Flowers are blooming and writers are plotting

Spring is in the air! Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, writers are plotting… Yes, plotting is a year-round activity for us but most especially right now! There are two fantastic writing challenges open for sign-up and both run from April 1^st thru 30^th.

Camp NaNoWriMo

Camp NaNo is a light version of the November NaNoWriMo challenge (National Novel Writing Month) The chief difference between the two, besides a different month, is the ability to choose your word count goal.

You can set your goal for a minimum of 10,000 words on up to multiple hundreds of words. You also have the option of joining a Cabin. The cabin consists of fellow writers based on the criteria you choose in cabin preferences. Maybe a like genre, age, word count or choose random. It’s a great way to meet new wordsmiths and encourage each other on through the month like we do in our regional forums.

There is another option, you may choose to host a private cabin and invite all your friends doing camp to join it. Lake Writers has a private cabin so we can all push each other to that finish line.

Camp usually doesn’t have regional write-ins and such like the hard core November session but many do participate in some way so be sure to check your regional forums or local writer’s group to find out.

Lake Writers uses our regular meetings on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesdays of April as our write-in nights for Camp. This year we have a bonus, Astor County Library, in Astor, Florida will be sponsoring Tuesday night write-ins.

So get on over to CampNaNoWriMo.org and sign-up for this writing adventure. Plus you won’t have to worry about mosquitos or poison ivy at this camp.

Blogging from A to Z Challenge

If you are a blogger this one is right up your alley! Starting April 1^st bloggers will create a post that on the A to Z calendar but it’s okay to post on them if you like)

begins with the letter A. The following day’s post begins with B and so on through the alphabet. (Sundays aren’t counted

You can write something random every day or choose a theme. For example, each day is a post about a mythical creature, writing tips, themed flash fiction, historical facts, types of something, places that begin with that letter, and so many more.

There are literally over a thousand bloggers who sign-up for this challenge. Which makes it even more awesome, especially if you have a young blog or a blog that needs a bit of growth.  Participants are not only encouraged but it’s required that you visit at least a few of your fellows on the list. Which leads to activity boost on your blog. Not only will you get more comments and views, you’ll gain followers and find other fantastic blogs to follow too. It brings our blogging community closer together and is also pretty damn fun to participate in.

Visit their website for more information and to sign-up Blogging from A to Z Challenge

Both of these April challenges are free to join and participate in. There are no “prizes”, but you get some cool badges to sport on your site and social media. Not to mention bragging rights!

So take the challenge and sign-up for one… or both like me! J April is going to be one wordtastic month!

Do you live in or near Lake County Florida? Join our writing group on FB and meet up with us! For more info just click on the Lake Writers tab at the top of this blog! 

Pulling Our Weight and Flashing the People

This blog is looking a little dusty and I am pretty sure I just walked through a Skulltula web getting over here to say hello. Lake Writers started as a NaNoWriMo regional group in 2009, but evolved into much more than a group that gets together during the month of November for mutual insanity. Oh yes, we long ago decided to extend the party by meeting twice a month on the second and fourth Wednesdays in the Eustis Denny's at 6:30. Our fearless leader Elise has been taking care of this blog along with our other social media and event organizing stuffs alone for so long, but it is time we come in and help out. The plan is to rotate posting here around the group so we can all share our expertise and practice on you. *Insert evil laughter here* I am not sure exactly what each member has planned for you, but I'm going to flash you.

I'm sure this is the pink fairy girl I'm looking for because of the double sets of butterfly wings, one blue and one green. Even when they have four wings it's unusual for the sets to be different colors. They told me it would be a telltale sign I was tracking the right fairy. Always on the move from festival to festival she gave me the slip more often than any quarry has in longer than memory serves, but I still hadn't seen her pet.

It wasn't my idea to destroy it, but it was my job to get it done. A pack of food on her back and her bright blue eyes wide with ecstasy, I'm quite sure she's heading to find her beast. The caravan stayed in the bigger cities longer than a village giving me a better chance of shadowing her during her evening disappearance act. She has been moving swiftly for an hour or so into the heart of the Tangle Oak Forest. She must be getting close because her wings began to flap in agitation causing sparkle dust to shed. She stopped flying to her beloved beast a while back when a few close calls made her realize I had ways of tracking a flying fairy.

