Shame on me for not posting sooner, but this is something readers need to know.
Smashwords.com is having their “Read an Ebook Week” sale right now. This week. It’s happening.
Many, many books are on discounted sale, including mine! Look for books by RJ Minnick to find my books; and check out all the other great bargains as well! This sale is only at Smashwords and will only last through March 12. Hurry! HURRY!
And, sorry if I made you late…..
When our writing group, Off the Page, set up for its first year in existence, we chose to celebrate by creating an anthology. A few writers got together and created a world, then we all wrote our own short stories set in this world, using some core characters and a common premise. We added characters and plots of our choosing. Some of our meetings were dedicated to review the stories in progress so that we could coordinate characters’ traits and plot-lines to make a seamless book. That book, The Mayor’s Tales: Stories from the Kyleighburn archives, was a rounding success for our little group. [find The Mayor’s Tales here]
The following year we laid plans for a new anthology, but we chose not to set it in a common world. Instead we selected a theme and each wrote our own story for based on that theme. Illness, politics, the PANDEMIC, and overall busy-ness delayed us, but this past December we finally were able to present our book to the world. The book is titled Passages.
[from the back cover]
When one door closes, another one opens…
The seven authors of Passages take the familiar phrase into new territory with tales of revenge, time travel, tragedy, betrayal, new beginnings and misunderstandings. Some characters get stuck outside their closed doors, unable to move on to the next opportunity, while others triumph over their obstacles and move on to happiness.
The members of Off The Page Writers’ Group weave the open/closed concept into stories of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and comedy. We find out how far a scorned woman will go, what happens to a selfish man, how punishment shapes a child, what it’s like to live for hundreds of years, how paint shows a woman’s growth, why meddling in others’ lives is sometimes a good thing, and why you should always appreciate help from others.
Not all the characters of the stories in Passages benefit from their journey between doors, but these seven stories help illuminate the central concept.
You’re invited. Just open the door …
Passages, the second anthology by members of Off the Page, is available at Amazon in various formats. You can find it here .
‘ta
In what might be considered another life, I volunteered as a writing coach for elementary and middle school students at my children’s schools. For the younger students, I ran a Writing Club. We’d meet once a week and work on stories and writing exercises. They’d write their stories, and I’d act as editor to help them see how to make them better.
It was exposure to the ‘grown-up world’ where kids who liked to make up stories got to see what that could mean if you did it in real life. Some years we ended the year creating a magazine to pass out that showcased the students’ work. And we always entered the local Student Writers Showcase, usually bringing home winners in more than a few categories. The day the winners were announced, students from all over the city attended workshops run by different kinds of writers, even songwriters (this was in Nashville, TN after all), and heard a well-known writer speak.
My older students, particularly in grades 7 and 8, produced a newspaper, 4 to 8 issues a year, writing the sorts of sports, music, and school activity stories their classmates would like. These students were also encouraged to participate in the Student Writers Showcase.
My motivation was – to be honest – partly guilt. I had my own children in these schools, each with innate writing ability, and they had me as guide and editor. It seemed unfair that other students at our school might not have that advantage. I offered my services to teachers and principals of the two schools. They were happy to accept.
I’m not a teacher. In fact, I’d say I’m not even a good substitute for one. But I know writing; I love writing. I can coach the thing I love. So I would find or devise word and writing exercises for the kids. I’d answer questions and explain what it was like to have real deadlines and editors and how you got a book published. I encouraged them to write the stories they wanted, and pushed to get them to be able to share their stories by using words that would transfer the picture in their heads into the heads of their classmates.
I didn’t focus on deep grammar, sentence diagrams, or conjugating verbs. Instead I went with things like word choices, active tenses, flow and continuity. They learned to uses their senses and then describe what they detected with them. They learned it was okay to use fragments and run-on sentences. Sometimes. They learned about dialogue and paragraphs, about how to choose what to put in and what to leave out. They learned that some editors, teachers, and even readers don’t want to read bad language and how if you want these people to read your story, you’ve got to stretch to think of other words to use. They learned they could write about anything. They could write in any genre or style. They could write fact or fiction, poetry or prose or song. They could even write plays.
I like to think most of the kids enjoyed it – they were only supposed to be in the Writing Club if they wanted to write. I like to think I helped some of them become better writers, and I know a couple at least have taken on careers that make use of their good writing skills.
Re-energizing this blog means re-dedicating myself to sharing writing craft. Over time I’ll post some of the exercises and workshop ideas I used in Writing Club. Maybe they’ll help some writers out there – or some writing coaches. If you’d like to get an idea of some things we did, check out one of my previous posts:
Tip ~ INKAS ~ #1 April 24, 2019 In “INKAS”
‘ta
Finding Robin's Story 