thanks to co-hosts Storyteller and author, Stuart Nager, Flash Fiction Author Lisa Vooght, and Fighter writer, J.C. Martin.

If you're a participant looking for guidelines, here they are yet again, along with the list of participants.

Before you read below, make sure you've read Episode 1 and Episode 2 so it all makes sense.

--------------------------------------

Everyone has a price. The waiter wanted a few shiny pebbles for his lady love, in exchange for poisoning the Demeter’s drink. The cherub on guard at the foothills of the Roundeli mountains wanted revenge. Poor Cupid, the wench had smacked his bottom once too often. Never mistreat those who protect you.

He had to give the Demeter her due. Instead of the spine-tingling feminine beauty he'd come to expect, she'd dressed herself in a man’s body, found the remotest, most obscure town to hide herself and the seed. But no one may hide from death.

Charon had ensured the Schiavona would be too drunk to miss him. Demeter’s agents, if she had trusted any but the cherubs in this last outpost of life on this world, would be too scared by her swoon to do anything but wait. You could poison life, put it to sleep, but never destroy it altogether. It always sprung forth from a new seed.

But this time Charon would change everything. He headed towards the Demeter’s hideout, to find the seed and destroy it. Then there would be no Demeter left to create pesky little worlds for him to destroy. No more fights. Charon prided himself on his peaceful nature. Nothing more peaceful than the silence of death.

Having destroyed a thousand worlds and sent their creatures down the Heriot’s pass in each, into the dark netherworld, Charon Heriot would not be defeated by a paltry thing like a name. A name was the last protection Demeter had given the seed. That’s what that angry little Cupid said, anyway.

When Heriot reached the door of Demeter’s lair, Cupid smiled at him the way only a Cupid can, white, sugary, altogether obnoxious.

“All ready, my Lord,” he said, “I’ve broken the spell she placed upon the door. Eve is upstairs. I don’t know the name she seeks, but I know she seeks a man’s touch.” The bastard winked, and began to hover away, his tiny wings lifting his fat little body, but only just.

“That is very well, but what about the rest of your friends?”

“I’ve spoken to those who bear arms. The rest of them may only wield flutes and drums and will not be much threat to you, my Lord.”

Charon waved the cherub away and walked in, swords unsheathed, to be greeted by a hail of what felt like very sharp stones. But Heriot began swinging both his arms, his robes and hair flying, the jewels on his person glinting in the moonlight from the windows. The swords worked like the scythes they were, and soon, all Heriot faced was a pile of rubble, dust, darkness, and silence.

Now to awaken the seed. Charon Heriot took the stairs, two at a time, his flab no hindrance to his speed. He thought he heard a hiss from the shop below him. When he stopped, silence returned. He opened the door and found her, the precious seed.

She had slept through the bedlam, but as he opened the door she came awake, and let out something between a gasp and a scream, “Aubrey!”

“So that is what the Demeter calls herself this time!” Heriot smiled in the half-light.

“Aubrey!”

“Don’t be afraid, my dear. I’ve come for you, just like Aubrey said I would,” soothed Heriot, his voice both a lullaby and a serenade.

“What is your name?”

Heriot knew he could not lie about his name, just like Demeter could not lie about hers.

“What’s in a name?”, chanted Charon Heriot, drawing the seed to her feet, “only a kiss may tell.”
------

600 words

Prompt used: Betrayal is in the air

What has Your Reading Journey Been Like?

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:04:00 +0000

I read my first book at two (or three, but not older, I don’t think): a picture book of course, but one that was meant for much older kids, able to read. My parents did not have access to the sort of books geared towards toward toddlers these days, so they bought me what they could—a comic book with a storyline and characters far beyond the reach of a two-year old.

I remember sitting on my grandmother’s lap in the afternoons when she would read out loud the dialogues in the book, and explain what was going on.

With the sort of whims, likes, and dislikes that can be expected of a toddler, I decided that was the only book I liked, and there soon came a time when I could narrate the story by myself when the book was put before me, pointing at each scene in its individual square and babbling the story, much to the amusement of my family and our visitors.

I grew up devouring books: those suitable for my age, and not. I read Flaubert’s Madame Bovary at 12, and rapidly followed it up with the collected works of Bernard Shaw, all the Russian masters, Shakespeare---in short, anything I could steal from my father’s collection.

When I turned 18, I went for an Honors in English literature, where I mostly read books outside the syllabus in my spare time, because I now had access to the British Council and the American Center libraries, in a bigger city.

But in studying for the exams I lost some of the love I had for books. I was expected to dissect poems instead of merely enjoying them, analyze novels instead of getting carried away by the stories and characters---it turned me off reading for a good five years before I turned to my old love, and second-hand bookshops became my second home again.

