A Super Exciting Announcement #IWSG

I don’t know how I’ve managed to keep it quiet until now, but at last I can shout to the world: I have a book coming out!! It will be released on October 18th this year. So exciting!

Cling to God is a book of devotionals for every day of the year. The aim is to encourage Christians in their faith, to help them think about their beliefs and learn more about God. The devotions are short and inspirational so that people with busy lifestyles will still be able to spend time with the Lord each day. It will appeal to a wide Christian audience, to those new in their faith as well as those matured beyond milk and honey.

How awesome is the cover?! I’m thrilled by it. While I did take the photo of the flowers (they grow by the steps leading to my front door), I didn’t design the cover. That was expertly done by my publisher’s designer. I think every author is nervous about seeing the final cover for the first time, myself included, but I literally whooped out loud and ran to my husband to show him. We had cake to celebrate.

I also have a few online friends helping to celebrate today. Please help me show my gratitude by visiting their blogs: Alex J Cavanaugh, Denise Covey, Michael Di Gesu, Susan Gourley, S A Larsen, Anna Simpson, Stephen Tremp, Michelle Wallace, Diane Wolfe.

And also some more friends will be helping out in the coming days: Lexa Cain, Chrys Fey, Carol Kilgore, Joylene Nowell Butler, C Lee McKenzie, and Carol Riggs. Thank you to everyone who has shown friendship and encouragement and support over the years. You guys are awesome!

This month’s question for the IWSG is What was your very first piece of writing as an aspiring writer? Where is it now? Collecting dust or has it been published? You’ll find my answer on the IWSG website along with, hopefully, a little encouragement.

Every first Wednesday of the month the members of the IWSG post on their blogs about their writing insecurities or offer some encouragement to others. If you are new to the IWSG, then please go HERE to find out more and join up.

How to Write from Your Heart and #IWSG

Writing from your heart isn't easy. It's easy to follow the rules, but if all you do is stay within the boundaries, tick the boxes and play it safe, then your story will lack a certain spark. It's the heart that makes a story shine, the heart that pushes your story to a new and riveting level. Below are my tips on how to write from your heart.

Make yourself vulnerable. Get over those insecurities and put yourself in your writing. Bare your soul, showing the world your passion for the story and its characters.

Be wholly in control, but let yourself go, giving yourself the freedom and permission to make mistakes.

Ignore the trends. Ignore what you think other people will want to read and instead write what you want to read.

Be brave enough to break the rules, making certain you have a full knowledge of how and why the rules work in the first place.

Ignore the urge to write for publication, but know what works for publication within your target market and, more importantly, why it works.

Listen to your characters, but decide for yourself if what they want is what you want for the story.

Be honest with your emotions and those of your characters. Delve into the truth of a scene and don't be afraid to explore what you find there.

Know only you can write the story, but be open to outside influences.

Broaden your experiences--this includes reading widely and frequently--because they will influence not only what you write, but the way you write it. They will steer you away from writing copies of someone else's story.

Practise. Like anything, writing from your heart takes practise. So keep writing.

What helps you to write from your heart? 

This post was written for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by Alex J Cavanaugh. Members of the group post on the first Wednesday of every month. Everyone is welcome. If you haven't already, then please sign up HERE.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

The Insecure Writer's Support Group website has launched!

I have the honour of being one of the admins for the site, along with Joy Campbell, Joylene Nowell Butler, Susan Gourley/Kelley, Michelle Wallace, L. Diane Wolfe and, of course, the Ninja Captain and spark behind it all, Alex J Cavanaugh. As a team, we helped to put it together and are currently working hard to build it into something truly special.

Along with being chock full of writerly resources, the site will offer encouraging and helpful posts on writing. We will post every Monday and the first Wednesdays. We hope to eventually open up the Wednesdays to guest posts too. So please check it out HERE.

We've also set up a Facebook group. We'd love to see you there!

Oh and our twitter hastag is still #IWSG

How has the Insecure Writer's Support Group helped you?

Make Believe Cover Revealed!

On December 3, 2012, J. Taylor Publishing will release Make Believe, an anthology of six short stories, ranging from contemporary romance to fantasy, written based on a photo prompt with a wintry setting and a woman in red. At last I’m able to show you the cover!! I've not had my name on the cover of a book before (insert girly giggle of delight). I can also share a little more about the stories:

Sacrificial Oath by Terri Rochenski
An impetuous act unwittingly makes Alesuela the fulfillment of the Sovereign’s Blood Oath to their Goddess. In five days, she’ll be forced to make the greatest choice of her life: become the virginal sacrifice already promised, or force the man she loves most to die in her place.
With an impossible choice in front of her, she searches for ways to undo the oath, and in her quest, finds not everything in her life is as she expects.

The Amulet of Ormisez by J. Keller Ford
There is only one way to save Elton Fletcher’s brother from an insanity-ridden death.
After years away from home, fighting for his people, Elton returns to discover his only sibling, Cayden, possessed by greed and malice, and responsible for malicious, unthinkable deeds. Cayden, though, isn’t the only one afflicted by the Amulet of Ormisez, and Elton finds himself in yet another battle, where the price of failure could be his own life.