She practically ran the last few feet into a clearing. She wasn't being remotely cautious now as she flung her burden to the ground and spun on the spot searching the tree line. I readied a cold iron-tipped arrow. It shouldn't be necessary to slay the beast, but would offer me an insurance against her rage. Though she is little and fair, she has proven mighty. My instructions were to spare her if possible, but I can't collect a bounty if I don't make my way back to Fendale.

It's entrance was so silent I would have missed it if an invisible force hadn't drawn all my awareness to the beast. A huge grey wolf stood to the left side of the circle. I heard the pink fairy girl make a sharp inhale as she bounded into my field of view. I didn't look at her, I couldn't look at her, my gaze and mind were lost in the wolf's eyes. There was so much depth, like centuries of anguish stuffed into this poor creature. It was beautiful, terrible and wild.

The fairy girl slammed into the wolf and embraced it fiercely. Her expression was of someone who had just been dying of thirst taking the first drink from a secret oasis. She was quenched, she was home while holding this creature. I felt a fire or a dry ache build in me. Something asleep and long thought dead stirred painfully.

She pulled back with a smile and expectation etched on her face. No, don't do that! How could you let go? It needs touch, I have to hold it. I took a step forward, but froze as the wolf jumped up. It's not attacking, the eyes looked weary and sad not angry. The wolf's body shifted, changed and contorted. Where the wolf had been reared on its hind legs a moment ago a man with long dark hair and tribal markings now towered. He was appealing in a primal way, something about the wolf remained in his stance.

He moved to his fairy girl and enveloped her again, as his face split into a contented smile something ripped inside me. My fingers remembered my bow was knocked, but now I trained it on the fairy girl and prepared to eliminate her. He bent down and kissed her with such primal passion anyone watching would have recognized they were a voyeuristic intruder, but like bystanders during a disaster I couldn't force myself to look away. I lowered my bow sticking my arrow back in it's quiver, this was not a bounty I could collect and my reputation would suffer for it.

A sigh of longing escaped me as I turned to leave and that was quite enough. Before I could draw my next breath the feral man had released his beloved and prowled full tilt to face me. I was prey and should have been terrified, but was drawn to him. He turned his fierce eyes upon me and the painful thing stirring in me began clawing at my chest to escape. He leaned in studying me with an intensity that should have burned through flesh, I had his full attention. Suddenly, I felt that the center of this man's attention was a bad place to be.

Photos from Pixabay.

Trials and joys of writing by Rhonda Walker

Hello readers! It’s great you could join us today. Today’s feature is a guest post by children’s and inspirational author Rhonda Walker. She’ll be talking about her upcoming release Wesley Out West and her reading and writing journey.

So pour a cuppa and prop up your feet to enjoy the read. Make sure to enter the Rafflecopter contest at the bottom of the post for your chance to win a personalized autographed copy of Wesley Out West and a cute Wesley plushie!

Trials and joys of writing by Rhonda Walker

Willie Out West (2013, WestBow Press) was my first published children’s story. It was so well received that I am re-launching an updated version, Wesley Out West (2015, JLB Creatives Publishing) is in a smaller size and contains an educational supplement for parents and teachers. If you read Willie I know you will enjoy Wesley even more. The “Fun Facts” and photos of the real sea mammals are educational and enjoyable for children and adults alike. The book size is more comfortable for young children to hold and carry, and the response thus far is widely encouraging. Enjoy.

I always loved books. In seventh grade I walked every day to my little New Mexico town’s library, checking out the maximum number of books. I returned within a day, replacing those books with more. I also used my allowance to purchase every juvenile book of interest: the Hardy Boys and other popular series. I found Nancy Drew boring. During my eighth grade summer, Mother took me on a weekly trek (30-miles one way) from our mobile home in a New Mexico desert mining community into the town of Grants. There, I devoured all of the town library’s westerns (Kit Carson, etc.), mysteries (Ellery Queen, Perry Mason), and stories about Geronimo and other Native Americans.