From then onwards, I’ve taken to reading with a renewed vigor…I read as a break from life, as an exercise in thought, as a supplement to my writing—because sometimes I also have to read like a writer. It is nearly as big a part of my life in life as my writing, and sometimes I struggle between the two---because there is not enough time for me to read, write and do everything else we call ‘living life’.

To me, I live the most when I’m reading, especially certain books that have made me fall in love with them. But more about that in another post, because I think it would need another post to talk about what reading means to me today.

How about you? What has your reading journey been like?

The Third Prompt of the Rule of Three

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:30:00 +0000

Folks looking for PAY IT FORWARD go here.
---------------------
Writer E J Wesley has asked me a few questions about writing and A to Z Stories of Life and Death. Please come and chat with me there. Also, I’m guest posting at Kelly McClymer’s blog today, talking about reading, writing and reading like a writer. Join the conversation and pencil in your opinions.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We're in the second week of Rule of Three! Thanks go out to all the participants who posted such intriguing first and second episodes for their stories.

Time for the 3rd prompt of the Rule of Three:

Choose ONE OR MORE from the following:

The impending misfortune foreshadowed in the 1st prompt comes to pass, but one or more characters laugh at it.

Betrayal is in the air.

Relationships unravel or strengthen.

A long-kept secret is revealed.

-------

Here's how to score maximum points during judging rounds:

The third episode of your #REN3 is to be scheduled ANY TIME between (12.01 am) 19 October and 20 October, (11.59pm)-GMT. (Late and early posts will deduct points during judging rounds.)

The Word Limit is still between 500-600.( Exceeding this will deduct points during judging rounds.)

There will be THREE main characters from the first episode: and the main POV/highlighted character in your second episode would be someone other than the one highlighted in your first episode. (More than 3 main characters will deduct points during judging rounds, as will one character highlighted throughout the 4 episodes. Minor characters are fine.)

Any genre and time period is okay for your story, but the setting must be Renaissance. (Change in setting will deduct points during judging rounds.)

Please mention the prompt you followed for the story. (Not following any of the prompts for the week would deduct points during judging rounds).

Other requests:

Put a button allowing folks to subscribe to your blog via email. It will help us as hosts/judges to keep track of all four of your posts.

Let people follow you on twitter via your blog. Guarantees more exposure for your writing and the blogfest through Stuart's #REN3 Paper.li twitter newspaper.

Tweet your post, or any other posts you like, via the #REN3 hashtag and share them on FB and G+ if you're on those platforms.

Any questions, tweet us up @StuStoryteller @damyantig @ficflash @JCMartin_author, or just drop us an email!

Looking forward to reading all your posts for the second episode of the Rule of Three! Huge thanks to co-hosts Storyteller and author, Stuart Nager, Flash Fiction Author Lisa Vooght, and Fighter writer, J.C. Martin. All the best to all of us, hosts and participants alike!

Rule of Three Writing Challenge: Renaissance: Episode 2

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 23:52:00 +0000

We're in the second week of Rule of Three! Thanks go out to all the participants who posted such intriguing first episodes for their stories. I'm impressed with the entries I've been visiting...I love the sheer variety and talent out there. Off to read all your posts for the second episode of the Rule of Three!

Huge thanks to co-hosts Storyteller and author, Stuart Nager, Flash Fiction Author Lisa Vooght, and Fighter writer, J.C. Martin.

If you're a participant looking for guidelines, here they are again, along with the list of participants.

Before you read below, make sure you've read Episode 1 where the story began, so it all makes sense.

--------------------------

Fear is like a punch in the gut, it knocks the breath out of you. The girl had begun to ask questions. That was never a good sign.

Aubrey rushed out, devoid of breath, and headed toward the only tavern in Renaissance, The Eden. Eden would see its share of singing and dancing that night, because the Schiavona would celebrate the arrival of their new Lord, the first to be sent them from across the desert since the day they entered Renaissance twenty years ago.

Drink would flow through Eden. It would wet lips, sharpen appetites and most importantly, loosen tongues, which would then shed more secrets than Aubrey could pry out of them with her charm that made men forget she was an androgyne. It opened doors that would be closed to most men, and not a few women. She hoped it would give her the face she sought.

Night had wrapped itself around Eden by the time Aubrey pushed open the heavy tavern doors. The clamour of cymbals, drums, flutes and clapping knocked her back, as did the fumes of wine, weed, and the pungent after-note of something stronger. She worked her way towards the back. The shadows let her remain unnoticed, and her height allowed her to keep watch.

On the makeshift stage made of tables, a Schiavona woman danced, the angles of her body taking nothing away from the grace of her movement. If only she had some flesh on her. But no one could be like her Eve, the cherished one protected by the cherubs.

Aubrey felt a chill crawl up her spine. What if he knew where Eve was? But he would have to pass through ten thousand cherubs at the shop before he could reach their home upstairs, and by then Aubrey would know. She would find him first.

