A Dash of Words with Loleta Abi Romance Author

Three Links 3/26/2020

Loleta Abi

Writing:

1. https://awriterofhistory.com/2020/03/21/reflections-on-writing-historical-fiction-stephanie-dray/ “Many of you will know New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray from her wonderfully crafted novels My Dear Hamilton and America’s First Daughter, both written with Laura Kamoie. She has also written a series set in ancient Egypt and three novels cowritten with author groups. Today, Stephanie reflects on her career writing historical fiction.”

2. https://storyempirecom.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/why-write-wrong-1/ “Hi, Folks! Marcia here, checking in from way down south in central Florida. Hope you’ve all been having a great week, so far.

Since this is my first “official” post as a new member of the Story Empire family, I thought I’d start off with something quick and easy–a short post in my ever-growing series, Why Write Wrong?  I don’t know about you guys, but I really hate being pulled out of a story I’m enjoying by things that probably should have been caught during proofreading or editing. Now that’s not to say that nothing ever gets by me during the writing and publishing process. It does. It  can happen to all of us, including some of the biggest names out there. But that doesn’t mean we should become complacent about this stuff. Nope. Instead, I believe we should be working constantly to improve, and that includes paying attention to details in order to become the best we can be.

With that in mind, this series is designed to focus on various words and phrases I’ve seen misused way more often than they should be. In particular, I’m thinking of those times when we use one word, but actually mean another, and I will be offering specific examples each time I post a new episode of Why Write Wrong? My goal is to present these in a way that’s fun and and easy to remember, so let’s give it a go.”

3.

Research & Fun Bits:

1. https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/from-the-writing-cabin/ “My day started at 5:00 AM. The dogs had all the sleep they could stand, and wanted breakfast. My wife has to work, so it was a reasonable writing opportunity.

I made good time flying out to the writing cabin, and landed just as the sun peeked over the horizon. The elevator lowered the gyrocopter into the hangar, then I trudged toward the stairs.

Lisa Burton met me at the top landing. She held out a half-gallon bottle of sanitizer. “Hands.”

I paused, then reached forward. She pumped several squirts into each hand. “Wash them completely. If you still have some, do your forearms.”

“Jesus! I have enough to do my whole body.”

“Maybe you should. I have. I’ve also wiped down your office and iPad.”

2. https://nailyournovel.wordpress.com/2020/03/21/how-do-you-get-your-book-out-into-the-world-qa-on-getting-published-ep-3-free-podcast-for-wriers/ “The book that you created as files on your hard drive… eventually ends up between covers, sitting on a shelf or an e-shelf, perhaps next to other books you admire, ready to be read by strangers. Exciting! But how does it get there?

That’s what we’re discussing today in episode 3 of So You Want To Be A Writer – getting published. Asking the questions is independent bookseller Peter Snell. Answering them is me!

Is self-publishing covered? It is, but obliquely. Self-publishing is such a wide topic that we devoted other episodes to it, but this is a good grounding if you want to go it alone. Good self-publishers follow many of the practices that traditional publishing has honed for, well, aeons.”

3. http://booksbywomen.org/10-questions-for-a-terrifyingly-blunt-literary-agent-by-s-l-mcinnis/ “The Helen Heller Literary Agency has been in business for over thirty years. Though based in Toronto, it’s a worldwide success story and it’s just as likely you’ll find Helen making deals in London or New York. Her hit clients include Shari Lapena, Gilly Macmillan, Linwood Barclay and others who regularly appear on the NYT and Sunday Times bestseller lists. She’s also a fixture at all the major book fairs and I can vouch for the fact her advice about the business – from manuscripts to contracting – is priceless. 

I feel so fortunate to be working with her, but I know how daunting the process of finding an agent can be. To learn more about how Helen selects clients, I put together ten questions to help authors write better queries. Because as successful as she is, Helen still reads query letters and spots new talent all the time.  

1. What’s the best way to get your attention with the first few lines of a query letter?”

Some Things More Serious:

1. https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/still-trying-to-post-a-nice-thing-or-two/ “In light of current events, I’m sharing what little bits I can. In this year’s race toward Spring, it was neck and neck between the Asian pear tree and the flat peach tree.”