I carried my love for reading to college and majored in English and elementary education. These classes opened a door to children’s literature that will never close.  I read almost 300 children’s books in one semester. I thank God for blessing me with a passion for children’s literature, the desire to write children’s stories (there were so many bad books, I just knew I could write better), and the desire to develop whatever ability I possessed.

In 1976, I wrote two grammar stories which, amazingly, found their way into a textbook for first graders. However, I had little faith in my ability and gave up after one failed attempt to publish. I published two women’s inspirational articles and edited several women’s church newsletters during the succeeding years, but nothing else. 

Years later I set out to discover why certain women of faith remained strong in spite of unbearable and continual trials in their lives. For two years, I interviewed women; thus was born my first book, “Beyond the Shadow is Tomorrow: Stories of Women of Faith,” published by WestBow Press in 2013. I encourage all Christian women looking for strength and encouragement to read this book. The book still brings great reviews from those seeking answers and encouragement while going through rough times, and it is still for sale through my web site or e-mail.

“Icing, Locusts & Life” is about to be released by JLB Creatives Publishing, and I am so excited. The reviews are already coming in on this inspirational book for men and women.  I encourage readers to reach out and embrace the world and its wonders. Every day is icing on the cake of our lives, no matter how bad our circumstances or how hard it is raining. Every day I have a choice to make when I get out of bed (or even if I cannot get out of bed). It is how we choose the icing of our days, light or dark, which determines how we meet the locusts that visit the beautiful fields and gardens of life.

My life is challenging, fantastic, miracle filled, and troubled—sometimes all at once. There are memories of the blessings of family and friends mixed with my own success and failure. In spite of everything a long life can deliver, I find reason every day to be grateful that God provides abundant blessings. Even with the traumas of illness, embarrassing personal failures, and sadness beyond words, there is one thing that is good: I am still alive to see it dawn a better day.

I have more children’s stories on my desk, and my first novel is begun. No one knows tomorrow’s outcome, but today has been good. Tomorrow will be white icing, no matter what the day brings.

Be blessed. What color is your icing?

About Rhonda Walker

EVERY DAY IS ICING ON THE CAKE OF MY LIFE. It is challenging, fantastic, miracle filled, and troubled—sometimes all at once. There are memories of the blessings of family and friends, successes, and failure. I live daily in grateful awareness for a God who provides abundant blessings, especially during times of embarrassing failures.

I discovered my passion for reading early in life (right after the ark anchored on a mountain top.) In 1979, when my daughters were young, I returned to college. There, English and education professors taught me some needed writing basics and opened the door to children’s thinking. In truth, though, I began writing for myself in 1975, and my style was already developed. God blessed me with a passion for reading, the love of writing, and whatever ability I possess.

With training, skills, and God’s help, I fulfilled a long-held dream of writing stories for young readers. Several years ago, two of my grammar stories were published in a Scott Foresman textbook for first graders, and plans are under way to put those stories and others into a grammar series book. I write stories to encourage enjoyment and learning through reading.

Follow Rhonda around the web

Website: http://AuthorRhondaWalker.com

Blog: The Word Asylum http://www.thewordasylum.com/

Facebook: http://facebook.com/authorhondawalker

Blogger: http://thewordasylum.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rhondaauthors

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rhonda-walker/91/516/b04

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Stop by http://JLBCreatives.com for more about Wesley Out West and great reads for ages 1 to 100!

NaNoWriMo 2015 is coming!

Below is the first Lake County Region NaNoMail sent out. I will be posting them here to make sure everyone gets the news about what's happening in Lake County for NaNoWrimo 2015! 

Hello Lake Wrimos!

 It’s October! Time for cooler temps, carving pumpkins and prepping for NaNoWriMo! I just wanted to make sure to send you some important information about our Lake County Region and NaNoWriMo 2015.

 The theme for 2015 is The NaNoWriMo Library! Graphics to style your Facebook and other social media will be available to download after the site wipe. Speaking of, the site wipe will take place on Monday, October 5th.