I’m here and you may not prevail, she would say. Without me you’re nothing, he would reply. And so on and so forth in the ancient song of life and death. Aubrey felt her blood slow down as her thoughts threatened to bear her away. Sweet sleep. How she longed to sleep.

The dance before her became more sinuous each passing moment, and finally the Schiavona Lord appeared, draped in black veils, his ponytail flashing with strings of jewels, a corpulent man who began clapping in time with the woman’s movements, and then began to move with a pace that belied his girth. His belt flashed with the fire of diamonds, his veils and his cloak whipped around him like a furious dust-cloud. His boots tapped the wooden tables, the heels rattling their music above all else.

Aubrey released her breath. Not him. Much too fat. She could begin to drink. She waved to a waiter in the crowd.

“A glass of your best braggot..”

“We only have Schiavona wines today, paid for by the Lord.”

“Ah. Some wine then. And what do you call this Lord?”

“The Lord Heriot,” said the waiter, passing her a cup from the tray.

Heriot? That made no sense. No one had manned the Heriot’s Pass these fifty years. Most had forgotten its legend. Aubrey drained the cup, choking at the last gulp.

The loud keen of drawn steel made her look up. The fat man now had two swords in his hand. He flashed them within a breath of the woman’s throat, swirled them about his head, and brought them to clash in front of him.

Aubrey grabbed the waiter, “His name. What is his full name?”

“Charon Heriot," smiled the waiter, and as she fell in a faint, she knew.

--------

600 words

Prompt used: One of the characters is revealed to be not who he or she is.

A List of Books on Writing

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:09:00 +0000

All writers read one or more books on writing at some point in their careers. While looking though my blog, I found this post with its list of books for writers, which I have pasted below.

If you have a book to add to the list or warn fellow-writers against buying one of them, please add your opinions in the comments.

How to write science Fiction and Fantasy Orson Scott Card
Eats Shoots and Leaves Lynn Truss
Bird by bird Anne Lamott
On Writing Stephen King
Character and Viewpoint Orson Scott Card
If you want to write Brenda Ueland
The Elements of Style Strunk and White
The Art of Fiction John Gardner
The Writer's Art James Kilpatrick
Story Robert McKee
Emotional Structure Peter Dunne
45 Master Characters Victoria Schmidt
Goal, motivation and conflict Debra Dixon
The Right to Write Julia Cameron
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel Jane Smiley
Writing In General & the Short Story In Particular L Rust Hills
The Power of Point of View A. Rasley
How Fiction Works James Wood
Between the Lines Jessica Page Morrell
Words Overflown Stars Vermont College MFA
The First Five Pages Noah Lukeman
Self Editing For Fiction Writers Renni Browne Dave King
Ron Carlson Writes a Story Ron Carlson
Save the Cat Blake Snyder
The Plot Thickens Noah Lukeman
Creativity Rules John Vorhaus
Writing Down the Bones Natalie Goldberg
Rewrite Right! Jan Venolia
Plot and Structure & Revision And Self-Editing James Scott Bell
Dynamic Characters Nancy Kress
Steering the Craft Ursula K LeGuin
Writing the Breakout Novel Donald Maass
The Art of Fiction Ayn Rand
The Artist's Way Julia Cameron
10 Rules of Good Writing Elmore Leonard
Make Your Words Work Gary Provost
The Well-fed Writer Peter Bowerman
Plot Ansen Dibell
Writing the Novel From Plot to Print Lawrence Block
Stein On Writing Sol Stein
The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers Christopher Vogler
Write away Elizabeth George
The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice for Writers Betsy Lerner
The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction Vol1 Dave Law & Darin Park
Writing Mysteries Sue Grafton
The Anatomy of Story John Truby
Becoming a Writer Dorothea Brande
A Writer's Space Eric Maisel
Mystery and Manners Flannery OConnor
The Mind of the Maker Dorothy Sayers
Walking on Water Madeleine L'engle
Escaping into the open Elizabeth Berg
The Spooky Art Norman Mailer
The Writer's Chapbook George Plimpton
Writing the Genre Novel James Joyce
On Writing Well William Zinssner
What It Is Lynda Barry
Screenplay Syd Field
Revising Fiction David Madden
The Artful Edit Susan Bell
Sometimes the Magic Works Terry Brooks
From Where We Dream Robert Olen Butler
Story Within Guidebook Alicia Rasley
Immediate Fiction Jerry Cleaver
Scene and Structure Jack Bickham
Settings Jack Bickham
The Writing Life Annie Dillard
No Plot? No Problem! Chris Baty
Write Great Fiction - Dialogue Gloria Kempton
The Forest for the Trees Betsy Lerner
For writers only Sophie Burnham
Your First Novel A.Rittenberg & Laura Whitcomb
Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom Leonard Marcus
The Creative Habit Twyla Tharp
Southern Daughter Darden Asbury Pyron
Zen in the Art of Writing Ray Bradbury
A Writer's Coach Jack Hart
Manuscript Makeover Elizabeth Lyons
A Writer's Guide to Fiction Elizabeth Lyons
How to write a damn good novel James N Freys
Reading Like a Writer Francine Proses
What If? Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter
How not to write a novel Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman
The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes Jack Bickham
The insider’s guide to getting an agent Lori Perkins
Backwards and Forwards David Ball
First Draft to Finished Novel Karen S Wiesner
Creating Short Fiction Damon Knight
The Art of Dramatic Writing Lajos Egri
Make a Scene Jordan E Rosenfeld
Don’t Murder Your Mystery Chris Roerden
In Writing A Novel John Braine
Finding Your Voice Les Edgerton
Hooked Les Edgerton
How to Write Realistic Dialogue Jean Saunders
The Craft of Writing Romance Jean Saunders
Writing the Blockbuster Novel Albert Zuckerman
Twenty Master Plots Ronald B Tobais
The Fiction Writers’ Handbook Nancy Smith
Conflict, Action & Suspense William Noble
Beginnings, Middles & Ends Nancy Kress
How to Write for Children Tessa Krailing
How to Write Stories for Magazines Donna Baker
Creating Characters Dwight V Swain
How to Get Published and make a lot of Money Susan Page
Writing to Sell Scott Meredith
How to Write & Sell True Crime Gary Provost
Cause of Death: a writer’s guide Keith D Wilson MD
Techniques of the Selling Writer Dwight V Swain
The Modern Library Writer’s Workshop Stephen Koch
Thinking like your editor Alfred Fortunato and Susan Rabiner
The Lie that tells a Truth John Dufresne
Fiction Writer's Workshop Josip Novakovich
Write is a Verb Bill O' Hanlon
Writing Tools Roy Peter Clark
Word Painting Rebecca McClanahan
Telling Lies For Fun and Profit Lawrence Block
Spider, Spin Me a Web Lawrence Block
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Publishing Science Fiction Cory Doctorow & Karl Schroeder
Break Writer’s Block Now! Jerrold Mundis
The Writer’s Book of Hope Ralph Keyes
The Courage to Write Ralph Keyes
Blockbuster Plots Martha Alderson
The Successful Novelist David Morrell
Some Writers Deserve to Starve Elaura Niles
The Describer's Dictionary David Grambs The Rule of Three blogfest has begun and some of the entries are so awesome they take my breath away..if you haven't had the time, visit the linky list here. Also drop by at fellow host and writer Stuart Nager's blog Born Storyteller , where he has posted an interview with Blogfest contributing author Faith Mortimer.

