This weekend my first novel, Daughter of Light, is on tour with Team Novel Teen! I have enjoyed the tour and met new readers. But I don’t want to hog all the fun. So here are the links to the blogs on tour. Many of them are holding giveaways including ebook and paperbook copies of Daughter of Light. And if you already own a copy, then enter to win one for a friend or family member :). So what are you waiting for? Click away!
The Ramblings of a Young Author
I am asked all the time where a person interested in writing should start. I remember wondering the same thing. It took two years for me to finally find resources, people, and places where I could learn the craft of writing. Here is what I found. Hopefully you find my list useful 🙂
There are two parts to writing for a new writer: learning how to write and practicing it.
First, learning. I learned the craft of writing by reading books, attending classes or conferences, and learning from other writers. Here are some great resources to get you started.
Books:
–The First 50 Pages by Jeff Gerke (he’s my editor and good at what he does. His books and seminars are phenomenal)
–Plot vs Character by Jeff Gerke
–Fiction Writing for Dummies by Randy Ingermanson
–Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
–Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King
–Stein on Writing by Sol Stein
Conferences:
The Oregon Christian Writers put on some great one day seminars and a summer conference. Here is their website: Oregon Christian Writers
Two nation conferences I have been to and recommend are the ACFW Conference and Mt Hermon Writers Conference
Organizations/Blogs:
Here are some blogs or organizations I am a part of that help writers learn:
-Randy Ingermanson’s blog Advancedfictionwriting
–Bestseller SocietyThis site is a great place for video and audio teaching and the instructor is Jeff Gerke for the fiction track. I think it’s about $35 a month and you can pay for one month or more.
–ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). This organization offers local chapters you can be a part of, online classes, a place to ask seasoned authors questions, and a yearly conference.
All of the above are great places to start learning the craft of writing.
As far as practice: write, write, write! My friend Randy says that you usually need to write a million words before you start writing something worth reading. I wrote for about six years and had a finished novel and the rough draft of another before I was published. I wrote when the kids napped, early in the morning, or at night. Even now I write for about 1-2 hours most days and get in about 500-1,000 words (everything in writing is measured by words).
Now, go forth and write!
Realm Makers: 2013 was a blast. Imagine about 80 Christian speculative lovers gathered in one place for two days. I can’t believe the place didn’t explode! We had some great speakers including Jeff Gerke, Bryan Davis, L. B. Graham, Robert Treskillard and more. Classes and panels included writing horror, worldviews and world building, swordfighting, and comics. And of course a night of dinner and cosplay 🙂
Here are the pics from my first Realm Makers conference:
To find out more about future Realm Maker events, follow their website at www.realmmakers.com
When I published Son of Truth, I jokingly told my husband that I would probably receive death threats due to the way I ended the story. I never realized how real those words would turn out to be.
No, I haven’t received any death threats. But I had one reader very, very angry with me. So I went back and looked again at my story. Could I have ended it any other way? Was there a better place to conclude Son of Truth and begin book three? Honestly, no. Son of Truth ended right where it needed to before everything starts in book three.
So I write this post to assure you there will be a book three. All the story threads that have been woven into Daughter of Light and Son of Truth since the prologue (yes, that is a hint that the prologue is important) will end in book three.
Rowen will finally meet the Shadonae. She will discover who she really is and what happened to the Eldarans. Nierne will arrive back in her homeland to find it changed. Caleb will be forging a new identity as a Guardian and an outcast of Temanin. And Lore will find Rowen, but it will be a bittersweet reunion.
It is a relief to finally be writing book three. For six years I’ve known how this series would end. These characters have lived a long time in my head and I am both ready and sad for them to leave.
Thank you, readers, for joining me on this journey. I want to give you the best, most satisfying ending that I can. I have a tentative title for book three, but am not ready to release the name. Book three will hopefully release 2014. Until then, I will continue writing.
Hey everyone! Welcome to the Christian Book Lovers Hop. Looking for new authors or books? This is a great place to start!
As part of this blog hop, I will be giving away a $10 amazon gift card and 2 kindle copies by two award winning authors whose books are on my own summer reading list: Crosswind, a western steampunk by Steve Rzasa and Mask, a futuristic dystopia novel by Kerry Nietz. To enter, leave a comment below with your email address so I can reach you. After June 30th, I will randomly select a winner 🙂
To discover new authors or blogs and to win some great prizes, click on the links below.