 If there are any threads or information you want to write down or copy/paste from the forums do so within the next couple of days. Don’t forget to stop by our Region Forums. I have our region set with a few starter threads for us until after the wipe. Those threads are all marked with sticky notes and will not be erased. So, go ahead and introduce yourself and your novel, share your social media links, and more.

 For those new to NaNo, the site wipe is when our marvelous NaNo Techs go in and reset the site and wipe the forums clean to make space for all the awesomeness to happen in 2015. Don’t worry, your profile and author info will be unaffected. Only a space to create your 2015 novel will be added.

Be sure to visit your Lake County Region forums and introduce yourself and your novel! 

 Dates to Remember

There are a few dates to mark down on your calendar. One very important one!

 October 13th Lake Writers Critique GroupThe new sister group to Lake Writers will be meeting on the 13th at the Hampton Inn in Mt. Dora, FL at 6:30pm. This group is a place to bring your work in progress for honest but gentle feedback.

October 14th Lake Writers Meet UpBring your writing gear to Crispers, in Eustis, FL at 6:30pm and join us in a NaNo Novel Planning Session!  We’ll chat about our projects and ideas as we help each other get ready for the big event.

October 28th NaNoWriMo 2015 Kick-off Party!Join us for a fun gathering of fellow wrimos as we enjoy our last few days of sanity before the writing begins! The party will take place at Crispers in Eustis starting at 6:30pm. Since it’s close to Halloween come dressed in costume. (optional: you don’t have to if it’s not your thing, but it sure is a lot of fun!) This is where you’ll get your official 2015 NaNoWriMo Sticker and information packet for November.

November 2015 is going to be Noveltastic with all of you participating. I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones at our write-ins this year!

Just a quick sum up of all the important stuff until next NaNoMail!

October 5th Site Wipe

October 13th Lake Writers Critique Group

October 14th Lake Writers Meet Up and NaNo Novel Planning Session

October 28th NaNoWriMo 2015 Kick-off Party!

That’s all the news fit to print...this week. Happy Scribbles Wrimos!

Elise VanCiseMunicipal Liaison USA::LakeCounty::Florida
Add me to your Buddy List  

Board the Airship NaNoWriMo docking in Lake County 2014!

Welcome new Wrimos and Welcome back to all those returning. NaNoWriMo 2014 is close to beginning and promises to be the best year ever!

NaNoWriMo Kick-Off Party 2014

It's time to board the Airship NaNoWriMo and begin our journey to the Boundless Novel!

When is Kick-Off? October 29th

What time? 6:30pm (don't worry if you have to come a little later we'll save you a seat! :)

Where is it? Denny's in Eustis (16150 Us Highway 441, Eustis, Florida 32726 ) We will be sitting where the large windows are at the front of the restaurant. I'll try to have signs for the tables just look for those and I'll be in costume :)

What will be happening?

Wrimos talking about their books, writing plans for NaNo, meeting new writerly friends, catching up with old writerly friends, getting swag and more fun than your muse can handle! Since it's so close to Halloween if you would like, come in costume! Dress as your main character or other maybe a character from your favorite book or movie. Or just come as your writer self :) That's what it's all about having fun as we celebrate the joy of writing!

***IMPORTANT***

Please RSVP in the Kick-Off Party Thread on our Region forums http://nanowrimo.org/forums/usa-florida-lake-county

or in the event thread on our Lake Writers FB group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LakeWriters

I will be making NaNo 'kits' and swag and want to make sure we've got enough to go around :)

Can't wait to see you all there!

Let me introduce myself so you know who this crazy person sending you Regional emails is. ;-) My name is Elise VanCise your Municipal Liaison (ML) for the USA:: Lake County:: Florida Region. I’ve been a NaNo participant for 8 years and ML for 5. I’m also a published author and journalist. As you can tell words and writing are my passion. I’m super excited to share that with all of you!

Don’t forget to visit the regional forums http://nanowrimo.org/forums/usa-florida-lake-county and say hello in the instructions thread, RSVP for the Kick-Off Party, and just have fun chatting with fellow Lake Wrimos!

