Working Titlez

Any aspiring author who asks my advice will get the best answers I can provide and one of them is always to find a writers or critique group. Like-minded writers, at varying levels of experience, can be of immense value, from learning the ropes in the publishing industry to advice on plot or a gentle push past writer’s block. The support and encouragement is priceless. There are groups for specific genres such as romance or sci-fi and groups where the membership spans many aspects of the writing life. I’ll be speaking to one such group soon.

Las Vegas Writers Group
Thursday, September 18, 2008 7:00 PM
Roadrunner Grand Canyon
9820 W Flamingo Rd (215 & Flamingo)

I’ll be talking about editing. What IS editing? What’s the difference between an acquisition, developmental, line or copy editor? How does an author work with an editor? What is the role of the peer reviewer or proofreader? What is a house style? Scare quotes? Invisible formatting? Do you cap for up-style or down-style? How do you prep a manuscript for layout? I’ll be leading you through the editing process, sharing tips and techniques, resources and recommendations that will punch up and polish any manuscript. Whether you are still sending out query letters, have a publishing contract in hand, or planning to self-publish, a solid working knowledge of editing is essential for the professional writer.

There’s a $5 fee and RSVPs are required by September 16. More info here.

Deputy Dump by Richard Menzies

Public Radio’s KUER in Salt Lake City interviewed Stephens Press author Richard Menzies recently. Menzies is the author/photographer of Passing Through: An Existential Journey Across America’s Outback. The beautiful book won awards for best regional and best travel books when it was published and features an eclectic mix of characters from the barren wastelands of the vast area known as America’s Outback. “Nevada’s backcountry is sparsely populated yet surprisingly rich in diversity,” Menzies writes. “Her social fabric is a colorful tapestry of cultures and ethnicities, fringed by eccentrics who simply defy categorization. Think of the Silver State as a haven for those irregular souls who could never be content with a nine-to-five job or a three-bedroom, split-level in suburbia.” Listen Here

The dramatic scenes are what keeps us reading a great book, eagerly turning the pages, oblivious to what may be going on around us. Let’s admit it, most phenomenal books are a series of dramatic scenes, some big, some small, strung together with some connecting “stuff” inbetween. Not relegated to “action” stories, dramatic scenes are the meaty parts of everything from romantic comedy to high angst. Stephens Press author Maralys Wills knows of what she speaks — as an author of twelve published titles in multiple genres AND a 20+ years college teacher of novel writing, she knows her way around a dramatic scene. Maralys offers an article on the Downloads page that analyzes the art of writing the dramatic scene. Even if you don’t write yourself, but enjoy the well-written story, you’ll find the structure behind the scenes fascinating. The newest Maralys Wills book, Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead: The Bumpy Road to Getting Published will be available in October. An adroit blending between the craft of writing and how one gets published, the book is an insider’s guide to authorhood.