IWSG (My Posts)

October 7, 2020

IWSG October: Working Writers

IWSG October: Working Writers

The IWSG Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can help and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! SIGN UP AND JOIN & FIND OUT MORE HERE!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter is @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG Day post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!!!

October 7th Co-hosts
Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner!

IWSG October 7th Question:

When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

MY ANSWER:
To me a working writer is writer with several income streams, books, short stories, coaching and/or courses, blogging, working for or with other writers, anything that earns an income for them in the writing and publishing industry. The more income streams the better. It is kind of like not putting all your eggs in one basket.

Actually, a working writing does not always necessarily earn an income, sometimes the payoff is networking, contacts, and helping others succeed.

I am working on my novel, series projects, and short stories. I am learning all I can about marketing, launching, and promoting books. I love writing craft books, so always eager to read what is available and find out about new ideas or old ideas re-imagined.

IWSG October: Working Writers

IWSG Goodreads Book Club!

Writers and Readers,

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Book Club is for writers to read/learn about the writing craft. We will swap back and forth between craft books and fiction books that demonstrate aspects of storytelling.

We will read one book every two months.

There will be polls, free-gifts, and a lot of Discussion Day fun.

No promo. Just writers reading books and discussing those books with other writers.

See Book Club/Posting Details for more information about the book club.

Did you know the IWSG is more than a website?

Find us here:
Facebook, Twitter – hashtag #IWSG,Instagram, and on Goodreads
And you can sign up for our monthly newsletter loaded with tips and more here – IWSG Newsletter
The newsletter–also lists new books by members, so contact us if you have a new book out.

Writers and authors join us for #IWSGPit on January 20, 2021.
It will be here sooner than you think!
Polish those pitches and check the #IWSGPit rules.
Multiple authors have signed with publishers and agents as a result – it could be you!

September 2, 2020

IWSG September 2nd Dream Writing Partner

IWSG September 2nd

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter is @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG.

Remember, the question is optional!!!

September Co-Host

PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Louise – Fundy Blue!

IWSG September 2nd Question

If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why?

MY ANSWER:
Maybe L. M. Montgomery, but not really, I would be intimidated. Because her use of description and setting is like a character in her books. You love the place as much as you love Anne of Green Gables or Pat of Silver Bush. I want to bring my world to life like that and make people love it.

IWSG September 2nd

IWSG 2020 Anthology Contest Announcement
May 6th-September 2nd.

Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 4500-6000
Genre: Science Fiction
Theme: Dark Matter
Submissions accepted: May 6 – September 2, 2020
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

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

Annual Anthology Contest Site

IIWSG September 2nd

IWSG Goodread’s Book Club!

Writers and Readers,

We will read one book every two months.

There will be polls, free-gifts, and a lot of Discussion Day fun.

No promo. Just writers reading books and discussing those books with other writers.

See Book Club/Posting Details for more information about the book club.

Did you know the IWSG is more than a website?

July 1, 2020

IWSG July 1st: Working Writer

Ninja Writers Club & Academy Event: The theme for the July Ninja Writers Club & Academy is Back to Basics. In August it is BYOB, Blog Your Own Book. There is continuing theme for September, October, and November with the goal to self-publish if you want to do that. This post by Shaunta Grimes tells you how it works. For more information see this FAQ post. More about BYOB.

My News: I’m A Working Writer

I joined Ninja Writers Community (club) in fall or winter of 2016. I have been active in the community and things they offer writers ever since.

The Ninja Writer Academy started in 2019. I joined that in November 2019 for the 2020 year.

On April 26th, another Ninja Writer Club member contact me after a Zoom Working Writer class call where it was mention that I was working on creating a short story course, while talking about business plans and income streams.

The NW member wanted to pay me to coach them in short story while I was still building my course. I said, yes, so after that things started happening. Thank you, Barbara Giles.

I started doing developmental coaching after I helped another writing friend plot out three books. It was apparent I had a knack for developmental editing especially via one on one Zoom coaching sessions.

An opportunity and talent discovered because of COVID-19 and new social distancing practices. So that friend told others, and I now have eight clients.

