I'm sure by now that some of you reading this know my news, but I'm going to announce it again for those that don't know. An essay I submitted to an upcoming Chicken Soup book has been accepted for publication. The book is called "Chicken Soup: Thanks to My Mom" and the story is called "Quadruple Love". It is due out in March 2015. The Chicken Soup for the Soul book series is one of the first series I've read that really got me into reading, aside from Harry Potter of course. I think it was just the idea that the stories submitted into the books weren't fiction in the slightest, they were about real and ordinary every day people so it made each category easy to relate to. I think the stories and the book series helped spur my love of writing and wanting to become a published novelist, but of course I had some major help from my 6th grade Writing Workshop teacher. Although, it does make me cringe thinking about my past writings and the fact that she had to read and grade all of them. -shivers- The books also help give budding writings a chance to try and obtain an accomplishment, have a piece published. Okay, maybe not everyone is a writer and they just feel that their story connects with a book topic. These books provide an amazing platform for everyone. I've been submitting stories to this book series for a while now and the fact that I was chosen out of thousands of applications makes me feel special, not just because I want to be writer, but because they saw something special in my story and my words. This book series has a wide range of topics so I'm sure anyone would be able to find something to relate to. -SJ
0 Comments
So, I went to my first Writing Conference on Saturday.
The conference was actually Thursday-Saturday but I didn't find out about the conference until Friday. Actually, i found out in such short notice that when someone was arranging for me to get a free ticket to go I was kind of hesitant, mainly because 1) I wanted to sleep in because I can't anymore because of commuting to work and 2) it was SUCH short notice. I mean, i didn't have anything planned for Saturday but I had to plan out a lot of things. A free ticket came in so I went to the conference. I ended up going about two hours earlier than I needed to. The beginning was first 10 line critiques. I didn't need to be there for that but I sat in the back of the room and took some general notes. Also, I had the option to pitch my story to other author and publishers. I would have done this for our book series, but, I was very under prepared for it so I decided not to. Too bad. So, the keynote speaker was a suspense writer named Brad Parks. He was hilarious and I loved his keynote address. The reason why I responded so well to it is because he added in humor, lots and lots of humor. If I am sitting at an assembly and you are basically just giving a straight speech, I will stop paying attention after about 10 minutes because its just talking, talking, talking. Parks' speech was basically a list of everything he knows about writing, all seventeen steps and I wrote down every single one of them. I took so many notes at this conference. I just finished typing it up; all my notes ended up being 7 pages long, single spaced. Now wipe those shocked looks off of your faces. I didn't type it all up in paragraphs, it was in bullets. Anyway, I then went to a workshop entitled "Blogs, Blurbs, and Bios, Oh my!". This is around the time where I wished I had learned about the conference sooner so that I could have attended on Thursday or Friday. This panel was very informative and I learned a lot, but I would have benefited more from some of the other panels on the other conference dates. Mainly because I already know about blogging and blurbs. However, I did learn more than what I already knew so that was a plus. I left the conference after the break for lunch because the rest of the workshops mainly focused on specific genres of writing that wouldn't have really helped me. See, another reasoning as to why I wish I went earlier. All in all, it was very informative. I met a few people and got their business cards, unfortunately i didn't give any out, but when i would tell people that i was writing a book series with my sisters and that we were quadruplets they seemed really interested. This gives me hope for all the future projects my sisters and I have planned or would like to do. Here's hoping with everything I learned and the few people I met, something good will come out of it, especially for our book series. -SJ I've had a few people tell me over the years that they wish they had my creativity. Of course, I'm flattered when people give me this compliment, however they don't know the problems that come with a creative mind.
You get new ideas. A lot of them. All the time. All. the. time. And that, in itself, is a problem. Well, not a problem, but the problem. I have a lot of hobbies. I love to read, write, draw, paint, craft, sing, play piano, play clarinet, sew, knit, and design. With all of these hobbies come new ideas. Normally, I'm very organized, but when I get an idea for a new project I just have to get to work. For example, I'm currently working on the prequel to the Bluebonnet series, Cassie & Nikki. In the middle of working on this I get new ideas for new books I want to write. I have a two page long document (almost 3 pages) saved with all of my book or story ideas. I have a habit of working on something, and when i get a new idea, I "drop" my first project and then focus on the new idea. However, its not all bad because some of my ideas can intertwine. Currently, I have ideas for a new music project. I've been wanting to record and write music again for the longest time. Luckily, I can bring my writing and/or other hobbies into it as well. Take care, -SJ So Jess and I (and Mack and Mere if they would like to join in as well) have another item to add to our resumes: contributors to a magazine.
It is an online magazine called Twin Life Magazine. It is an online magazine about multiples. Don't let the title confuse you, it is about any sets of multiples and not just twins. I contact one of the editors asking if they were accepting submissions for works about multiples. I got into contact with a woman named Jenna who is one of the last few running the magazine. She said it is updated from time to time but not often since her boss moved to a new state. We emailed back and forth and I said that I was a multiple and I was interested in submitting work to the magazine: in part to add to my portfolio/resume but to get my work out there. She thought that it was a great idea since I was a multiple, to add to the magazine. I told my sisters of the opportunity and told them that they could submit to the magazine as well. Jess and I are currently the only two submitting to the magazine because of busy schedules, school work, etc. We decided to write about a common topic but to give our own points of view. Jenna says if our submissions become more of a frequent thing, we will be named admins of the site so we can upload our submissions whenever we're finished with them. We hope to have our second posts up soon. Our first articles were published on February 17th. Click below if you would like to read them: --Jess's Article: Getting to Know You --Steph's Article: Life as a Quadruplet: “4x the ___________” --SJ |
Author
"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." - Walt Whitman Archives
January 2022
Categories
All
|