Successful Symposium

The 2011 Appalachian Heritage Writers Symposium is now in the past. Seems like the year of planning and then implementing this Symposium went by very fast. But I believe it was enjoyed by all who attended. We reconnected with old friends, writers, that we don’t see very often. Workshops were informative and helpful. Some sessions far exceeded expectations in their popularity but all gave tips and advice that will very likely bear much fruit in coming months and years.
Keynote speaker, Lee Smith, noted Appalachian author, was a highlight of this, the third AHWS. Her informative fiction workshop and Q&A were the icing on the cake. Organizers will have to work hard to equal or top this Symposium but no doubt they will so mark your calendar for June 15-16, 2012

Procrastination

The writer’s bugaboo. How easily we fall into it. We need a blog. This takes time to set up. We need to network, time on Facebook or Twitter. Writers group meetings. Committee meetings if in any leadership capacity. Promotion. Family obligations. Work, if still in the labor force. Housekeeping. Pay bills. Sleep, anyone? When’s a person supposed to write in order to have something to promote?
Just shut up and write!

Great Book

I know, I know. It’s the well-known literary classics which are usually referred to as ‘great’. I believe books which possibly could help us mere mortals write a book that someday might be considered ‘classic’ deserve the appellation, too.

I have just at my elbow a three tier bookshelf filled with books on writing. But somehow I had missed buying three books I think every writer should own. Maybe if I’d bought them sooner I’d be seeing my books in bookstores by now. Or not. Who knows. I’ll post about the other two books later.

The first one I’m talking about I actually have meant to buy for several years. I wanted to order it from the company which published it, Gryphon Books, and kept putting it off. Don’t make my mistake. Goal, Motivation, Conflict, the Building Blocks of Good Fiction by Debra Dixon is a gem. My daughter is now reading it and taking copious notes, as she is wont to do. Ms. Dixon shows writers how to distill the three items in the title for protagonist, antagonist and any other characters for which they are needed. She uses storylines from classic and well-known books to demonstrate the principle.
Goal, Motivation, Conflict can be ordered from Amazon and other sellers on Amazon, not cheaply, but I ordered from the publisher in Memphis, TN., link below:
Gryphon Books, Books by Writers for Writers.

No compensation was received for this recommendation! I’m just so happy that I finally ordered it.

Just Me

I write in several genres. Mystery being my favorite. But my first venture in getting my writing into book form was Eight Miles of Muddy Road, a memoir of growing up as a sharecropper’s daughter in (very) rural central Georgia. Available from me and Bubba’s Book Swap in print and in Kindle format here.

Prior to that first venture in producing a book, I’d had mystery/crime stories published in small circulation print magazines, several published online and more since. My most recent story in a print anthology is Reservoir of Death published by L&L Dreamspell in Mystery of the Green Mist, 2010 and available online from Amazon and Fictionwise. The story which finally found a home, Tezra’s Daughters appears in the Dreamspell SciFi Volume I ebook anthology, also available from Amazon.

That publishing contract for a novel length mystery still eludes me. But we persevere.

Two of my mystery characters, both female, star in their own series. Well, the first book of their series anyway. And one is under consideration by a publisher. Others are WIPs.

Meantime I gathered several of my mystery short stories and self-pubbed a book, Best Served Cold, Revenge a la Carte. Also available from me, the author, and Bubba’s Book Swap. More about it later.
I welcome comments and/or email.

Sylvia

Who would have thought

that coming up with a name for a new blog would be so difficult? My other blog, Post Oak Chronicles, was originally going to be my writing blog. But it kind of morphed into a chronicle of family doings and thoughts about my home town and the beautiful area of East Tennessee in which it’s located. Worthy subjects for a blog, but I need one to ‘showcase’ my mystery stories and novels. Hence, Mystery Lane Rambler. My main writing website is Ramblin Scribe. So I decided to stay with the ‘ramblin’ theme. Along with ‘rambling on’ about my writing, I’ll be posting bits of writing advice and titles of writing books that have helped me through the years.

Welcome to Mystery Lane

Starting yet another blog. Mystery Lane Rambler ran into a problem in its previous home. Didn’t seem it was going to be fixed, so I decided to take the blog elsewhere. Sure hope it works out.

My very first blog, Post Oak Chronicles was going to be my writing blog. But it sort of evolved into a blog about family doings and such. So I decided to start another one devoted only to my rambling along  Mystery Lane. Oh, the reason for that title, I write mysteries, whodunits or whatever you care to call it.