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14. Rita Schulte
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16. Heather Bixler
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18. Bookly Books
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23. Katy Lee Books
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28. Cliff Ball
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30. Staci Stallings
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31. Aaron DeMott
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More news to share. I found yesterday that my novel, Daughter of Light, is a finalist for the Carol Awards in the speculative category. As my son said, “That’s pretty cool, mom!” And I told him, “Yeah, it is. But God had a big part in it.”
I can’t tell you how many times I would lay my head down next to the computer and pray. I wanted to give up. I didn’t know what to write next. And after Daughter of Light was published, I was so discouraged I wanted to walk away from writing and never come back. But God didn’t let me. He brought encouragement via friends and emails. He brought ideas. He brought people who have helped me walk this path. And so I kept writing.
Yes, it is really cool to be a finalist for the Carol Awards. I never thought it would happen to me. But I didn’t do it alone. So thank you, God, for another blessing in my writing.
Today I was encouraged by post by my friend Mike Duran titled Your Reason to Keep Writing. This post came at a time where I was once again wrestling with the question, “Why I do I write?”
I struggle with this question at least once a month. I’m not wildly successful, at the top of the charts, or have thousands of reviews, the measurement stick of how the world would define my success as an author. So why put in all this effort, all this time, if the pay out for writing is peanuts?
But as I was talking to Dan this morning, I realized I write because I have stories burning inside my heart, stories about God. I have to write. If I didn’t, I think the words inside me would overflow.
I get discouraged sometimes, or afraid that I won’t finish the rough draft of my latest story, or secretly wonder if I would be more productive if I chose something else to fill my writing time, like a job. But I keep coming back to writing. Everytime.
I write the stories in my heart. I must. And when my story touches the heart of another, even better.
How about you? Why do you write? What keeps you going when you just want to give up?
I just came back from a weekend-long women’s retreat where I did my first speaking gig. I met many wonderful woman, had lots of fun, and now am absolutely tired. So instead of trying to squeeze my brain for a post this week, I thought I would share about a conference coming up in August that I am totally excited about.
Realm Makers began as a dream among a couple Christian speculative writers and artists. We love cons and we loving writing conferences. What if we put both of them together? What if we met for a weekend to exchange ideas, share what we have learned, and enjoy sci-fi/fantasy together? That dream became a reality this year.
Realm Makers: 2013 will be held August 2-3 in St. Louis. The price is unbelievably low for a conference and the speakers who will be there are phenomenal. However, the conference is filling up fast, so if you are interested, you will want to consider signing up soon. I will be there and would love to see any and all of you 🙂
For more information on Realm Makers, here is the website: http://faithandfantasyalliance.wordpress.com
I sat at the gas station, waiting for my husband to gas up our van. While I waited, I checked my emails. I thumbed down and saw a forward from my editor. I opened the message. My heart stopped. I read the message again. There was a disconnect between my eyes and my brain. Dan climbed back into the van and started the motor. I turned toward him and in a calm voice announced that Daughter of Light was a finalist for the Christy Awards.
Dan went nuts while I stared ahead again in absolute shock.
It took two more days for the news to finally sink in.
I never expected to final in the Christy Awards. In fact, I almost didn’t enter. The day I had to make the decision, God provided everything I needed in order to enter. On November 15th, I wrote this on my Facebook author page: “Had a God moment this week. I had a writing opportunity come up that I could not afford. I told God jokingly that He would have to drop the money in my lap (my exact words). Well, He did, in a way that I would have never thought. And it was the exact amount too. I’m still walking around dazed lol.” And so I entered the Christy Awards.
And once again I am walking around dazed.
Last week, Daughter of Light hit #1 bestseller in 3 categories on Amazon and #134 overall on Nook. It felt good. But I realized something during that time. Here is what I wrote on facebook: Something I have learned about blessings: enjoy them, don’t horde them. They come and go, so enjoy the moment. Like all things, they will eventually slip away. But if you try to cling to them, you will miss the moment.
So right now I am going to enjoy this moment God has given me 🙂
To find out more about the Christy Awards and other 2013 nominees, click here: www.christyawards.com
What do God, zombies, and Star Wars have in common? Check out my guest blog over at Speculative Faith and find out 🙂
http://www.speculativefaith.com/2013/04/12/god-zombies-and-star-wars/
Morgan L. Busse 