Short Fiction Opportunities for Writers by Jacqueline Seewald

If you are a writer of short fiction, there are many unique markets constantly popping up. They provide an exciting opportunity for new as well as experienced writers. What they have in common is that they are generally not high-paying but the brain child of ordinary people with extraordinary visions devoted to keeping meaningful fiction available to readers.

Although we tend to think of literary markets as non-paying, some indeed do pay well. Google “paying literary markets” and website listings pop up, these vary from print to online and in some cases include both.

There are more paying opportunities in genre fiction. Mystery is somewhat limited. However, if you think creatively, you can create mystery fiction with a speculative element. At this time, there are more opportunities in speculative short fiction writing--I refer here to sci-fi, horror and fantasy or a combination.

I wrote last of COLLIDOR which features live streaming of science fiction. My short story “Shroud,” a combination of science fiction and horror is featured on the website. Today I want to talk about Visual Adjectives which offers several types of anthology opportunities. I just received my copy of NEW LEGENDS which features fantasy.

Michelle Lawrence has put much time and effort into this work. The anthology she’s created consists of 400 pages of fantasy fiction. My story “The White Stag” is included in the current volume. This particular story is inspired by the legends of the Pine Barrens of New Jersey, an area I truly love. In my mystery novel THE THIRD EYE the eerie legends of the Barrens play a significant part in the setting and plot line as well.

What makes this anthology particularly unique is that Michelle has created a book which has three different distinct covers available. So you can choose the one you prefer if you order the book. Here’s the one I chose:

          http://www.amazon.com/New-Legends-Caster-Castle Creature/dp/1941901123

Here are the other two covers revealed:

 Which cover do you like best?

At this time, there are more opportunities for submission for future New Legends anthologies (Steampunk, Sci-fi and Fantasy). No, you will not get rich but you will be paid and you will receive a print copy of the anthology if your story is chosen for publication. You can check this out here:

http://www.visualadjectives.com/main/

Good luck! Comments and questions welcome.

Blog Who or What Is Collidor? By Jacqueline Seewald

 For those of you who write some of everything as I do (call me a Jacqueline of all trades), I guess you could say that short story writing just naturally fits into the repertoire. So when the call went out for live streaming science fiction I submitted a story.

“Shroud” is the story I offered with particular hopes for acceptance. It’s a unique story based on actual science and what plausibly may happen in the future. It’s also a suspense thriller. And yes, I really read science magazines, health journals—you name it! I get a lot of my inspiration for fiction from reading nonfiction.

I wasn’t certain what “live streaming” actually meant. The Collidor website presents one “positive science fiction short story” each week. They’re doing this for ten weeks. Lynda Williams is the editor and publisher behind this project. It’s an admitted experiment. If readers buy into it, Collidor will continue purchasing and publishing short fiction online, and yes, this is a paying market for authors, although a small one.

If you’re a writer and a reader like me, check out Collidor. My short story is now the story of the week. A portion of the story is a free read. There is also an interview with yours truly. Comments very much appreciated (of course). Check it all out here:

http://www.realityskimming.com/update/2016/5/31/shroud-story-4-of-collidor-series

or here:

http://www.realityskimming.com/blog

Let me know what you think. Believe it or not, most writers don’t get much feedback.

Fiction and Research by Jacqueline Seewald

You’ll notice that a lot of writers set their novels and short stories in places they either live in or have lived in. This may seem provincial, but in fact, it makes for good writing. If authors know a place well, they can create a realistic setting, an intriguing background for their writing. Setting is one of the important components of any piece of fiction.

My adult mystery series, featuring amateur sleuth and psychic librarian Kim Reynolds, consists of four novels: THE INFERNO COLLECTION, THE DROWNING POOL, THE TRUTH SLEUTH and THE BAD WIFE, all set in Central New Jersey where I lived for forty years.

But what about historical fiction, writing about times and people of long ago? The answer here is that writers need to do research. The fact is that every type of fiction, contemporary or historical, requires a certain amount of research, some more than others.

I believe the best fiction combines elements of what we actually know with research into what we need to find out. I’m no fan of info dumping in fiction, but writers do need to read and discover a lot more information than they will actually use in their work before they begin writing.

A good way to find out about a particular period in time is to peruse available reference books at your local library on the period. Examine time lines first. What important events were happening in the world, in that particular country and in the geographic area, historical as well as political? How did people dress? What did they eat? What were their general beliefs?  How were women treated? Your library catalog will allow you to locate appropriate books that you can borrow as well. Reference librarians can also provide helpful input.

One historical novelist suggests writing the book first and then researching the areas that need filling in. But I prefer immersing myself in an historical period and setting before starting to write. It’s true there will always be some essential information that requires further research. However, that should be part of the revision process.

