Writing Unleashed with Laura M. Harkins

Source I needed something different to do than watch T.V. when I came home from work tonight, so I scoured the Internet for literary news. Tom Hanks came up. Surprisingly. He did a poetry slam on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'. Hilarious! It brings me back to pizza Friday's and TGIF with my parents and little sister in the glorious 90's. I admit I cringe whenever I catch a clip of Full House, but I loved it at the time. Bless my parents for sitting through those episodes. Source Tom's bit also reminded me a little of Mike Myer's in So I Married An Axe Murderer with his Woman poem. What a great movie! The links are below. Enjoy! Tom Hanks Mike Myers

As a novice writer, I spend every moment buried in novels that evoke just about every emotion from me. My favorite novels, besides mysteries, are literary fiction by authors like Jhumpa Lahiri and Barbara Kingsolver, who sit at the top of my list of all-time favorites. Whenever I read one of Barbara Kingsolver’s novels it always feels as though she’s speaking directly to me. It feels silly to say that I admire her characters and look to them for inspiration, but they’re the ones I connect to the most. Not real people. (Perhaps that’s why writing feels so natural to me.) I see bits of me mirrored in her characters Taylor ( The Bean Trees ) and Codi/Cosima ( Animal Dreams ). Their stories aren’t identical to mine. I just know exactly how it feels to run away in search of something, looking for a place to belong. Their dilemmas and life questions push away my loneliness and fill me with hope that if they could make it through tough times so can I. Barbara also keeps ...

The silliness is spilling out of me today. I've got my Dexter's Laboratory t-shirt on and exciting ideas for my WIP skipping around my mind making me caffeine-jittery to the point I'm knocking things over in my apartment. Granted, the inability to stand up on my two feet is nothing new, I can barely contain the the surge of passion. So, before I destroy everything I own, I thought I would sit down and share something I stumbled across on Tor.com (I'm a huge fan of the sci-fi website) and, then, get to writing. Last week, I wrote about serialized fiction and whether it had a place in our literary world anymore on the Bucks County Writers' Group blog. Then, I came across the first few chapters of Catherynne M. Valente's middle grade novel The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There . Tor.com serialized the first 5 chapters of the sequel to Valente's first Fairyland book, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making . ...

Do we really need an excuse to have fun with books? I think not.  From what I understand, this unofficial game of International Book Week, possibly started on Google+, asks you to grab the closest book to you, open to page 52, and post the fifth sentence on the page. Do not include the title.  "There's no harm in flirting." Hint. It's one of these.  Post your fifth sentence in the comments below! 

Winning free books rocks my socks. I love it! My favorite part is walking into the vestibule I share with my downstairs neighbor to find a brown box with a mailing label addressed to me. I giggle. Then frantically futz with my keys to get two sets of doors open to get into my apartment, grab the scissors from the knife block, quickly cut open the box, and gently pull out my books. Butterflies fill my stomach with the weight of the book in my hands, the smell of the paper, the intricate world, fascinating characters, and thought-provoking story waiting to be discovered. The whole point of becoming a writer for me was to pass on the wonderful experience of diving into a book and getting lost in the author's imagination and words. I want give readers a story they'll enjoy. I'm still in the crafting process. In the meantime, I have a few new additions to my library courtesy of mshatch over at mainewords . Thanks! I can't wait to start reading.

I dreamt last night. And in this dream, I found myself in a leather jacket leading the investigation of a heinous murder case that took place in a high-rise apartment building. It was my first case as a detective and I had to prove myself. In true Laura fashion, it took me 10 minutes to find a walkie-talkie that worked and I got stuck in the elevator trying to reach the 11th floor with no success. I woke up when I not only couldn't get to the 11th floor, but also couldn't get off the damn elevator. Thoughts bounced around my head as I laid in bed...could I do this in real life? No. I'm the farthest thing from an authoriatrian. Then I thought how that might segue into my stories. I tend to gravitate towards writing stories with amateur sleuths, characters that aren't tethered to strict rules that police must obey. So, it might be time to push through the comfort zone and try giving one of the characters in my WIP a more authoritarian role to contrast the main charact...

