IWSG August 7th: The Surprise In Writing
My News:
ARC Copies Available for Grumpy Old Gods Volume 2.
The Grumpy Old Gods are back in this second installment of mythical fun. Join us for 13 new tales of deities that are retired, reborn, waning or AWOL from their assigned posts as they hilariously navigate life, death, and everything in between.
It is up for pre-order now!
PUBLICATION DATE:
AUGUST 9, 2019.
As you know, reviews are an important part of marketing your book.
readers use reviews to help them to decide if your book is a fit for them or not, and whether to buy. I know I do especially if I can’t make up my mind about it.
We are offering free ARC copies to readers hoping you will leave us an honest review.
I have 20 free copies set up on Booksprout if you are interested in reading the next installment of Grumpy Old Gods.
Reviews also help with getting seen on Amazon.
Twenty reviews is a magic number boost, I hear, with Amazon Ads. So we are shooting and hoping for at least twenty reviews.
If that happens we will try our hand at Amazon Ads marketing as our first experiment with ads.
These are PDF format and not the final proof, so there will probably be some missed mistakes.
20 ARC copies available through BookSprout.
INSECURE WRITER’S SUPPORT GROUP
FOUNDED BY
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
IWSG Description from their Newsletter: A database resource site and support group for writers and authors. Featuring weekly guests and tips, a monthly blogfest gathering, a Facebook group, a book club, and thousands of links – all to benefit writers! #IWSG
Website / Facebook Group / Twitter / Book Club
Twitter is @TheIWSG Hashtag: #IWSG = IWSG Instagram
Co-Hosts:
Renee Scattergood/ Sadira Stone/ Jacqui Murray/ Tamara Narayan/ LG Keltner!
I have IWSG news!
I am officially an IWSG Admin. I am so excited about that. I have been part of the group since March 2014. I have not missed one post yet. I have been so tickled to have climbed the list to number 51.
Climbing IWSG list was powerful motivation to write something even a blog post. I liked seeing that number get smaller. I was somewhere like 290-300 when I first signed up. So much wisdom and insight in one place. I am grateful for the connections and friends I have made. The IWSG itself has grown so much since I joined.
They now have a newsletter, anthologies, a yearly anthology contest, and a book club, IWSG swag, plus all kinds of info and resources helpful to writers on the home site. They have been voted one of the top sites for writers by Writer’s Digest, The Write Life, and others.
This is an awesome supportive group of people. This group inspires me and reminds me I am not alone in this journey. These are people who understand and get it—the need and compulsion to write the story to make those nattering invisible people shut up… er… happy. The best part they are a lot of fun, helpful, and generously encouraging.
OPTIONAL IWSG Day Question:
Has your writing ever taken you by surprise? For example, a positive and belated response to a submission you’d forgotten about or an ending you never saw coming?
I took a character I created for a Star Wars role play game back in 2001-2005 and repurposed in 2012 for a role in my space opera series. While repurposing him, he revealed he kept a journal. This is an entry he shared with me.
MEET MY CHARACTER CAPTAIN ARIK KESTREL
FROM THE STARLIGHT GALAXY: SPACE OPERA SERIES
About This Project: Actor pick Johnny Depp : Follow the link to see, you have to scroll down a little to see this picture. It is the expression on his face that inspired me.
My space opera series is set in the Starlight Galaxy. Arik is a secondary character, not main, although he does have a story. This is part of my character profile as I build background and get to know his voice and sense of self.
Arik is a Starship Captain feeling the aches and repercussions of his choices in his life. He is in a precarious situation that has a high potential for backlash, that won’t just affect him, but everyone and everything he knows.
He is questioning every chose he has every made and lamenting all the choices that have been made for him. He has a romantic soul though his character is ambiguous at best and the lines of right and wrong are often blurred.
He wanes a bit lyrical in this journal entry as he recognizes the dreams of youth and adventure have faded and survival takes on a new face. A choice is looming ahead of him that he’d prefer to avoid. Originally written in 2012 and revised in 2016. A metaphor in his own voice.