2. https://fantasyhandbook.wordpress.com/2020/03/24/how-to-work-from-home/ “I’ve been working from home since June of 2010, so the current COVID-19 “lockdown” is, in most ways, business as usual for me. But here in the hot zone of Western Washington, a lot of my neighbors—most of my neighbors, even—are experiencing working from home, for the first time as many local business that can have moved employees to remote work.

This week I’d like to offer a little advice to all of you reading this while working from home for the first time, struggling to figure out how to do this.

To start, I’ll have to assume that you have the requisite technology. It might have been provided by your employer, even. You do need a computer that’s connected to the internet. You will need some kind of telephone. You will need some suite of apps that help you do your work and communicate. Many of these things, like Google Drive, Skype, and Slack, can be had for free—at least in their basic versions. So yes—gather your tools, test them to make sure they work, and work with whoever you need to work with to get yourself online.

That handled, I’d like to concentrate on the human side of it.”

3. https://annerallen.com/2020/03/amazons-review-rules/ “One of the things we can do when we’re hunkered down at home during the pandemic is read books. And after we finish something, it’s helpful to other readers and authors if we write a review. (Good karma, too. 🙂 ) 

But that review doesn’t have to be posted on Amazon. You can review on Bookbub, Goodreads, Kobo, B&N, and other retail sites. Amazon doesn’t have to be the only game in town. In fact, they don’t want to be.”

Teaser Fiction & Poetry:

1. https://trentsworldblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/the-plan/

2. https://charmedchaos.com/2020/03/20/when-the-mirror-is-clear-2/

3. https://teagansbooks.com/2020/03/21/the-delta-pearl-27-claim/

Book Reviews, Cover Reveals, & Author Interviews:

1. https://mystictalestintin.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/review-the-rape-trial/ “If a woman is Parvati, she is Durga too. ‘The Rape Trial’ by Bidisha Ghosal begins on the set of a controversial rape case. When Rahul Satyabhagi, a rich, spoiled brat of Badrid Bay, rapes Avni Rambha, his father pulls out all the stops to prove his innocence in court. Once proved innocent, he went on to become a men’s rights activist, portraying to the world his fight against ‘false rape accusations’, but is he truly innocent? A sting operation unveiled in all. Rhea, Hitaishi and Amruta’s lives arrive at a turning point when they realise the unfairness of it all. How difficult can things get when the rapist and the victim are someone you know? Can justice still be served?”

2. https://hrrgorman.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/american-chimera-5-1/ “The interrogator clutched her tablet tight. She gave a salute as she entered the oak-paneled room. “Agent Ivanov?”

Ivanov saluted back weakly, giving her permission to enter and remain at ease. He pointed to a chair on the other side of his barren desk and waited for her to relax in its cushioning. “I’ve been looking over your work. A bit distracted, as of late?”

She nodded. “Our mission was to take the statements from all the witnesses and force silence on all those who seemed amenable. I’ve a list of about twenty candidates for release here,” she shoved her tablet forward and clicked ‘send’ to share the list with him, “If you’d like to look over my decisions.”

He took the tablet and scanned over her suggestions. “Yes. Looks in order – should be easy enough for me to go through. But I see here you’ve been wasting time with people like Dr. Worthington and Stacy Ellington. When we picked them up we never expected to release them, so why run them through questioning?”

3. https://vivdrewa.me/2020/03/23/finally-reading-flynns-heartbreaking-history-totally-explained-his-mysterious-behavior-from-earlier-ride-or-die-nice-ink-book-2-by-trish-edmisten/ “Flynn Murphy doesn’t need a man, especially not the cocky and confident Derek Nice. So what if Derek is a cop? Flynn learned a long time ago that just because someone is supposed to do the right thing doesn’t mean he will. Trusting someone is a mistake he’s never-repeating again.

Derek isn’t worried that Flynn isn’t letting him get close yet. All Derek needs is one chance to show Flynn how good they can be together. And he’s not stopping until he gets it.

This is a 78K word story with no cheating and a guaranteed HEA.
Trigger Warning: This story deals with childhood sexual abuse. All instances occur off-page but are discussed in detail by the MC.”