Writers Capture the Audience at Blog Carnivals

Are you a writer?  Do you blog?  If you answered yes, then it’s time to step right up and join the carnival!  …a Blog Carnival, that is!

What’s a blog carnival?

A blog carnival is a regular publication hosted at rotating locations online.  Each publication for a blog carnival celebrates a specific topic with a cache of links to blog posts, articles, photographs, podcasts, and other creative media which relate to the blog carnival topic.

What’s the benefit to writers?

If you are a writer, the blog carnival is a fantastic opportunity to capture a broad swath of the world wide audience online.  Popular blog carnivals attract hundreds if not thousands of readers.  The location of the publication changes with each issue which attracts new readers every month.

How do you participate?

Participation is simple: create a blog post related to the blog carnival topic.  Publish your creation at your blog or website.  Submit the link to your creation to the blog carnival host / coordinator.  Once the blog carnival is published, create an announcement at your blog with a link to the issue.

Why the excitement about blog carnivals?

Blog carnivals give writers the opportunity to network with other creative professionals and attract new readership.  I am one of three coordinators for The Festival of the Trees, a monthly blog carnival which has been celebrating trees and forests since 2006 with over 40 issues online.

This month The Festival of the Trees is hosted by one of the original founders, Dave Bonta of Plummer’s Hollow, Pennsylvania.  If you are new to blog carnivals, The Festival of the Trees is a great place to get started.

SUBMIT TO THE FESTIVAL OF THE TREES:

Create a tree-related blog entry, post it online, and send us the link. It’s that simple!

Deadline (Festival #42): November 29, 2009

Email links to: bontasaurus [at] yahoo [dot] com with “Festival of the Trees” in the subject line, or use the Contact Form.

Details: (http://festivalofthetrees.wordpress.com)

Host blog: Via Negativa (http://www.vianegativa.us)

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Questions?  Contact Jade Blackwater at trees [at] brainripples [dot] com.

Register Now: Cause and Effect Sequences Intensive Online Writing Course

This November Pennwriters, Inc. online writing workshops presents…

CAUSE & EFFECT SEQUENCES: INTENSIVE ONLINE WRITING COURSE

INSTRUCTOR: Catherine E. McLean
DATE: November 2-23, 2009 (4 weeks, 1 session per week)
COST: $30 Pennwriters members ($35 non-members)

REGISTER: (http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse200911)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Interesting stories that grab a reader’s attention and keep them turning pages don’t happen by accident. Those stories employ techniques and devices of Cause & Effect Sequences that you can learn. This intensive online course will teach you how to use Cause & Effect Sequences to:

* Add urgency, suspense, conflict, and drama to your scenes and plots
* Seamlessly enter or depart flashbacks or remembrances
* Enhance the flow of your story with ease
* Suspend reader disbelief
* Validate motivations for character’s behavior, thinking, reactions, and decisions
* Develop characters & validate motivations for their behavior, thinking, reactions, and decisions
* Produce cleaner, more marketable copy

Participants will be required to submit the first 500 words from the opening of one of their stories. Excerpts from your story will be privately critiqued by the instructor for use of Cause & Effect Sequences; however, with your permission, some may be used as examples for the group. There will be weekly assignments.

(NOTE: This course is for writers familiar with story structure, writing and story terms, and who have completed fictional short stories and novels.)

FREE bonus with this course: “Bloopers & Blunders”–a list of 46 common mistakes made in writing fiction.

TESTIMONIALS:
“Catherine is the person to call if you want a professional read. Her attention to detail is excellent. I have also attended many of Catherine’s workshops. They are informative, fun and always knowledgeable on the basics of writing.”
- N.S., Cincinnati, OH

“She knows the mechanics of writing and the structure of story inside and out.”
- J.E., Pittsburgh, PA

Discover how to write engaging stories readers and publishers love.

Enroll Now.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Catherine McLean is a published author and longtime Pennwriters member who has given more than 30 workshops and has had two dozen articles published on the devices and techniques of writing fiction. For more information, visit her Writer’s Cheat Sheets website.

