Friday Links -- Volume 30

Another week.  Another weekend. You gotta love the way that works.

Before I give you this week's links, I have two other announcements to make.  First, Melissa Maygrove's debut novel, Come Back, released this week.  Congratulations, Melissa.  Check out the blurb below.

Second, Cherie Colyer's book, Challenging Destiny, is free for download until the 17th. Don't miss this opportunity to grab it!

Enjoy the links!
Chemistken

How Can We Show a Character's Internal Journey?

The No-Stress Way To Create Your Story’s Logline

The Why's, When's, and What-Not's for Opening a Story

Should Secondary Characters Change?

Prologues: Not as Evil as You Think

How a Good TV Show Can Help You Write (and Edit) Your Novel - Part One

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Melissa's book

Sometimes a single choice 

alters the course of a person's life 

forever.

Left behind by everyone she loves...
Rebecca Garvey had the promise of a California future dreams are made of, until the wagon train her family was traveling with left her behind. Now she’s slowly dying in the wilderness, abandoned and stripped of her self-worth. Once the shock of her desertion turns to embittered despair, she doesn’t want to be found. Then a handsome stranger challenges her convictions and changes her mind.

Headed for Texas, chased by the demons of his past...
Seth Emerson knows exactly what he wants. Working to save for a cattle ranch of his own keeps him busy and keeps his pain buried. Rescuing a stubborn woman from the hills of New Mexico Territory isn’t part of his plan—but she’s exactly what he needs.

Making greater sacrifices than either of them could foresee...
Seth and Rebecca set off on a risky journey and a quest for truth, each healing the other’s love-starved soul along the way. Will they give in to their growing attraction?  Or will they honor their commitments when Seth returns Rebecca to civilization... and her betrothed?

Come Back

by Melissa Maygrove

Western Historical Romance

Adult / New Adult

Available May 12th from Truelove Press

Buy Links:

Amazon  Kindle  Barnes and Noble  Nook  Kobo

Native Texan Melissa Maygrove is a wife, mother, nurse, freelance editor, and romance writer. When she's not busy caring for her tiny nursery patients or shuttling teenagers back and forth to after-school activities, she's hunched over her laptop, complicating the lives of her imaginary friends and playing matchmaker. Melissa loves books with unpretentious characters and unforgettable romance, and she strives to create those same kinds of stories for her readers.

Where to find Melissa...

Website / Blog / Facebook / Twitter

The Insecure Writer and the Sickness of Security

Today is May's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.


Why am I an Insecure Writer this month? 

Hmmm… now that I think about it, I’m not feeling all that insecure at the moment.

I’ve made progress on my manuscripts. I think I understand showing and telling better than I did last month. I even managed to spruce up my blog’s template (Although I still have to add my blog’s name to the masthead! How did I miss that for so long?)

It’s not as if I don’t have plenty of insecurities about my writing, but I’ve documented them all in my previous IWSG posts. I have no new insecurities. That’s good… right?

To be honest, I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the concept of being a secure writer, even if it's only for a little while. I mean, aren’t writers always supposed to be insecure and stressed out over the things they can’t control? Even writers who’ve published more than one book admit to being insecure at times. Look it up on the Internet. Nature abhors vacuums and secure writers. Obviously, something must be wrong with me. 

Well, that settles it. As soon as I’m done with this post, I’m going to sit back and think real hard until I come up with some good old-fashioned, stomach-acid-inducing, not-being-able-to-sleep-at-night insecurities. Because if I can stockpile a few of them, I’ll be able to relax again, knowing I’m a proper writer.

BTW, if you wish to assist me in my quest for sanity, be sure to include your biggest insecurity in the comments below, and I’ll be more than happy to copy the ones I like.

My psychiatrist thanks you in advance.
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BTW, I know another writer who should be feeling pretty secure right now. Her name is Melissa Maygrove, and her debut book, Come Back, will be released next week, so all she has to do now is sit back and wait for the checks and the accolades to come rolling in.

Be sure to stop by her blog and remind her how secure she ought to be feeling. ;)

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Today's co-hosts for May are: Mark Koopmans, Joylene Nowell Butler, Elsie, and Lisa Buie-Collard!