A few other links you might find helpful:

Our Facebook group Lake Writers https://www.facebook.com/groups/LakeWriters/

Lake Writers Twitter https://twitter.com/lakewriters

And if you would like to send me a NaNoMail or add me to your buddy list my NaNo Profile http://nanowrimo.org/participants/flsandcastle

Thanks so much for being part of what will be an exciting year of noveling!

Elise VanCise (NaNo Username flsandcastle)

ML USA::Florida::LakeCounty

http://elisevancise.webs.com

Lake Wrimo NaNo Newsletter

October 18, 2013

NaNoWriMo Lake County Region Newsletter

Happy NaNo Planning Wrimos! And Welcome to all those new to NaNo and Lake County this year.  There’s just two more weeks before the big moment when the clock ticks over to midnight and fingers start to fly over the keyboards. 

Before that happens we need to celebrate our dive into noveldom with a party! The NaNoWriMo Lake Writers Kick-Off will be held at the Eustis Denny’s (441) and begins at 6:30pm. Come in costume as your favorite literary character or character from your novel! (optional but most fun :)

Bring a friend or your family with you to this event so they can celebrate. And get a good look before you go into crazy writer mode and hide out in your writing space for the next 30days lol.

Be sure to RSVP even if you’re not sure about making it to the party. We need to know how much space to claim at Denny’s and how many writer kits to put together.  You can RSVP in two places:

On the region forum: http://nanowrimo.org/forums/usa-florida-lake-county/threads/119352

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/429775250465768

Not to worry if you haven’t found the perfect plot or your character hasn’t found the right personality yet. There’s plenty of time yet to stock your snack drawer and program your coffee pot.

Hop on the forums and grab some ideas or post a dare for your fellow Lake Wrimos. You can also find Lake Wrimos on our Facebook group Lake Writers (http://www.facebook.com/groups/108700325883783/ )

Follow us on Twitter @LakeWriters  #LakeWriters http://twitter.com/lakewriters

I mentioned this in the last email but just to make sure our new folks and anyone who might have missed it here is some information about making sure you are HOMED in the USA:: Florida ::Lake County region.

During November, it's fun to compare USA :: Florida :: Lake County’s  progress against all the regions in the world, both in word count and donations. Please show your pride in our region by making sure your successes are included in our regional totals.

To do this, you need to join USA :: Florida ::Lake County  AND set USA :: Florida :: Lake County  as your Home Region.

If you have already joined our region, please check to make sure you are homed here:

1.     Choose Local Events from the main menu and click Home Region.

2.     You should automatically be redirected to USA :: Florida :: Lake County and there will be a house icon to the left of the region's name.

3.     If you're somewhere else, you haven't yet joined our region and made it your home.

If you haven't yet joined our region:

1.     Choose Local Events from the menu and click Find A Region.

2.     Under Other Regions, type our region name (or part of it) in the text box.

3.     Locate our region under the text box and click Join This Region.

4.     Click Make this region my home. Welcome Home!

You can find the USA:: Florida:: Lake County Region Forum here: http://nanowrimo.org/regions/usa-florida-lake-county#regions_forum

If you have any questions or just want to say hi, don’t be shy. Post in the forum, Lake Writers FB group, you can contact me by NaNoMail  my NaNo user name is flsandcastle, on Twitter, or PM me on Facebook Elise VanCise  https://www.facebook.com/fictionrulz I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

Happy Plotting until next time!

Elise VanCise

ML USA :: Florida ::Lake County  

http://elisevancise.webs.com

Monday Musings Blog Hop Topic/Sign up

Welcome to the Monday Musings Blog Hop

Each Wed  a topic will be posted. You can post on that topic however you desire. Write an article, share an experience, write a flash fiction piece or apply it to a work in progress. Wherever the muse leads let your fingers follow.

To join the hop just add your blog home page to the Inlinkz list below and have your post up on your blog the day of the hop. If you would like to add the linky list to the bottom of your post just click HERE and grab the code for your blog. 

Topic for Monday September 30th: 

What do you write with 

Talk about your favorite writing tools or software. Do you have some user tips to share on Word, Write Way or Scrivener? Do you write analog (good ole pen and paper) Have a favorite pen or notebook? Tell us all about what helps you bring your stories to life. 

An InLinkz Link-up