PENNWRITERS: Subscribe to our Online Courses announcement list for email on our latest workshops.

To learn more about Pennwriters, Inc. visit the official Pennwriters website at (www.pennwriters.com).

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Jonathan Maberry and Sue Lange at The Speckled Hen for Reading Reads

From the desk of Sue Lange:

Jonathan Maberry and Sue Lange will be reading at The Speckled Hen tonight October 27, 2009, as part of the Reading Reads literary festival.

Doors open at 5 for dinner, readings start at 6. Three other writers (Mickey Getty, Patrick Klimcho, and Marilyn Klimcho) will be joining us on stage.

Reservations are not required, but might be a good idea: (610) 685-8511

See you there.

Sue Lange

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The Speckled Hen is located at 30 S 4th Street in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Reading Reads is the Berks County Annual Literary Festival which takes place throughout the month of October each year.

To learn more about their work, visit Sue Lange and Jonathan Maberry online.

New Location for the Monthly Writers’ Coffeehouse

Join local writers and the award-winning author Jonathan Maberry for an afternoon of fun, writing, and networking at the monthly Writers’ Coffeehouse.

Meetings are held on the last Sunday of every month from 12pm – 3pm at the Willow Grove Barnes and Noble, 102 Park Avenue, Willow Grove, PA 19090.  The current meeting takes place today, October 25, 2009.

From Jonathan Maberry:

It’s a bunch of writers sitting around talking about writing…with coffee.  No agenda…just chat about the latest trends in the industry, about markets, about pitching and selling, about frustration, about keeping the inner fires alight, about dealing with our families, about how damn tough it is to make it as a writer at the best of times and what writers can do to stay afloat in these troubled economic waters.  No previous publishing experience necessary…the Writers’ Coffeehouse attracts everyone from absolute beginner to award-winners and bestsellers.  We’re all writers.  Grab a cup of coffee and join us!

For more information contact the Pennwriters Area 6 Representative, or visit Jonathan Maberry online.

Book Signing with Pennwriters Area 5 Representative Walt Honsinger

Join Pennwriters’ own Walt Honsinger for a book signing this Friday, October 23, 2009 from 7pm-9pm at the Lancaster Barnes and Noble in the Red Rose Commons.  Walt Honsinger will be there to share his latest work, The Blue Ocean’s Peace.

Walt Honsinger is a dedicated volunteer supporting Pennwriters members throughout the south central region of Pennsylvania and beyond.  Walt’s novels draw upon his diverse travels and adventures, his love of the great outdoors, and his keen writer’s imagination.

Join Walt, shake his hand, buy his book, and of course — get it signed!

Visit Walt Honsinger’s website to learn more about his novels and upcoming events.

Spooky Stories, Poetry, and Prompts

Joyous October Greetings, one and all!

Looking for some great Halloween stories?  Join me (Jade Leone Blackwater), Anita Marie Moscoso, and the writers of the Soul Food Café for a month-long celebration of the strange, spooky, and sordid at Once Upon a Midnight.

We’re sharing stories, artwork, poetry, video, and every other creation we can scrape together from mis-matched parts and charge with a few volts of inspiration.  And if you’re looking for inspiration, this is the place to be: we’ll be sharing Halloween-y writing prompts to help light a creative fire under your ghosty ass!

Join us… if you dare…

Reading Reads Annual Literary Festival Features Edgar Allan Poe

Today marks the beginning of the 4th Annual READING READS Greater Reading Literary Festival, which lasts throughout the month of October in Berks County, Pennsylvania.

This evening’s opening event is The Life and Literary Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe. Festivities start tonight (Thursday) October 1, 2009 at 7:13 p.m. The public is welcomed to join in the fun at The Miller Center for the Arts Reading Area Community College at Second and Penn Streets in Reading, Pennsylvania.  This presentation features Special Guest Speaker Dr. Barbara Cantalupo, Editor of The Edgar Allan Poe Review.