I tried to seamlessly incorporate the culture and history of the turbulent historic West into my novel THE KILLING LAND. The characters represent the viewpoints and prejudices of those times. A lot was going on in the Arizona Territory in the 1880’s. And a lot of it was pretty violent. You had cattle barons and ranchers opposed to sheepherders and homesteaders and vice versa, leading to range wars—people fighting over land rights. Then there were Native Americans, many of them hostile to the people they saw as usurping their ancestral lands. There were also lawless outlaws to contend with.

My main character, Mary MacGreggor, is no cream puff, but as a settler coming from the East with her family, she discovers life in the West poses many challenges that she was unprepared to contend with. The reader discovers them right along with Mary.

                 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ATYI6WU/

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-killing-land-jacqueline-seewald/1122846630

There’s a lot of satisfaction is both reading and writing well-researched fiction whether historical or contemporary. Which do you prefer?

Making Mother’s Day Memorable 2016 by Jacqueline Seewald

The idea of an official celebration of Mother’s Day in America was first suggested by Julia Ward Howe in 1872.  She became famous with her Civil War song, "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Anna Jarvis is actually recognized as the Founder of Mother’s Day in the United States. She never married or had children herself. However, she got the inspiration for celebrating Mother’s Day from her own mother Mrs. Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis, an activist and social worker. Mrs. Jarvis expressed a desire to have a day set aside to honor all mothers, living and dead, and pay tribute to the contributions made by them. 

 By 1911, Mother's Day was celebrated in almost every state in the Union, and on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a Joint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.  Mother’s Day is now celebrated in several countries including the US, UK, India, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Belgium. People take the day as an opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and thank them for all their love and support. Sadly, Anna Jarvis became disillusioned by the commercialization of the holiday.

Today mothers are honored with many kinds of gifts: cards, perfume, jewelry, candy, flowers, plants. If a mother is a reader, books are great Mother’s Day gifts, either print or digital.

What most of us who are mothers appreciate most is simply spending time with our children. Sharing a meal like a brunch or dinner together is one way of making the day special. If children live and work too far away to visit, a phone call is always appreciated.

My gift to other mothers this year is some fun free reading--since this is International Short Story Month as well.

For a Mother’s Day story:

“The Art of Listening”

http://litbreak.com/the-art-of-listening/

BEYOND THE BO TREE is a collection of ten romantic short stories of all types and lengths. Amazon offers the first one, “The Phone Call,” as a free read:

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Bo-Tree-Tales-Romance-ebook/dp/B00DTV0750

For a flash fiction story take a look at “Bacon Bits” in SAINT RED:

https://stred.squarespace.com/magazine-archives-volume-3/2015/12/18/bacon-bits

Many of my mystery short stories are free reads from such publications as: THE GUMSHOE REVIEW and OVER MY DEAD BODY!

What are your thoughts regarding Mother’s Day? How do you think this holiday should be spent?

Some Tips on Successful Blogging by Jacqueline Seewald

To develop a successful blog you need to blog regularly. An article I read not long ago suggested that posts should be provided on Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays with Thursdays getting the most hits or views. If you can manage, it’s good to post once a week, even more often if that’s possible.

You will probably notice that I don’t do as I suggest. I don’t follow a regular time schedule. I am a writer with limited time allotted for blogging, but I try to make each of my posts meaningful.

Appearance Matters. You want your blog to be attractive and accessible. Use an easy to read font like Verdana. Second, there should be graphics not just print words. Third, readers like white space between paragraphs, again for easy reading. Last, don’t make your blog too long. You’re not writing WAR AND PEACE. Readers today want writing conversational in tone and right to the point.

Keep in mind that drawing readers to your blog is your goal. There’s nothing more disheartening than writing an article and discovering that no one bothers to read it. So how do you manage to build a readership with so many other blogs competing for reader recognition and attention? There are a number of ways that seem to work:

1. Join groups of people of similar interests and advertise to them when you have a post.

I belong to several writer’s groups sponsored by Yahoo for the most part. Some of these are publishers’ groups, others are simply subject oriented like mystery, romance or short story writers’ groups.

2. Have interesting titles that are attention-grabbing and provocative.

Ask a question.

Begin with: How To _______

or create a list:

Ten Tips on ________

Keep focused. Topics should be those that would most interest your perspective reader audience.

For instance, I’m a writer and so my blog is concerned with topics related to writing.

3. Use social media to publicize your blogs. I post on Facebook and Twitter. I am not progressive enough to use Instagram or Snapchat, but you might consider them.

4. Do guest blogging for others who share your interests or your field. This widens your audience and brings new people to your blog.

5. Respond with comments to other similar blogs. These bloggers may do you the same courtesy.

6. I don’t put out newsletters but I know a number of bloggers who have had great success with them.

7. Offer giveaways of some kind.

We writers tend to give away advance review copies of our books when they’re published in order to stir interest of readers. There are many items that would interest readers and they don’t have to be expensive.

Do you have any comments or suggestions regarding blogging that you would like to add? What do you think draws to readers to a blog?