REFLECTIONS OF CHOICE
FROM THE JOURNAL OF STARSHIP CAPTAIN ARIK KESTREL
Sometimes a man has to choose
From bad, worse or horrendous.
Good or bad choices always bring change,
Just as change is not always a choice.
Every man must chart his own journey through the stars,
Whether by free-will or circumstance there is no turning back.
A progression through yawning maws of dark space,
That invade your fuel lines with every action.
Ambiguity is an unpredictable mask,
That can hide a man’s motives or shield his intentions.
With each hyperjump shaping his destiny,
Sub-light shifts in the soul reshaping the subconscious.
When star lines split,
Will the journey have been worth the expenditure?
Will the man at hard dock still be the same pilot,
That ventured into the unknown?
© Juneta Key
Insecure ANGST:
That I will drop the ball with all the things I am trying to do; forget something important. I am not sure why but I had all my links in green color and all of sudden WP is showing them gray and no matter how many times I change it, it has not taken. Sorry about that.
Heads Up. Everyone! Hope you are busy working on your stories.
One more month until the deadline:
September 4th, 2019!
Guidelines & Rules:
Word count: 3500-5000
Genre: Middle-Grade Historical – Adventure/Fantasy
Theme: Voyagers
Submissions accepted:
May 1 – September 4, 2019
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 contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.
The next #IWSGPit will be in January 15, 2020
8:00 am – 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time
Create a Twitter-length pitch for your completed and polished manuscript and leave room for genre, age, and the hashtag. On January 15, Tweet your pitch. If your pitch receives a favorite/heart from a publisher/agent check their submission guidelines and send your requested query.
Many writers have seen their books published from a Twitter pitch – it’s a quick and easy way to put your manuscript in front of publishers and agents.
Our August/September book is
The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice by Betsy Lerner
Discussion Fun Day will be September 25, 2019.
Join Us!
August 21-23
So much depends upon a red wheel barrow.…so begins the famous poem by William Carlos William – the inspiration behind this prompt. Which can be taken in myriad directions. It can be purely a prop. A part of the setting in a garden? A construction site? A factory? What depends upon it?
It can be used to carry away debris from a broken home. Or bricks for a new one. Maybe a skeleton, or a heist. Anything is possible. Will it turn out dependable or feckless? That’s the question … and you get to decide!
WANT TO BE A FEATURED GUEST IN MY AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT?
Author Spotlight Guidelines
LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN HELP
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHTS JULY
Storytime Blog Hop
Grumpy Old Harpies Juneta Key Storytime Blog Hop
And on the Stormdance blog
Goddess of Wine Vanessa Wells Storytime Blog Hop
August 31, 2019 @ 19:53
Hi Juneta,
CONGRATULATIONS on joining the IWSG Admin team. You are a gifted writer and they are lucky to have you. I sincerely hope the “exposure” will bring you new fans and sales.
I’m apologize for taking weeks to comment on your post. In August, I had a medical scare while traveling in the US (we live in Mexico). I’ll be just fine, but it took me a while to settle down.
Lynn La Vita @ Writers Supporting Writers
September 1, 2019 @ 12:43
No worries. Thank you. I hope you are doing great now. Sorry, you had to go through that. Sending positive energy and prayers.
September 1, 2019 @ 18:01
Congratulations on becoming an admin — that is fantastic! And I loved the journal entry – so lyrical, yet revealing. He has a distinct voice — congrats!
September 1, 2019 @ 18:54
Thanks, Raven.
August 30, 2019 @ 00:12
I really liked the poem from the captain. I guess it’s what we’re all doing – venturing into the unknown.
September 1, 2019 @ 12:42
Thank you. He is one of my favorite characters.
August 21, 2019 @ 02:00
Lucky number 51! I loved seeing my number creep higher, too. I’m hoping to come back someday soon. 🙂 Congrats on joining the admin, too. That’s awesome. 🙂
September 1, 2019 @ 12:42
Thank you. I know lol.