Drumroll please... Blood Fugue, Moonsongs Book 1 by E.J. Wesley Cover Reveal Party   Author E.J. Wesley is throwing a blog party to celebrate the release of his new book cover and wants you to join in the fun. Jump over to his blog to learn about how you can win some awesome prizes, including $50 toward a cover of your own and advance reader copies of  Blood Fugue . Cover work by Sketcher Girl, LLC -  http://sketchergirlstudios. com/ What's the Story About?   “ Some folks treated the past like an old friend. The memories warmed them with fondness for what was, and hope for what was to come. Not me. When I thought of long ago, my insides curdled, and I was left feeling sour and wasted.” Jenny Schmidt is a young woman with old heartaches. A small town Texas girl with big city attitude, she just doesn’t fit in. Not that she has ever tried. She wears loneliness like a comfy sweatshirt. By the age of twenty-on...

I'm selfishly engrossed in a story about second chances I'm currently writing, and I'm loving every minute of it. So, today I want to leave you with something fun to do when you need a breather. Keep writing fellow scribers!   First, determine your personality type (if you don't know already) by taking the FREE MBTI test  here . Then, find out what novel character you're most like by checking out  Huffington Post 's  16 Fiction Book Characters' Myers-Briggs Personality Types . I'm an  ENFJ . My fiction character match-up is Charles Damay from  Tale of Two Cities  by Charles Dickens.  Who did you match up with? 

Blue Ridge Mountains One sure thing in this life, and this writing life, is you will face obstacles everyday. I'm about to reach the top of one mountain I've been climbing for two months. I'm at the point when muscles scream in pain and exhaustion slips into delirium, and it takes everything you have left to just lift your foot and take another step. Tomorrow is my last day at one of my part-time jobs, which will end an almost two month stint of working 7 days a week. It didn't leave me much time to sit down in front of my computer and write. So, because I made the decision to commit to my writing, I pushed through and wrote when ever I could. Long hand became my method, instead of the white keys of my beloved purple laptop, and I pushed through to make some serious progress on a short story. This challenge strengthened my resolve for the next challenge that lays ahead of me. It revealed, if I keep lifting my foot regardless of the pain, lack of sleep, and hopel...

I know. There's a lot going on today. Life is easier when the posts write themselves. So, there's lots of promotional fun going on with E.J. Wesley, Christine Rains, and the Bucks County Writers Group, and I'm super excited to share it all with you. First , E.J. Wesley over at The Open Vein is gearing up for his book cover real at the end of August and needs some writerly help getting the word out. Stop on over and sign up to help a fellow writer share the product of determination and hard work! Call To Arms Secondly , Christine Rains' paranormal romance novella, FEARLESS, released yesterday and she's holding a kick-ass blogfest. All you have to do is pull your childhood monster(s) out of the dark recesses of your mind and write about them on your blog.  What Was Your Childhood Monster Blogfest Here goes... My childhood monster didn't take on a corporeal form like the satiny clown in Robbie's bedroom in Poltergeist or a hunched over sinewy cre...

YA Fest at the Easton Area Public Library in Pennsylvania kicks off on Saturday, August 4th. I'm super excited for more than one reason. First, I have the ENTIRE day off from work. Woohoo! Second, I get to take a mini road trip with my writing buddy, Alex . Road trips always promise laughter, good music, and unforgettable memories. Top that off with two crazy writers, and I'm bound to love every minute. Third, I get to immerse myself in a free writing event and meet new writer friends. Hanging with like-minded folk helps the creative juju start moving, especially when you need a kick in the pants to get the words on the page. I also enjoy surrounding myself with other writers because it makes conversation a bit easier, especially when you don't have to pick and choose what you say for fear that a non-writer won't have a clue what you're talking about or share your insane passion for the written word and story telling.  So, for the rest of week when I'm n...

