Deep Thoughts from Charlotte’s Web

“Take a deep breath!  Now climb to the highest place you can get to.  Now make an attachment with your spinnerets, hurl yourself into space, and let out a dragline as you go down!”    Charlotte

Charlotte the spider, from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White, may have been talking about spinning a web, but she could have been refering to the “risk-taking” feeling of writing.  It’s scary! 

Every time you write your thoughts, feelings, and stories, pat yourself on the back.  You’re sharing yourself with the world, creating art, and growing as a creative person. 

Charlotte also knew a thing or two about people.  “With men it’s rush, rush, rush every minute,”  she said.

Take time in your life to pause and reflect.  Do you have five minutes you can set aside to daydream?  Five minutes to stare out the window and think about a character, a story, a poem, or a scene from your own life you’d like to put on paper? 

“I don’t know what a magnum opus is,” said Wilbur.

“That’s Latin,” explained Charlotte.  “It means ‘great work.’ This egg sac is my great work –the finest thing I have ever made.”

Work on your own writing so you will create your own magnum opus – – the finest thing you’ll ever make.

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Calling Students, Teachers, Readers, Writers and MORE!

California Writers Club, Mt. Diablo Branch
http://mtdiablowriters.org/
Announces a FREE opportunity for students, educators and readers to meet published authors – – – and students, how to win hundreds of dollars by writing!
Saturday, November 28, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Pleasant Hill Barnes and Noble
522 Contra Costa Blvd. (Phone: 925-609-7060)

*Students! Discover how YOU can win $$$ by writing poems, short stories, or personal narratives!

*Learn how you can take a FREE writing workshop taught by authors Sarah Wilson and Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff.

*Find out answers to questions about writing, publishing, agents, and how YOU can become a published writer!

*Uncover published authors’ writing secrets!

* Receive guidelines for the Young Writers Contest for middle school students and sign-up forms for FREE workshops.

*Get autographs from authors!

Schedule: 11 a.m. – Noon
Nannette Rundell Carroll – Communication and Business Author
Margaret Grace – Author of Mystery Series
Noon – 1 p.m.
Nannette Rundell Carroll – Communication and Business Author
Barbara Bentley – Memoir Author
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
Ellen Leroe – Young Adult Author
Elizabeth Koehler-Pentacoff – Picture Book Author
4 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Barbara Bentley – Memoir Author
Lynn Goodwin – Journaling Author
5 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Margaret Grace – Author of Mystery Series
Lynn Goodwin – Journaling Author

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Most Asked Questions Part II

I want to get published. What should I do?

Read what you want to write. Write! Make sure you are writing professionally, by having your work critiqued by your peers and editors. Take classes and network. Send your writing out for publication.

Do I need an agent?

It depends upon the field of interest. If you are writing a main-stream thriller and want to sell it to a major house, you’ll need an agent. If you will sell a book to a University or secondary press, you won’t.

If I don’t have an agent, how do I find out about editors and publishers?

Libraries and bookstores have The Writer’s Market. Professional organizations often have publisher’s market surveys. Some of these are even on the Internet. When you send things to publishers, if they respond with a person note, you have begun a correspondence of sorts. Then you can thank that editor and send her another project. This is how people can get published. Build your relationships.

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Most Asked Questions Answered Part I

When interviewed or when giving author talks, there are some questions that crop up time and time again. Here are a few. In a few days I’ll post some more. If you have other questions about writing or publishing after Part II is posted, feel free to add yours to the list.

Where can I get ideas to write my stories?
Ideas come from everywhere! You can get ideas from something you overhear at school, on the playground or at work. You can read about a famous person that you’d like to delve into more deeply. Or you can look at your own pet a new way. What is he thinking right now?

How do I know if my idea is any good?
Does it interest YOU? Are you excited to write about it? To research it? Does it make you want to read or write more?

If you are trying to sell it as a book, make sure there aren’t tons of other books exactly like yours out there. If there are, how is YOUR book going to stand out?

One editor of one of my books told me this. “I ask my authors, “Why do people NEED your book?”

What’s your favorite part about writing?

My favorite part of writing is after I’ve written the first draft. It’s the REWRITING. In fact, I’m addicted to it. I love it so much, if I have a pen in my hand after I get the copy of my book, I’d probably STILL be crossing out words and rewriting the text!

When my son was in school and he’d bring home letters from his teachers, if I had a pen in my hand, I’d unconsciously rewrite those letters.
“Mom,” he’d say to me. “You don’t have to correct the teacher’s letters.”
Oops!

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Ask the Experts! Pleasant Hill Barnes and Noble, Nov. 28

Where should you send your literary mystery? How should you find a critique group locally? Is there an agent right for YOU? What’s the first thing you should do if you want to write a picture book?

As a middle grade student in Contra Costa County, I want to win $100, $50 or $25 in the Young Writers Contest! How can I do this? Can you give me tips? Advice? Techniques? Secrets?

Where can you get all of these questions answered and MORE?

Come to Pleasant Hill’s Barnes and Noble on Saturday, November 28. Yes! The Saturday after Thanksgiving! From 11 a.m. through six p.m.

Schedule of authors:

11 – Noon Nannette Carroll, author of Communication to Go!
Nonfiction Expert
11 – Noon Margaret Grace Miniature Mystery Series

Noon – 1 pm Nannette Carroll

Noon – 1 pm Barbara Bentley A Dance With the Devil; Memoir Expert

1 pm – 2 pm Ellen Leroe Dear Big V; Young Adult Expert

1 pm – 2pm Liz Koehler-Pentacoff Jackson & Bud’s Bumpy Ride; Children’s Expert

2pm – 3 pm Ellen Leroe & Liz Koehler-Pentacoff

3 pm – 4 pm Barbara Bentley

3 pm – 4 pm Lynn Goodwin Journaling for Caregivers
Journaling Expert
4 pm – 5 pm Lynn Goodwin & Barbara Bentley

5 pm – 6 pm Margaret Grace & Lynn Goodwin

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Ghost Story Writing Contest

Author Linda Joy Singleton’s
THE GHOST STORY WRITING CONTEST for young authors!
HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A GHOST?

Have you ever seen a ghost? Write a story about your real or imaginary ghost encounter in 400 words or less. Make it exciting, scary, strange – and have fun!

Submit your entry to: [email protected], stating that this is your original writing and that you have permission from your parents/guardian to enter and share your work on these authors’ blogs/web sites. Contest ends on October 31. First place & honorable mention winners will be announced mid-November on http://lindajoysingleton.blogspot.com.

Include your age, full name, and contact information (email/address). Entrants must be between ages 9 to 16. One entry per person.

Prize: autographed books! The winner will receive autographed copies of DEAD GIRL WALKING, DEAD GIRL DANCING and DEAD GIRL IN LOVE, by Linda Joy Singleton; HAUNTED: THE GHOST ON THE STAIRS and THE RIVERBOAT PHANTOM, by Chris Eboch; and GHOST HUNTRESS: THE AWAKENING and THE GUIDANCE, by Marley Gibson.

The winning entry and honorable mentions will also be posted on Linda Joy Singleton’s blog(s) and Chris Eboch’s web site.

The winners will be selected by Chris Eboch, author of the HAUNTED series; Linda Joy Singleton, author of the DEAD GIRL series; and Marley Gibson, author of the GHOST HUNTRESS series.

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