August 16, 2019 @ 00:13
I haven’t re-purposed a character. Yet. But I will bring back some antagonists as soon as their prison time is up. Which should be in about a year.
September 1, 2019 @ 12:42
It is fun to take a character you know and reimagine in another world.
August 15, 2019 @ 19:31
Enjoy your new duties with the IWSG and thank you for taking on the job. It’s such a worthwhile group.
September 1, 2019 @ 12:41
It definitely is… Thank you.
August 13, 2019 @ 04:16
Congratulations on becoming an admin!
September 1, 2019 @ 12:41
Thank you.
August 12, 2019 @ 15:33
Congratulations on joining the team! 🙂
September 1, 2019 @ 12:40
Thank you.
August 9, 2019 @ 18:37
Sure a lot going on with the iwsg indeed. Climbing the list shows how far you’ve been there. Funny how characters like to talk, repurposed or not.
September 1, 2019 @ 12:40
So true, so true.
August 8, 2019 @ 14:21
Congrats on the IWSG admin position! You’ll do great! 🙂
August 8, 2019 @ 16:07
Thank you.
August 8, 2019 @ 13:15
Congratulations! I’m so happy for your new admin position.
I too have been happy to see my name creep up the sign-up list.
Thanks for sharing all the great news and links.
August 8, 2019 @ 16:07
Thank you. And thanks for visiting with me.
August 8, 2019 @ 12:26
Congrats on joining ISWG.
August 8, 2019 @ 16:05
Thank you.
August 8, 2019 @ 11:04
I’ve heard of a few others who took a character from role playing as well. It’s an excellent idea!
You’ll do great at being an admin at IWSG, well done!
August 8, 2019 @ 16:04
Thank you.
August 8, 2019 @ 11:03
You’ve been a great Book Club moderator, so I know you’ll be a great IWSG Admin. 🙂
August 8, 2019 @ 16:03
Ah, thank you.
August 8, 2019 @ 09:41
Congratulations! I think they made an excellent choice.
August 8, 2019 @ 16:03
Thank you
August 8, 2019 @ 00:32
Firstly, congrats on becoming an IWSG admin! Awesome! 😀
I check where I am every month on the list… lol. I don’t imagine I’ll get too much higher from where I am now. It’s slowed down a great deal.
I love the idea of repurposing my Star Wars role-play character for a story. I might do that! 😀
August 8, 2019 @ 16:02
Thank you. I have done several of characters from my SW role play days.
August 7, 2019 @ 20:43
Congrats on being an admin for IWSG. It’s rewarding work.
I love it when my characters have a life of their own.
I’m happy to help out with the ARC. Not sure how quickly I can get a review up though. Is a couple of weeks ok?
August 7, 2019 @ 20:53
Sorry, I had a hard time finding your email. Could you email me pretty please? lynfaw at gmail
Also if that underline was a link to your ARC, then it wasn’t working for me. It could be me. Sometimes technical stuff just fails with me 😉
August 7, 2019 @ 21:06
Thank you. I sent you an email with the ARC. Whenever you can is fine. Appreciate you doing it.
August 7, 2019 @ 21:08
If the underline was the words at bottom in green that say 20 ARC copies available through BookSprout, that is the link. I hope it is working for others.
August 7, 2019 @ 16:29
So glad your onboard the Admin team, Juneta. And I’d help out in the review department, but my Kindle hates PDFs and makes it impossible to read. Since I spend so much time on the computer, my eyes won’t say focused long enough to read online. If you have another way to shoot me a copy, I’ll lend a hand.
August 7, 2019 @ 16:55
I appreciate that. We have not learned to format yet outside of Amazon, so that is why we don’t have mobi or epub yet to give away. My partner does all the formatting and uploading so far with Amazon. It is on my to-do list which I had planned to learn this week but has not gotten to it yet, but if I do I will shoot you a copy. I want to get us to where we offer the ARC in all three formats. It’s on the to-do now list rather than later, but let myself get distracted last 3 days with other stuff.
