Wreader Fun

March was cave month. A writing cave, that is. Of the 3 tasks I’d set for myself, I managed to accomplish 2 of them: - I entered both Charley’s Saint and An Outlaw for the Lady in the Genesis contest. This is the biggie of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) with the award being presented at the ACFW conference in Sept. I went to the one last year in Minneapolis and am looking forward to the one this year in Denver. - I also entered Charley’s Saint and Outlaw in the Touched by Love contest hosted by the Faith, Hope and Love (FHL) chapter of the Romance Writers of America (RWA). This award will be given out at the RWA’s conference in Washington DC in July. I haven’t attended this conference yet, but will go if I final. Oh, wouldn’t that be something, eh. I wanted to write and submit my story, The Christmas Ball to The Wild Rose Press for their historical Christmas anthology but, it was a case of working on what I have that needs work instead of starting something new. So, ...

I was reading Kelly Marstad’s blog the other day and I had an epiphany of sorts. Her blog post http://kellymarstad.blogspot.com/2008/11/fatten-up-your-baby.html is about having to add to your manuscript after you’ve decided it’s complete. I don’t like revisions. And I could never figure out why. But, somewhere during her post, I realized something: I don’t like making sewing alterations, either. So what has that got to do with it, eh? Well, when I sew, I take a length of fabric, a pattern, and all the trimmings and I create something new. Same as with my writing. I love to start a manuscript, get my creative juices flowing, and work until it’s done to my satisfaction. Then, I send my ms, one chapter at a time, to my CP’s and see what they say. When their critiques come back, it’s time for revisions. In sewing, you take the completed article and change it either to fit someone or to repair it – like a broken zipper. But, I don’t like doing sewing alterations. It’s not creative enough....

Last night I was going through the blog list I have listed on the right side of this screen and Inspirational writer, Kelly Marstad’s blog Writing by Faith...One Book at a Time intrigued me. Kelly’s post on Oct 30th talks about becoming a book reviewer for the publisher Thomas Nelson. Apparently, Thomas Nelson has realized the power of personal reviews and personal blogs. To this effect, they are inviting a limited number of readers to become Book Review Bloggers (BRB). The benefits of becoming a BRB is that you receive free books to review and you get a link to your blog on the Thomas Nelson website. The requirements are simple: Read the book, write a review and post the review on: - Your personal blog - The Thomas Nelson Book Review Blog - Any commercial website (from Amazon to Walmart and others in between) Report to Thomas Nelson when your review has been posted so they can update your account, and then pick another book to review. Now this seemed too easy to me. I already write bo...