Throwback Thursday!!

**Who said time travel doesn't exist?

Have a look at one of For the Love of Writing's very first blog posts. **

UNLEASH YOUR BEAST

I'll bet most or all of you have heard that tired old advice more than you'd like. The one that goes: Just write! Don't think! But unfortunately, that is often easier said than done. Even I have spouted those two sentences a time or two. And yet, even I struggle to swallow my own advice sometimes.
That's why I'm writing about this and something else. Something we all still fear at times.

Another saying that we as writers have heard is: Write what you know.

It's easier that way, no? If you are a nurse, or have experience in the nursing field, then perhaps your characters or storylines reflect a bit of that in your books. If you are one of those who crave the affections of another, then your characters might act the same way. It's always simpler to write what you know.

If you write romance, you stick to romance. If you write horror, you stick to horror.

Yes, you may add a few elements of other genres in your writing but only a bit here and there.

Someone asked me the other day...what happens if you get stuck in a rut? What happens if you always ONLY stick to what you know and never explore writing about anything else?...... (Continue reading HERE)



Getting the Call: T.W. Fendley

More proof that there are plenty of ways to achieve success for writers. T.W. Findley has agreed to share her journey through the publishing world. Here’s  a case where meeting the right people at a writer’s conference can make your dreams come true.  Teresa’s  novel, Zero Time, is at the top of my to be read list.

This month is a perfect time for me to talk about getting "The Call" because in April 2010, I met Linda Houle, one of the publishers from L&L Dreamspell, at the Missouri Writers Guild (MWG) conference. That's where things started going right for me.

It was my first pitch session and I was plenty nervous. But instead of doing a five-minute pitch to just one agent, when I arrived that morning I learned I could pitch to all three of my top choices--two agents and a small press publisher. Fortunately, I'd done my homework. I knew why my book was a good fit for each of them and had practiced (and practiced!) my elevator pitch in front of the bathroom mirror. 

I was hopeful, but afraid to be too optimistic. I'd been there before. You see, I sent off my first query letter for ZERO TIME on Sept. 12, 2008, and immediately got a request for a partial. Elated, I submitted my chapters, now certain I would easily land an agent and a book deal. That didn't happen. I revised my query letter a few times over the next eighteen months and used QueryTracker to target and submit it to thirteen more agents. And to track the rejections.

Then came the MWG conference, and a chance to deliver my query in person. All requested a partial, ending the long dry spell. Then something unprecedented happened--within a month, one agent and the small press asked for a full manuscript!   

"The Call" came 26 days after I emailed the full manuscript to the small press. On May 31, 2010, Lisa Smith--the other "L" in L&L Dreamspell--sent me an email that said simply: "Teresa,  I am interested in offering you a contract for ZERO TIME. I'd like to see your marketing plan, and we will go from there! Thanks."

My first reaction? After I quit shrieking, I emailed my critique buddies. They'd been with me through two revisions of the book. Together we did a virtual happy dance. Later, my husband and I toasted margaritas at our local Mexican restaurant.

I went to work drafting a marketing plan after I read my publisher's book, The Naked Truth About Book Publishing, and checked out some online resources. On June 2, Lisa accepted my plan and offered a contract for both print and ebook formats.

In the meantime, I also emailed the agent who requested the full to let her know of the small press offer. Although she loved the premise, she decided to pass. I reviewed the contract and on June 7, 2010, mailed the signed copies. My debut historical fantasy novel, ZERO TIME, was published in October 2011-- three years after I sent my first query letter. With its connection to the end of the Maya Long Count calendar, I wanted the book out before December 2012. I'm grateful to L&L Dreamspell for making it happen.

After that experience, I've been reluctant to get back into the query game. For my next novel, I'm going to pitch first. That's why I was at the 2012 MWG conference last weekend, pitching my young adult contemporary fantasy, THE LABYRINTH OF TIME. And I got a request from a super agent for the full manuscript!  

If you're interested in ZERO TIME, it's available in paperback or ebook through Amazon and Barnes & Noble (or ask your local librarian to carry it). I'm excited to report it earned a Walter Williams Major Work Award in the 2012 President's Contest at the MWG conference! 

You can find me at: 

Authors website: www.twfendley.com

Blog: www.thewriterslens.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/twfendley

Step Outside

So the pesky writer’s block has struck again, huh? You look to your writerly friends to help and you hear the same things. And why do you hear the same things BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME THINGS YOU JUST TOLD THEM!! Ugh! Round and round the mayberry bush we go just to wind up in the same position you started. So you grin and tell them thanks for their support, then go home and stare at the same page you were stuck on. It sits there…mocking you. Yeah, it’s wagging its paper tongue at you or if you prefer (for you more digital folk) it’s making that noise the pigs make on Angry Birds when you don’t take them out.

Your next step is to opening your latest writing mag or head to your favorite blog *ahem* and see what they say about the BLOCK. What do they say? Yeah, same thing. Grrr. The only thing you can do now is press on and hope that it fades sooner rather than later. It better because those voices and those oinking pigs are getting mighty loud.

But are you really out of options?

I mean this is the digital age. You can reach out and touch anyone. So why not step out of your comfort zone a bit. Trust me; it’s not that scary out here. You already have writer friends and friends who love words in general. However what if you were to think about your writing and getting around that pesky block like an artist?

Okay, pick up your jaws. Yes, try talking to an artist or someone who is way out of your field, directors or architects, heck even a chef. We are all artists if you think about whether it be with words or paints and markers or a slab of beef. You see we all hit our blocks no matter what creative medium you partake of. Trying to look outside of what you normally do can open up new possibilities as how to attack that troublesome foe, the BLOCK.

I’ve been fortunate to have a creative family, my sister most of all. She is an artist so she loves to bring me into her world….and I love every minute of it. Seeing the difference in line thickness and paint styles brings me as much joy as finding a new word or seeing my characters come to life. It makes me look at my sciences and worlds differently. When I start writing I can see those lines when I describe my characters, I can see them better. It helps me picture them clearer and how they would look when they move. I begin to think about what body types would work for my more extraordinary people or what colors would make a new pop right off the page.

Even in my day job I work around food. Those aromas constantly tickling my nose I get a better sense of smell to include in my tales. Or I can get the rhythm of knives as they hit the wooden blocks. Mmm….it’s rather seductive when you let those senses open up and take them all in. you can look at this world differently, thus your created world of words better.

If you have a block, find your way around it. And your way around it may just be to traipse into someone else’s world….or at least that helps me sometimes. LOL Write on you lovely folks!!