I am writing a Space Opera. My first novel in the Starlight Galaxy series is Ghost Pirates. I am coming up to my inciting incident. I am taking it through the Ninja Writer Academy in my SF/F Workshop. We are starting the third eight-week session of 2020 in July, (Yep, right now.)

I love my NWA SF/F Workshop group. Two of the eight people in the group have finished thier first drafts, two more are close, and the rest of us not that far behind. So awesome and exciting.

I started scheduling Write-Ins for the group and created the Write-In Saloon. Shaunta Grimes the founder and creative behind Ninja Writers Club & Ninja Writers Academy noticed what I was doing, and that people were finishing their novels.

She approached me to work part-time for Ninja Writers with the goal of being full-time by beginning of the year. I started doing two write-ins for Ninja Writers, and we have now added two more. One run by Zach Payne another member of the Ninja Writer Team.

I am part of a six-person team behind the scenes. We have wonderful things happening, and future things planned. Ninja Writers is growing, so exciting.

One of the thing I will be doing during the academy sessions is doing a drop-in Short Fiction Workshop on Thursday 8 pm to 10 pm EST for academy members, as well as a Fiction co-working call on Tuesdays 6 pm to 8 pm for club and academy member.

I also run the accountability program and Ninja Writer’s buddy program for club members. Accountability is new and we are revamping the buddy program a little.

New Exciting News: We are launching the Ninja Writers Pub on Medium today. I will have a weekly fiction column in The Pub. I am the editor of the fiction section of NW Pub. We accept submissions from Ninja Writer Members. It is a benefit of the Ninja Writers community for members. and gives them experience working with an editor and such.

More News: Stormdance Publication will be releasing Grumpy Old Gods Volume 4 sometime in August. We have plans to put out a call for submission for another anthology in the fall or by end of year for that.

IWSG July 1st: Working Writer

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter is @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG.

Remember, the question is optional!!!

July Co-Host

Jenni Enzor, Beth Camp, Liesbet @ Roaming About, Tyrean Martinson, and Sandra Cox!

July 1 Question

There have been many industry changes in the last decade, so what are some changes you would like to see happen in the next decade?

MY ANSWER:

IWSG July 1st: Working Writer

IWSG 2020 Anthology Contest Announcement
May 6th-September 2nd.

Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 4500-6000
Genre: Science Fiction
Theme: Dark Matter
Submissions accepted: May 6 – September 2, 2020

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

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

Annual Anthology Contest Site

IWSG July 1st: Working Writer

IWSG Goodread’s Book Club!

Writers and Readers,

We will read one book every two months.

There will be polls, free-gifts, and a lot of Discussion Day fun.

No promo. Just writers reading books and discussing those books with other writers.

See Book Club/Posting Details for more information about the book club.

VOYAGERS
THE THIRD GHOST
ANTHOLOGY
RELEASE
MAY 5TH!

AVAILABLE NOW

Available Amazon
and other retailers.

IWSG July 1st: Working Writer

June 3, 2020

#IWSG June 3rd: What are your writer secrets?

My News!

I am currently writing my novel in my space opera series world, Ghost Pirate: Starlight Galaxy Space Opera. I am 5000-words in. I am writing several times a week, approaching my inciting incident point.

A bit about the Starlight Galaxy: A Space Opera

The Starlight Galaxy is a place where fringe science, industry, and magic collide. Books in series. The first three a trilogy.

GHOST PIRATE
BLOODLINES
TBA

Family secrets, a kidnapping, and a hidden agenda all come to light when one man decides to fight back.

In a galaxy oppressed, humanitarian ideology has failed, while one man wages a hidden rebellion against tyranny, another aggressively locks down commerce tightening his control and restricting movement.

My Other News

I have some things in the works. I am creating a short story course, and a world building course using the Podia platform. I have one client for my short story course, who wanted to be part of it while I build it.

I will offer lessons, another course creation, one on one, and a group class based on interest if any via Zoom on The Basics of Scrivener and How to Use it. More about all of this soon. I already have two clients for it, and something else connected to this to be revealed later.

I upgraded my Ko-Fi button on the sidebar of this site.

Grumpy Old Gods Volume 4 release coming soon. We decided to delay a little longer during this COVID pandemic. We are looking at end of July or August.

#IWSG June 3rd: What are your writer secrets?