Second Prompt for the Rule of Three!

noreply@blogger.com (Damyanti) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 08:13:00 +0000

We're in the first week of Rule of Three! Thanks go out to all the participants who posted such intriguing first episodes for their stories. I'm impressed with the entries I've been visiting. Judging won't be easy at all.

Time for the 2nd prompt of the Rule of Three:

Choose ONE OR MORE from the following:

Someone is killed or almost killed.

One of the characters is revealed to be not who he or she is.

A relationship becomes complicated.

A character lies to another on an important matter.

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Here's how to score maximum points during judging rounds:

The second episode of your #REN3 is to be scheduled ANY TIME between (12.01 am) 12 October and 13 October, (11.59pm)-GMT. (Late and early posts will deduct points during judging rounds.)

The Word Limit is still between 500-600.( Exceeding this will deduct points during judging rounds.)

There will be THREE main characters from the first episode: and the main POV/highlighted character in your second episode would be someone other than the one highlighted in your first episode. (More than 3 main characters will deduct points during judging rounds, as will one character highlighted throughout the 4 episodes.)

Any genre and time period is okay for your story, but the setting must be Renaissance. (Change in setting will deduct points during judging rounds.)

Please mention the prompt you followed for the story. (Not following any of the prompts for the week would deduct points during judging rounds).

Other requests:

Put a button allowing folks to subscribe to your blog via email. It will help us as hosts/judges to keep track of all four of your posts.

Let people follow you on twitter via your blog. Guarantees more exposure for your writing and the blogfest through Stuart's #REN3 Paper.li twitter newspaper.

Tweet your post, or any other posts you like, via the #REN3 hashtag and share them on FB and G+ if you're on those platforms.

Any questions, tweet us up @StuStoryteller @damyantig @ficflash @JCMartin_author, or just drop us an email!

Looking forward to reading all your posts for the second episode of the Rule of Three! Huge thanks to co-hosts Storyteller and author, Stuart Nager. Flash Fiction Author Lisa Vooght, and Fighter writer, J.C. Martin. All the best to all of us, hosts and participants alike!