Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

Hi all! I just wanted to update you on Pennwriters upcoming online course. **********  PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED  ********** Pennwriters Inc. brings you... PREPPING FOR NaNo with SUSAN MEIER: Online Course INSTRUCTOR: Susan Meier DATE: October 1 – October 31, 2011 REGISTER: http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse201110     ( LIMITED CLASS SIZE. Enroll now.) COURSE DESCRIPTION: Everybody believes NaNoWriMo ( Na tional No vel Wri ting Mo nth , which runs every November at http://www.nanowrimo.org ) is a race against the clock, a fight with procrastination and inertia. In some ways it is. But once you’re in the thick of things, you’ll discover NaNo is really all about ideas. Writers don’t stall because they’re lazy. Writers stall because they don’t know what to write next. The month BEFORE NaNo, get proven tips from Susan Meier—the author of almost 50 books for Harlequin and Silhouette—and let her take you through several different ways to examine the story you

News Source Banned Books Speak Out Publishers Weekly reports on Banned Books Week taking place Sept. 24 th -Oct. 1 st .   Banned books will be read on a special YouTube channel to support freedom of speech and denounce censorship. Check out which controversial authors are participating in the virtual read-out. What are you planning to do for Banned Books Week? What Was That About? Flavorwire put together a list of 10 classic novels known for giving readers a challenge . Are there any that didn’t make the list?     20 Re-Imagined Book Covers Peruse through 20 artistic interpretations of classic novels . Which did you like best? Source New Yorker Festival-Sept. 30-Oct. 2 Nate Freeman gives readers the writer and celebrity pair-ups at the 2011 New Yorker Festival coming up at the end of September. Which pair would you like to see? Contests FICTION Glimmer Train Literary Journal -        Fiction Open;

Sunset sets sky on fire in Tullytown, PA Tonight I plan to enjoy the after-rain fall sunset, laugh at myself, float in my Placebo kind of mood and write. I found a few writing-specific posts I wanted to share with you. 1. Improving Craft : Check out Jeff Gerke’s article on taking your DIALOGUE to the next level: publishable: Stilted Dialogue   2.  Writing Reboot : Rachelle Gardner offers advice to writers looking to make writing goals: Your Writer Goals 3. Blogging: Michael Hyatt helps you cut down blog-writing time with an easy-to-follow list.  How to Write a Blog Post in 70 Minutes or Less 4.  Deciphering Rejection Letters : Nancy Martin guest post at The Blood-Red Pencil unravels the subtext in rejection letters from agents to help you improve your writing: Not Right For Us At This Time 5.  Dear Series Writers : Would you tackle a spin-off? Elizabeth Lynn Casey discusses the pros and cons of writing a spin-off. Spin-Off, Anyone?

News Source Amazon the New Library? Lauren Hazard Owen with paidContent covers the early stage of Amazon’s venture into e-book lending . Similar to Netflix and a library, the service would be made available to their Prime members. The venture leaves more questions than answers at this point. Do you think e-book lending through Amazon will create problems? Source Interview with Haruki Murakami Enjoy Haruki Murakami’s interview as The New Yorker’s fiction editor discusses his novel 1Q84 (hitting U.S. shelves in late October) and the excerpt, “Town of Cats,” available online and in print. The setting of 1Q84 is 1984, and Murakami struggled with the lack of technology. Have you faced similar challenges when dealing with settings in your stories ?     Source Vintage Dust Jackets Check out these vintage dust jackets for novelists Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, J.D. Salinger, etc. Which one is your favorite? Source N

I received a text message from my father late Wednesday night asking if I would like to go with him to VA to visit my grandmother.  During the past couple of weeks, h er health began to decline . Hospice gave her morphine to alleviate the pain. We stopped by Chesapeake Home for Adults yesterday for a visit. Then, a phone call came early this morning letting us know she passed away. Instead of blubbering on, I am reposting a piece I wrote about my grandmother back in February. Saving My Grandmother From Alzheimer's What is a memoir?  An autobiographical account of one aspect of a person's life.  Not the author's  entire  life.  Peter Bricklebank, a published author and teacher, prefers the term personal narrative over the memoir.  A person doesn't need to be "a ripe old age" to write a personal narrative.  The term describes the reflection of an "on-going story" of life.   Bricklebank's perspective helped when I took  Smith ma

Source My road trip to Boston at the end of August arrived just in time to relieve me from the constant head banging on the wall between me and my writing, blogging and freelance career. The permanent knot on my forehead, bald patches and a jaw that clicks every time I open my mouth has transformed me into a monster you might catch in the dark alleyways of Gotham City. I overdosed on advice in writing magazines, on writing-related websites and blogs. If you peek through the windows, you catch me wandering around the house strung out, too jittery to sit down at my laptop. As an information junkie, I hoarded writing techniques, strategies and prompts. I shoved them into every available space in my writing toolbox, reminding me of an overly prepared-style of packing. Overstuffed. I would sit on the lid to force it shut if it weren’t for the motivational quotes spilling over the sides keeping me from latching the damn thing. Then I come across an article contradicting the no