The IWSG Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! SIGN UP AND JOIN & FIND OUT MORE HERE!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!
Our Twitter is @TheIWSG and hashtag #IWSG.

Remember, the question is optional!!!

Co-host June 3rd

Pat Garcia, J.Q. Rose, and Natalie Aguirre!

JUNE 3rd QUESTION

Writers have secrets! What are one or two of yours, something readers would never know from your work?

MY ANSWER:

I don’t really know that I have secrets, but if I do, I think I will keep them for now.

What they would not know I guess, not a secret, is…

I own a Star Wars two-foot Banta with Luke Skywalker sitting atop of him and a three-foot Darth Vader. I liked Jar Jar Binks I think toning him down because of controversy when they made Star Wars I for Star Wars II and III, lost a lot of the subtle humor Star Wars is famous for delivering. They also ruin the potential of a splendid character that drew potent emotion from viewers. They either loved or hated him. I loved him.

Star Wars 7, 8, 9 were better than 1, 2, 3 IMO—The originals Star Wars 4, 5,6 still hold my heart for capturing my imagination, and showing me what was possible elevating my expectations of movies overall.

VOYAGERS
THE THIRD GHOST
ANTHOLOGY
RELEASE
MAY 5TH!

AVAILABLE NOW

Available Amazon
and other retailers.

IWSG 2020 Anthology Contest Announcement
May 6th-September 2nd.

Guidelines and rules:
Word count: 4500-6000
Genre: Science Fiction
Theme: Dark Matter
Submissions accepted: May 6 – September 2, 2020

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

Annual Anthology Contest Site

IWSG Goodread’s Book Club!

Writers and Readers,

We will read one book every two months.

There will be polls, free-gifts, and a lot of Discussion Day fun.

No promo. Just writers reading books and discussing those books with other writers.

See Book Club/Posting Details for more information about the book club.

I did not have enough time to spend on putting up each spotlight here, as I am running behind all the time now it seems—in everything. It is almost 2 am now as I do this, because I forgot. Yes, I have my schedule written down and still forgot. Juggling and time management are my biggest issues right now–My writer angst.

Check out my spotlights here from the sidebar recent posts and here on front blog page. You may need to scroll down a little once there.

I do have a Spotlight for Today, June 3rd, a new release. You can check that out here.

May 11, 2020

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

Voyagers the Third Ghost an IWSG Anthology

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

Meet the authors of Voyagers the Third Ghost anthology.

The Third Ghost

Among darkened,
arson-damaged streets,
a boy stops to help two ghosts until he realizes his own family is in grave danger.

Bio: Yvonne Ventresca is the award-winning author of Black Flowers, White Lies and Pandemic. In addition to her young adult novels, Yvonne’s other work includes two nonfiction books and several short stories selected for anthologies, including the forthcoming Voyagers: The Third Ghost. You can learn more at YvonneVentresca.com, where she features resources for writers.

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

The Ghosts of Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius is about to blow and it’s up to Bubba and Squirt to warn everyone, so they don’t end up like the Ghosts of Pompeii.

Bio: Award-winning author Sherry Ellis is a professional musician who plays and teaches violin, viola, and piano. When she’s not writing or engaged in musical activities, she can be found taking care of household chores, hiking, or exploring the world. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

The Blind Ship

Will the Le Rôdeur reach port, or will it disappear below the waves taking its crew and passengers with it?

Bio: Bish Denham is from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where her family has lived for over a hundred years. The author of two middle grade novels, A LIZARD’S TAIL and THE BOWL AND THE STONE, as well as a collection of retold Jamaican Anansi stories called, ANANSI AND COMPANY. She says, “Growing up in the islands was like living inside a history book.”

Blog| Facebook| Goodreads| Twitter| Amazon

Dare Double Dare

Who can resist a dare to enter a forbidden room? Sara and her brother Kelsey find themselves in dire circumstances a long way from home after a rash dare and double dare.

BIO: Louise MacBeath Barbour Born in Nova Scotia and raised throughout eastern Canada, Louise is a writer and blogger who now lives in Colorado. She writes fiction and nonfiction with the encouragement of her supportive husband. “Dare Double Dare” is her first middle grade story.

Blog| Facebook

Return to Cahokia

Will Tonalli, her mother, and her siblings, Warm Weather gods, complete their spring journey to Cahokia, and what will happen if they don’t?