Next week, join fellow literature-lovers on Wednesday, October 7, 2009 for the Remembering Edgar Allan Poe on his “Deathday” at Reading’s landmark Pagoda.  Join in for the “Unhappy Hour” at 6:13 pm, and stay for readings of Poe’s works, as well as tales of local ghosts and legends.

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Reading Reads is a month-long annual literary event held during the month of October in Reading, Pennsylvania.  Be on the look out for fellow Pennwriters members who join in the fun each year!

Are you a Pennwriters member who is planning to attend Reading Reads?  Contact us and share your experiences here at the Pennwriters Area 6 blog!

Register Now: How to Be Your Own Best Fiction Editor Online Workshop

Ready to take your fiction to the next level?

Your opportunity begins in one week:

The latest Pennwriters online workshop HOW TO BE YOUR OWN BEST FICTION EDITOR begins October 1, 2009.

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REGISTER NOW!

HOW TO BE YOUR OWN BEST FICTION EDITOR

INSTRUCTOR: Lisa D. Kastner
DATE: October 1-22, 2009 (3 weeks, 2 sessions per week)
COST: $25 ($30 non-Pennwriters members)

REGISTER: (http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse200910)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Have you ever written a short story or novel and wondered if it was done?  Have you made revisions and thought you were finished, but then realized once you started to send the piece out that it needed work?

In this online course, Lisa Kastner will pull from her own writing experience as well as proven prescriptions of industry greats such as Noah Lukeman, Sol Stein, Tim Esaias, and Nancy Zafris. Even if you participate in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November, you will discover how to make whatever novel you produce publishable. You will learn:

* New ways to look at your fiction and creative non-fiction writing with a fresh eye
* Clearly define your next revision steps to make your work sing
* Save yourself time and manuscript rejection
* Eliminate unneeded sentences and words
* Easily analyze characters and plots like a pro
* Get a clear roadmap to the revision process

As an added bonus with the course, you’ll receive a FREE Editing Resource List of the best advice websites on improving and revising your writing!

Revise your story like an editor and get it published fast. ENROLL NOW.

(Note: This is not a grammar and punctuation class. This course will look at fiction writing like an editor, not like a proof reader.)

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:
Lisa D. Kastner is President of Pennwriters Inc., and founder of the popular Philadelphia and Valley Forge/King of Prussia Pennwriters Critique Groups, and the Running Wild Writers Community. She is a published fiction writer, former journalist for the Philadelphia Theatre Review and Delaware County Times, and a former features editor of the Picolata Review. In 2007, Lisa was featured among up-and-coming Philadelphia writers in Fresh Lines @ Fresh Nine, a public reading hosted by Gross McCleaf Art Gallery. She is an alumna of The Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Squaw Valley Writers Workshop, Kenyon Writers Workshop, University of Pennsylvania’s Conference for Writers, and the Rittenhouse Writers Group (RWG). For more information on Lisa Kastner, visit (www.lisadianekastner.blogspot.com)

To learn more about Pennwriters, Inc. visit the official Pennwriters website at (www.pennwriters.com).

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Discussions on Literary Fiction at The Polka Dot Banner

Pennwriters member Jamie Saloff hosts author A. Colin Wright today as a guest blogger at The Polka Dot Banner.

Colin Wright shares his thoughts on literary fiction, its roles, attributes, qualities, and place in art.  Visitors are welcome and encouraged to share questions and comments today, September 16, 2009.

Enjoy!

Pennwriters Board Meeting for September 2009

This month Pennwriters will hold their seasonal Board of Directors meeting in Brookville, Pennsylvania.

All Pennwriters members are welcome to attend any scheduled Board of Directors meeting.  If you would like to attend the September 2009 meeting, please contact your Area Representative or our Pennwriters President Lisa Kastner to express your interest and learn about our meeting agenda.

Area 6 members can find our area report for September 2009 posted in our Yahoo! discussion forum for Area 6.  (All Area 6 members are invited to join us in the discussion forum to share ideas and information.)

Please note that Jade Blackwater is currently lending a hand to Bob Michalsky to support Area 6 duties.  Contact Jade with your questions, suggestions, and feedback: car[at]pennwriters[dot]com.