I have the same problem with my eyes. I zoom to 200% when writing, and also zoom out when reading in the browser for that reason, so no worries.
August 7, 2019 @ 15:33
Grats on becoming an admin! Woot! Wow, you’ve got a lot of stuff going on.
August 7, 2019 @ 16:19
Thank you. I do.
August 7, 2019 @ 15:28
If you don’t reach your magical twenty, I’ll give it a review read. But if you get your twenty, I’ll just wait and buy it when it comes out. 🙂
August 7, 2019 @ 16:20
Thank you so much. Appreciated.
August 7, 2019 @ 14:57
Hi,
A huge congratulations and a hug for joining the IWSG Admin staff. I’m proud of you.
Also, don’t worry about dropping the ball. If you do drop one for a minute or two, people will understand. After all, we’re all human.
Take care.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G @ EverythingMustChange
August 7, 2019 @ 15:17
Thank you. Happy IWSG!
August 7, 2019 @ 12:35
Congrats! You worked hard and earned it. I’m so happy for you. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
August 7, 2019 @ 15:13
Thank you, Anna.
August 7, 2019 @ 12:15
Big congrats on the next Grumpy Gods! And ditto on becoming an Admin for IWSG. It is, indeed, a fabulous writer’s forum. I remember how exited I was when I broke into double digits on the list.
August 7, 2019 @ 12:24
Thank you. Yeah, me too. Still makes me happy.
August 7, 2019 @ 10:14
Just a few days from publication of Grumpy Old Gods.
Welcome to the team.
August 7, 2019 @ 11:33
Thank you. Yup, just a few days and so much still to do. Have not quite gotten this down yet, but getting there.
August 7, 2019 @ 09:56
Johnny Depp–sigh. His face could inspire a thousand characters.
Yeah, my characters often reveal secrets. My dilemma is deciding which of those are germane to the story, not always an easy task. Congrats on becoming an IWSG admin! I wish you happy writing in August.
August 7, 2019 @ 11:17
Thank you.
August 7, 2019 @ 08:53
The IWSG is so lucky to have you as an admin!
I don’t leave reviews on Amazon anymore otherwise I would have loved to have read your ARC. (I’ve been banned by them in the past and had my reviews removed so I just stay off there now.) Please let me know if there’s any other way I can help you out with your new release. Always happy to do an author interview on my blog.
I’ll be curious to hear how AMS ads go for you. I run them. Not very effective for my ebooks, but they do okay for my paperback and large print.
Cheers – Ellen
August 7, 2019 @ 11:48
Thank you. I will definitely keep the author interview in mind. Will keep you posted if we do them. We have to hit 20 before we are willing to try yet because we are just starting. Crossing our fingers.
August 7, 2019 @ 08:37
You will be a FANTASTIC admin!
Small wonder you worry about dropping the ball when you have so much going on!
And here’s to Grumpy Old Gods – may you get many many reviews! 🙂
August 7, 2019 @ 11:50
May we get many reviews as you are in this one too. Good for all authors in it I hope.
August 7, 2019 @ 08:36
We’re glad you are part of the team now! Funny, Chemist Ken keeps careful track of his ranking on the list. He’s aiming for the top. That one won’t fall though!
Eager to read your space opera story!
August 7, 2019 @ 11:51
LOL, me too, I kept track from the beginning. Thank you. I need to get back to writing it. I love that world and characters.
August 7, 2019 @ 08:18
Congrats on being an administrator. And thank you for taking on the job. I never understood how characters could keep secrets from us until it happened to me too.
August 7, 2019 @ 12:03
Thank you. My characters really surprise me all the time, but it is an interesting phenomenon. I think it has to do with brain science, and the fact left communicates in words and right in images and emotion. Very cool though.
August 7, 2019 @ 01:55
Isn’t it great when characters reveal that they are keeping secrets from us? It always makes them real 🙂
August 7, 2019 @ 12:04
Yes, it does.