Bio: L. T. Ward hails from the Land of Corn, otherwise known as Central Illinois, where weather inspires her literary works. When not writing speculative fiction shorts and novels, she spends her days raising a brood of plague monsters (a.k.a. her children) as well as satisfying her never-ending thirst for knowledge through reading, meeting people, and first-hand life experiences.

Twitter

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

Feathered Fire

Will the Firebird help Soviet sisters Vasy and Kalyna outwit evil during WW II?

BIO: After diverse careers, Roland Clarke was an equestrian journalist and green activist when chronic illness hastened retirement. But he hasn’t stopped exploring rabbit holes and writing – mainly mystery novels and varied shorts. Roland and his wife – both avid gamers – now live in Idaho (USA) with their four fur-babies, although their hearts are in North Wales (UK).

Website| Facebook| Twitter

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

The Orchard

Can Nels, with her magical connections to nature, and Della help each other survive in a remote area of Utah over a century ago?

Bio: Beth Anderson Schuck is a retired librarian who believes reading can take you anywhere. She writes historical fiction featuring willful female characters. Being in nature whether hiking, bird watching or gardening makes her whole.

Instagram| Twitter

Simon Grey and the Yamamba

Can the yokai help Simon and Oyuki escape deadly danger on a mountain?

Bio: Charles Kowalski has published the full story of Simon, Oyuki and their adventures through haunted Japan in Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts. In addition to to middle-grade fantasy, Charles’ thrillers for adults, Mind Virus and The Devil’s Son, have won prizes and nominations including the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Colorado Gold Award, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award.

Webs i te|Facebook| Goodreads| Twitter|Amazon

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

A World of Trouble

Sneaking off to see their first aeroplane: What could go wrong for Mattie and Gordon?

Bio: Rebecca Douglas is the author of the delightful Ninja Librarian books, as well as a picture book for outdoor families, a mystery series for the parents, and her middle-grade fantasy, Halitor the Hero. After more than seventeen years working at the library, she has retired still without learning all the secrets of the Ninja Librarian.

Blog| Facebook| Twitter| Amazon

Winter Days

Will Katie’s family be arrested after a blizzard delays their return from a Christmas trip to East Germany?

Bio: Katharina Gerlach currently writes stories of varying length in fantastical and historical genres. She runs the Indie Authors’ Advent Calendar each year, a free for all story feast.

Website|Advent Calendar|Facebook|Pinterest

Voyagers The Third Ghost An IWSG Anthology

More from these authors on May 13th, 2020, Wed at Stormdance Publications Spotlight. Find out why these authors like to write short stories.

VOYAGERS
THE THIRD GHOST
ANTHOLOGY

AVAILABLE NOW

Journey into the past.
Will the third ghost be found before fires take more lives? Can everyone be warned before Pompeii is buried again? What happens if a blizzard traps a family in East Germany?
Will the Firebird help Soviet sisters outwit evil during WWII?
And sneaking off to see the first aeroplane – what could go wrong?
Ten authors explore the past, sending their young protagonists on harrowing adventures. Featuring the talents of Yvonne Ventresca, Katharina Gerlach, Roland Clarke, Sherry Ellis, Rebecca M. Douglass,
Bish Denham, Charles Kowalski, Louise MacBeath Barbour, Beth Anderson Schuck, and L.T. Ward.
Hand-picked by a panel of agents, authors, and editors, these ten tales will take readers on a voyage of wonder into history. Get ready for an exciting ride!
AVAILABLE NOW
On Goodreads
Facebook
You can find more post by the authors in this anthology @ IWSG Anthology Website.
$13.95 USA, 6×9 Trade paperback, 168 pages, Freedom Fox Press
Juvenile Fiction: Historical (JUV016000) / Action & Adventure (JUV001000) / Fantasy & Magic (JUV037000)
Print ISBN 9781939844729 eBook ISBN 9781939844736
Order through Ingram, Follett Library Resources, or publisher direct
$4.99 EBook available in all formats

Founded by author Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writer’s Support Group offers support for writers and authors alike. It provides an online database; articles; monthly blog posting; Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram groups; #IWSGPit, and a newsletter.
www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com