Birthright by Lynda R. Young
Christa can mask the pain and hide the scars, but running from a birthright is impossible.
She’s tried to escape her grief by fleeing to a small town in Florida. Much to her frustration, the locals think they recognize her even though she's never been there before. To make things worse, a man named Jack spouts outrageous theories about her.
Both spur Christa to bolt, to start fresh yet again, but there’s something about Jack that intrigues her enough to stay. The only problem? Someone else wants her to leave, and they won’t stop until she’s dead.

Petrified by Kelly Said
A mysterious storm has replaced summer with winter, devastating crops and smothering Castle lands in snow.  Prince Sterling August stands alone as a leader, lost in personal grief as well as a desire to help his people but with an inability to do either.
The answers he needs await him, but without Lochlyn, a woman who’s just as isolated as Sterling, he’ll never see what stands before him, cloaked in illusion.

Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton
Emily is a Red, a woman whose sole purpose in life is to produce offspring. When her husband dies and leaves her childless, she risks her life and forsakes the safety of Terra—a disease-free city born after the nuclear holocaust. Beyond its boundaries, she knows, survives a man with whom she can be properly paired.
The Outside, though, holds secrets the government struggles to keep, and what Emily discovers on her quest for a mate will change her life forever.

Escort to Insanity by J.A. Belfield
From a charity auction, to a stroll in the park, to the craziest night of her life. Nicole Harrington can’t help but wonder how a simple event went so drastically wrong.
Of course, the male escort she booked is wholly to blame. Not only charming but shrewdly intelligent, Benjamin Gold drags Nicole into a platoon of unimaginable problems—ones from which she’ll have to find the courage just to survive.

What do you think of the cover and story blurbs? Are you excited? Will you share the joy and have some virtual chocolate cake with me?

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Make Believe Anthology authors revealed!

On December 3, 2012, J. Taylor Publishing will release Make Believe, an anthology of six short stories, ranging from contemporary romance to fantasy, written based on a photo prompt with a wintry setting and a woman in red.

The anthology will open with Terri Rochenski’s Sacrificial Oath, a story of self sacrifice. J. Keller Ford’s The Amulet of Ormisez will follow—a story of success in failure. From there, Birthright by Australian author Lynda R. Young will delve into secrets revealed. Kelly Said returns to this anthology with Petrified, taking the reader on a journey of finding one’s purpose. Last Winter Red by Jennifer M. Eaton finds us in a post-apocalyptic world where not all is as it seems. Rounding out the anthology is our headline author, J.A. Belfield, author of Darkness & Light and the to-be-released Blue Moon, with Escort to Insanity.

Did you notice something odd? Yep, my name is among the authors. How super exciting is that? This news comes a little late because I was away on a cruise during the official announcement, but it's never too late to celebrate.

Virtual chocolate cake for all!!!

I also have a new author picture to show off in the sidebar (I hope it doesn't scare too many people) and a slightly new look to my blog. And next week I'll be able to show off the cover of the book. Exciting times!


Photo: Even though the photo has nothing to do with snow, it has everything to do with my cruise and I promised to share some photos. While the authors were being announced for Make Believe, I took this photo on the Isle of Pines last week. Wow, was it only last week?

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Announcements, Thoughts, IWSG and break

Happy, happy news! I'm off on a short cruise to the Isle of Pines and Noumea. I haven't taken a holiday (vacation) in six years so I'm looking forward to this one. I'll be back here on the 14th May with an exciting announcement (chocolate cake at the ready).

Here are some other announcements, most I would've otherwise missed by sailing away:

Clarissa Draper has released her debut novel, The Sholes Key. It’s a mystery and I’m looking forward to reading it.

M. Pax will be releasing her science fiction, The Backworlds on 7th May

Laura Pauling will also be celebrating the release of her debut novel, A Spy Like Me, from 7th May

An official thank you to J.C. Martin for the Oracle Swag Bag I won. Her book will be released in July. In the meantime, if you like scary stories, read her short story, The Doll. It's wonderful. I loved it.

Meredith Houston will be releasing her novel, Colors like Memories, on 11th May

And lastly, a big thank you to Angela and Becca for their inspirational site, The Bookshelf Muse. You both have created a fantastic resource for writers everywhere. Their book, The Emotion Thesaurus, will be available on 14th May.

Thoughts on the A-Z Challenge:
The A-Z Challenge was about posting thematically from A-Z every day except Sundays during the month of April. This was the second year I took part in the challenge. Last year I wrote micro posts with writing tips. This year I broke from my usual theme and shared some of my photography. I found it a lot easier and it was like a mini break for me. Also, I think my regular readers got to know me better in this last month than they have in the—almost—2 years I've been blogging. Another bonus is that I've met some brilliant new friends and they pushed me over 1000 followers. Wow! Thank you so much to all my new and old followers! What I found hardest about the challenge was keeping up with the comments every single day. My writing time took a huge dent. I ended up sacrificing reading (bad) and TV time (not so bad) because I had a few tight deadlines I needed to meet in April. Would I do it again? I'll let you know next year once I've recovered.

Insecure Writers' Support Group:
Normally I'd have a piece of encouragement for the group—keep trying, keep writing, and enjoy what you do—but today I'll ask a question: How do YOU decide whether or not to go traditional, small press, or self-publishing?