Tag: Member news

A Valentine for Venus – new release

Sonny Collins announces that his novelette, A Valentine for Venus, is now available as a Kindle book at Amazon.

A romantic and fun little novelette about what happens when Venus and Cupid bet on who can make someone fall in love first. To make it fair, their grandfather, Zeus, decides to forbid them the use of magic and then goes a step farther by sending them both to Earth as neighbors to a teenage girl and her widowed father – who are also his chosen mortals for this little experiment. They each have two weeks to help their subject fall in love by midnight on Valentine’s Day. Of course things get a bit complicated when Venus realizes her mortal might be falling for her instead of the woman she has chosen for him. Cupid, on the other hand, seems to have the entire high school under his influence. Or does he?

Randy Atwood’s News

Randy Atwood - The Fat CatRandy Atwood has two pieces of news to share.  His newest release, The Fat Cat: A Noir Mystery, was recently published in paperback and ebook form. It is available as a paperback at Amazon and as  Kindle ebook.

In addition, Randy shares that his sales of his novella “The Saltness of Time” have put it into the top 100 of its subcategory in the Kindle Store.

March Meeting Discussions

The March 19th meeting with a discussion about Writing Crime Fiction was a lively one. There was a lot of great sharing on the topic from the members present, and there were a number of handouts. The handouts have been added to the Writer Resources section, under the Craft Articles & Links, under Crime Fiction.

Critique Groups: The group and the board members also discussed the need for starting some kind of critique groups. We have the library room until 6 p.m. on the meeting day. We talked about the possibility of having a critique session for members interested after the program, which usually ends around 4 p.m. There is also the possibility of figuring out email critique groups. Nothing has firmly been decided at this point. The board is open to suggestions and, of course, getting help from anyone interested in leading such groups.

Write-Ins: There have been requests for having a Write-In on the west side of Wichita, in addition to maintaining the one on the east side. Starla volunteered to be at the west McAlister’s Deli (7130 W Maple, Ste 320) on March 30 around 5:30 p.m. for anyone interested. These are informal gatherings of writers, including non-KWA members, with the hope of encouraging to join KWA.

Sara Jenlink – Book promotion in The Hutchinson News

KWA’s mystery novel author, Sara Jenlink, recently had an article written about her book, FACING SEPTEMBER, published in the October 8, 2015 The Hutchinson News.

The story is a murder mystery rooted in a gruesome chapter of Hutchinson’s past. It concerned the still-unsolved death of 12-year-old Kelly Lynn Albright.

To read the article, “Mystery novel inspired by tale of unsolved Hutch murder,” go to this link: http://www.hutchnews.com/the_bee/mystery-novel-inspired-by-tale-of-unsolved-hutch-murder/article_5b0ab46f-d13b-5d40-bb0d-39bb43076a7c.html

*Warning: You may have to answer a simple survey question in order to be able to read the article.

Gordon Kessler released StoryMasters

Gordon Kessler StoryMasters -AmazonStoryMasters for novice to advanced novelists; It’s a labor of love of over a quarter century writing novels and teaching the craft from Gordon Kessler.

My new book on novel writing is just out and I’m running a FREE eBook promo on Amazon (today 9/8 and tomorrow 9/9 only).

StoryMasters—Advanced Notions in Novel Writing is a complete rethinking and remaking of the eighth edition of Novel Writing Made Simple, it’s the first major revision since Edition Seven in 2010.

This is one of the most comprehensive reference and resource books on novel writing available, with complex concepts broken down into the most basic of terms.

  • When was the last time you saw subtext discussed in a novel-writing book? It’s in StoryMasters!
  • What about free indirect discourse—have you ever seen that broken down and given in simple terms so that you understood it and could recognize how important FID is to your writing? It’s in the book!
  • Do you even know what psychic distance is? Just sayin’—z’in the book!
  • Need to research a writing concept for the next writers’ meeting? In the book!
  • Having trouble with point of view and need a refresher? It’s in the book!
  • Your characters seem too flat and unreal, and you want to know more about writing 3D characters that will leap off the page? The book is where you’ll find it!
  • Don’t know what direction your story is headed and need help with plotting? Got it right there in the book!
  • Bogged down or completely stuck halfway into your story and in search of a pathway out of the mucky middle (muddle)? Ditto!
  • Want to find out how to make a novel notebook like Storybinder that will keep all your story ideas in one place? Yep—ITB!
  • Want to brainstorm your story in order to develop it more and flesh it out? It’s in the book!
  • NaNoWriMo’s coming up—do you know what StoryStormer is and how it can help you write your story quickly? Check it out in the book!
  • Want to develop emotional subplots to help characterize but don’t know how? Af-firm-a-tive!
  • Want a bang-up opening without a bomb going off? Si-si!
  • Want a comprehensive lexicon of over 500 words to help you understand the craft and business of novel writing? Roger that!
  • Want to read over a hundred quips from bestselling writers and celebrities about writing and entertaining? Of course, it’s in the book!
  • What about Grandma’s recipe for her luscious apple pie—do you think it’s in the book? No, silly! You’ll have to ask Grandma for that … but if you need a clear and effective recipe for writing gripping suspense … you guessed it—it’s in … the … book!
  • What about writing dynamic dialogue, imagery, interactive setting, skillfully shifting tenses, shifting narrative mode and point of view, simple editing techniques, manuscript formatting, an overview of the traditional publishing business and how to query an agent? Uh-huh … need I say more?

Samantha LaFantasie, Featured KWA Writer

Yes, she’ll tell you, her last name really is LaFantasie.  And that’s fitting because Samantha mainly writes fantasy.  Her most recent novel, Heart Song, is an adult fantasy with lots of romance, available via Createspace   and/or Amazon Kindle.  She currently has been working on the first of a series of novellas, Made to Forget, that she hopes to make available this summer.

Samantha LaFantasieSamantha believes that writing fantasy suits her best.  She writes, “I love that there are very little rules to follow when writing fantasy.  It can be as varied as you would like it to be, as fantastical or mundane.”  When asked how writing has impacted her life, Samantha notes, “Each day I remember something from my past that has come about from writing.  From poetry and songwriting from my younger school years to the more serious undertaking of novels in recent years, writing has been my therapy.”  Samantha admits that while she got her reading start on R.L. Stine, she became addicted to fantasy with Weis and Hickman’s Dragonlance series.

For advice for new writers, Samantha admonishes that “It doesn’t matter how much or what you write.  Just write.  And don’t pay too much attention to the specific mechanics either.  You’ll find that they change with each person—which also says that there’s no right way to write!”

To read more from Samantha LaFantasie, visit www.samanthalafantasie.com.