Librarians and Writers: A Symbiotic Relationship By Jacqueline Seewald

I suggest that authors look to promote their books, whether fiction or nonfiction, at libraries. Some libraries will pay writers to come and speak; others will at least provide writers with exposure to the reading public. Not all libraries welcome authors but there are many that do. As a former librarian and teacher, I can testify to the fact that authors are welcome to provide an event at many libraries. Books are an important component of what the library has to offer. Authors are respected by most librarians.

If you are a relatively unknown writer, try to get a local newspaper to do a story on you before your library appearance. Also, if you’re not Nora Roberts or Mary Higgins Clark, don’t expect people to come in droves just because you announce a book signing. Think in terms of what kind of event you can provide that library patrons will enjoy and appreciate.

I presented an event at my local library entitled “We Can All Be Writers.” It was not just a talk but a happening—an interactive experience for both attendees and myself. I provided writing exercises that we could do together and discuss. I’ll also gave a hand-out listing sources of inspiration for aspiring writers as well as library resources. In short, I was offering information hopefully of value to patrons.

Fifteen people showed up who were eager to participate. When I previously did this program in Central New Jersey, twenty-five people were present and actively participated. However, fifteen was a comfortable group to work with and they were very enthusiastic. I also had help from the library coordinator who turned my overhead transparencies into a Power Point presentation.

What’s in it for you, the author? Hopefully, library patrons may want to either borrow some of your novels from the library or purchase them from you. At the very least, the library will buy your book. In my case, I offered some of my novels at a heavily discounted price and had the librarian take the money because I donated any money earned from the sale of my books to the Friends of the Library so they can continue to sponsor more events. It was my way of giving back to the community.

What is your opinion of authors doing events, talks or panel discussions at libraries? Have you participated in any library events? If so, how has it worked out? Will you consider doing it in the future?

Luck and Irish Literature by Jacqueline Seewald

The Ides of March, the 15^th and 16^th of this month, traditionally bode ill luck. For instance, in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, the emperor is warned to “Beware the Ides of March” by the Soothsayer. Julius, not being a superstitious sort of fellow and believing the nonsense about his personal immortality, sneers, ignores the warning, and refers to the Soothsayer as “a dreamer.” Not Caesar’s wisest decision.

 It will soon be St. Patrick’s Day which supposedly brings good luck and fortune. People do at times have lucky things happen to them and at other times suffer misfortunes like ill health, accidents or assaults. However, authors prefer to believe that for the most part we make our own luck.

According to Napoleon: “Luck occurs when preparation meets opportunity.” I apply that statement to authors. We get lucky with our work when we’ve done adequate preparation—that is being well-read, writing, rewriting, and editing until we’ve created something of value and quality. If we’re too lazy or too full of ourselves to make this kind of effort and commitment then alas we’ll never “get lucky.”

Luck is often a theme in literature. For example, Thomas Hardy created characters that were unlucky like Tess or Jude. Yet it could be argued that their bad luck came as a direct result of fatal flaws in their own characters. This is where tragedy derives from. Things don’t just happen. There is a cause and effect relationship.

I write about and admire main characters with positive values who make their own good luck and overcome obstacles through personal effort, not bemoaning their fate or bad luck. To quote Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar again, as Cassius observes: “Our fate, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves.”

In tribute to Irish literature which often deals with themes related to luck, I want to mention a few of the outstanding Irish writers I’ve appreciated over the years.

As an undergraduate English major, I read and enjoyed John Millington Synge’s The  Playboy of the Western World. Synge celebrated the lyrical speech of the Irish in his boisterous play.

In graduate school, I took a semester seminar on the works of

William Butler Yeats, a great Irish poet. I learned a great deal about Irish mythology from his work.

George Bernard Shaw was also of Irish origins and a great playwright, another favorite of mine. His plays still hold up because of thought-provoking themes and clever dialogue.

I’ve read James Joyce’s stories and novels but most appreciated his earlier work. I thought Portrait of the Artist was brilliant as was Dubliners, his short story collection. His style was original and unique.

Satirist Jonathan Swift is often thought of as a children’s writer, but this is, of course, completely false.

Notable Works: Gulliver’s Travels, Tale of a Tub, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, Drapier’s Letters, An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift

Oscar Wilde was a talented Irish writer and playwright. Sentenced to two years in prison for gross indecency (homosexuality), he eventually lost his creative spark.

Notable Works: The Picture of Dorian Grey, The Importance of Being Earnest (play), Poems, The Happy Prince and Other Tales (children’s book), A Woman of No Importance (play)

Abraham Stoker (Bram Stoker) gave us Dracula (enough said!)

Lawrence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, C.S. Lewis all had Irish origins as well, although they left Ireland for England. The list of outstanding Irish men and women who have provided great literature is very long and therefore beyond the scope of this mere blog.

Did these Irish writers believe in luck? Were they merely lucky?  Do you have any favorite Irish authors? Your thoughts and comments welcome!