Happy Wednesday! We're half way closer to Friday. I'm a week and half closer to YA Fest in Easton! And I'm putting the finishing touches on a Readers Write piece (Trying Too Hard) for The Sun magazine due at the end of the month. At this point, I haven't mastered the art of balancing two jobs with writing, but I'm getting closer. So, today I want to leave you with  Snippets from HoME titled "Trapped". I've been gathering observations and clips of conversations that stuck with me that I've tinkered with, and I am now sharing with you. Enjoy! Trapped Bumping against the window, the fly takes one more look at the world in hopes of escape before it’s crushed under the force of yesterday’s news.    What's on your busy schedule this week?  

It's 12 o'clock on a Thursday. The end of the week is almost here. I'm exhausted. All I want to do is crawl up on my couch and watch movies while the sun hides behind grey clouds blanketing the world with a moroseness, but I can't. I signed up for a writing contest with my first submission due on Saturday. I've been brainstorming all week, but have yet to get all those great ideas on paper in the form of a story. I work tonight. A double shift tomorrow. All day Saturday. There's not much time left.  Top it all off with craptastic Internet service courtesy of Comcast. Which is why I'm taking advantage of FREE WI-FI at the B&N with its rich people watching environment and swaying to Fiona Apple. The cafe is comfortably filled with people. How desperate I am to take a peek inside their heads to see what's really going while they munch on their "create your own combos", letting the caffeine course through their veins. What are they avoiding? ...

This week's post is coming to you a few days late. Two weeks ago I didn't have a job. Today, I have two jobs. Unfortunately my blog got pushed to the side while I got life straightened out. So, without further ado... It's one thing to place yourself in front of the computer and commit your thoughts and words on your blog. It's a whole other story in terms of getting your post in the hands of readers. This past year I spent time with Pennwriters, Inc. marketing their online courses, writing SEO-friendly website copy for Yellowbook, and marketing my personal blog and my writers' group blog ( check us out ).  I've found many different social media programs and outlets that helped reached a large group of people. I use the following: Ping-In Pingomatic Google+ Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Writer'sCoffeehouseOnline Yahoo! Group Reading and commenting on other blogs Now, the readership for my personal blog is over 100, but my writers' blog needs ...

Some days a nice walk just isn't enough for me to work out my current WIP's plot problems or figure out where my characters need to go next or what to add to give the story more depth. On those days (which happens to be most days) I look to other writers.  Whether it's The Sun magazine, a novel, or a comic book, I find reading someone else's words and studying their craft inspires me to write. I keep a little note pad near me to take notes or copy snippets so I won't forget.  We should learn from one another, especially those of us who've reached the publication level. These authors found what works and I plan to get me a relatively cheap, but valuable education. Recently, my boyfriend asked me to read one of his Batman comics. This way he can share what he likes to read with me, and gives us something to discuss when we've run out of things to talk about. Batman: Court of Owls has been an exciting read and it has really helped my writin...

Source Alias: Series Comma.  I didn't care for the longest time. I'm sure it was during some class in college when I found out I didn't have to use this extra comma. And because the Grammar Police highly suggested its use, I threw it out of my writing tool box. Just to give a big F U to the establishment.  That was until the establishment hired me to write website copy for small businesses. Then, as per the house style, I was expected to include this uptight comma. It took a while for me to get used to including it in my copy, but after writing 3-4 websites a day, 5-days-a-week, it became second nature. Now, I find myself using it in my own writing without even thinking. The rebellious spark within me still glows hot, but is it really such a big deal? It's interesting to see what happens when you make a habit of something. After doing it every day, it becomes second nature. There are plenty of other writing rules out there I can snub my nose at, so ...

On June 9 th , I traveled NJ Transit and the NYC Metro to reach Hunter College on 68 th and Lexington for the Writers’ Conference 2012. Sponsored by The Writing Center at Continuing Education at Hunter College , the brochure laid out a variety of writing-related panels to choose from and promised a chance to hear famous authors like Harlan Coben and Mary Higgins Clark speak about writing and the publishing business. It didn’t disappoint. This conference ended up more of an informational smorgasbord than networking event for me. Granted, just attending the conference gave me the foot in the door I needed if I submit to the specific magazines or literary agents that attended. The suspense panel was my favorite. The friendship between the authors on the panel made it very entertaining. Plus, the information was coming from successful writers that demonstrated what a good story, craft, and perseverance could achieve. Below I’ve put together highlights, interesting sn...