The Insecure Writer and Never Finishing

Today is April's contribution to Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group.

Today, I'm co-hosting the IWSG, along with Hart Johnson, Candilynn Fite, Terri Rochenski, Clare Dugmore, and Lilica Blake!



Why am I an Insecure Writer this month? 

Because I worry I may never actually finish a story.

Not because I plan on giving up writing anytime soon. I’m stubborn enough to keep plugging away at this writing stuff until I get it right. But I’ve just started my third story and I haven’t finished the first two yet. My first story was fan fiction (I bet you can guess which one) and I worked on it for over five years before deciding I should also work on something I could eventually sell. So a year ago, I started work on a MG fantasy, but after spinning my wheels for almost a year with the plot, I decided to shove the MG story to the back burner and begin yet another story. Fantasy, of course.

So here I am, working on or thinking about three different stories and hoping that at least one of them gets finished before the decade ends. Did I also mention I’m a slow writer? 

Sounds utterly disorganized, right? Yep, but that’s my style. I've never been happy working on just one project at a time. I read five or six books simultaneously, choosing to read whichever one I feel like at the moment. Even when I make myself stick to writing one story, I jump around, working on whichever chapter appeals to me on that particular day.

The point is, I hope I don’t end up becoming one of those writers who has a dozen partially finished stories stored on their hard drive and no completed ones to show the world.

*************************************************

In keeping with this topic, I know someone who no longer has to worry about finishing her book -- because she's already done it! This week, fellow ISWG member Melissa Maygrove revealed the cover to her debut book, Come Back. If you want to support one of your fellow Insecure Writers, hop on over to her blog and show your support.

And one day, maybe you’ll be able to do the same thing for me....

ChemistKen

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About Melissa's book

Sometimes a single choice alters the course of a person's life forever.

Rebecca Garvey had the promise of a California future dreams are made of, until the wagon train her family was traveling with left her behind. Now she’s slowly dying in the wilderness, abandoned and stripped of her self-worth. Once the shock of her desertion turns to embittered despair, she doesn’t want to be found. Then a handsome stranger challenges her convictions and changes her mind.

Seth Emerson knows exactly what he wants. Working to save for a cattle ranch of his own keeps him busy and keeps his pain buried. Rescuing a stubborn woman from the hills of New Mexico Territory isn’t part of his plan—but she’s exactly what he needs.

Seth and Rebecca set off on a risky journey and a quest for truth, each healing the other’s love-starved soul along the way. Will they give in to their growing attraction?  Or will they honor their commitments when Seth returns Rebecca to civilization... and her betrothed?

Friday Links -- Volume 23

It's been a busy week.  Melissa Maygrove has been holding a contest all week to celebrate her upcoming cover release in three days.

If you haven't been participating, you've still got time to get on over there and enter.  What are you waiting for?

Also I have a review up today for Wish You Weren't by Sherrie Petersen over at the Sher A Hart blog.  It's a MG fantasy about a 13-year-old boy who makes a wish on a star that his little brother would disappear--and then gets his wish.  Follow his adventures as he tries to get his brother back.  Touching.

And it's going to be even more hectic next week when I help co-host Alex Cavanaugh's Insecure Writers Support Group. Who knows?  I might even get around to doing some writing. :)



You'll find that three of today's links are supplied by Janice Hardy.  If you ever have any questions about writing, I suggest searching her website.  It's a treasure trove of information and I always look forward to her posts. Have a great weekend!


Will They or Won’t They? Plotting With Yes or No Questions

What Changes in Your Scenes?

What Killed It For Me #3: Too Much Going On

Fix Showing vs. Telling with Macros & Word Lists

Motives

How to Turn That Shiny New Idea Into a Novel

The Secret to Crafting High Stakes

Melissa Maygrove's Cover Release Contest!

It's Spring is here in Michigan.  Supposedly.  It may actually hit 32 degrees today, but I'm not holding my breath.

Anyway, here's the REAL news.

Melissa Maygrove will be revealing the cover for her new book on March 31st, and to celebrate the event she'll be hosting a contest over the course of the next week.  So hop on over to Melissa's blog and enter.