People are sometimes surprised to find out that I never studied writing formally. Instead, I majored in history – both for my undergraduate and graduate degrees. Why? Because history is nothing but stories. And you know the saying: truth is stranger than fiction.

So it is that while researching mountain men for one of my freelance projects I came upon the story of an amazing woman in the Old West: Stagecoach Mary. This 6 foot tall, 200-lb woman picked up and moved into Montana at the age of 52 years. There, she first worked for the Jesuits and next for a convent, where she chopped wood, dug holes, tended as many as 400 chickens, and grew vegetables for the nuns. Though she was devoted to the nuns and their Indian students at the mission, she was well known to have “the temperament of a grizzly bear.” She smoked, swore, and…

Writing Links…4/24/17

Traci Kenworth

Fantasy/Dystopian/UF/Paranormal/SF:

1. http://www.fantasybookcafe.com/2017/04/women-in-sff-month-sylvia-izzo-hunter/ Fanfiction helped her get her start. I dabbled in this as well when I was eighteen-nineteen.

MG/YA:

1. http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2017/04/ya-sunday-morning-news-this-week-for_16.html Best articles last week and what’s coming up next.
2. http://www.adventuresinyapublishing.com/2017/04/sticking-with-story-you-love-against.html When an idea won’t let go.
3. http://avajae.blogspot.com/2017/04/vlog-why-didnt-i-self-publish.html One writer’s choice to go traditional.

Romance/Women’s Fiction:

1. http://www.superauthors.com/2017/04/spring-is-here-authorkristina-knight.html Spring in OH. I look forward to it as well.
2. http://www.superauthors.com/2017/04/do-one-thing-day-that-scares-you-by.html Life is about risk.

Christian:

1. http://www.novelrocket.com/2017/04/when-writing-is-like-riding-horse.html The Big Yes.
2. https://stevelaube.com/how-do-i-grow-my-market/ Use your blog to bring readers. Blog regularly. It doesn’t have to be every day. Once a week is fine.
3. http://www.novelrocket.com/2017/04/there-really-is-nothing-new-under-sun.html A fresh way to tell the story.
4. http://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/the-multi-tasking-editor/ An editor’s many roles.
5. http://www.booksandsuch.com/blog/publishing-contract/ What’s in a contract.
6. https://writerofftheleash.blogspot.com/2017/04/mid-week-inspiration.html

Historicals:

1. http://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2017/04/augustus-pugin-architect-of-victorian.html The architectural design of many well-known places in Great Britain. The Elizabeth tower or Big Ben. Palace of Westminster. Scarisbrick Hall.

Scary:

Mystery/Thrillers/Suspense:

1. http://annerallen.com/how-to-give-a-book-reading/ Reading your book aloud can be good for sales.

Short Stories/Anthologies/Novella/Comics:

1. https://coldhandboyack.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/hello-writing-cabin/ A new…

So I find a lovely-looking review blog. The posts are thoughtful, fair and seriously considered. I look up the review policy and … it says ‘no self-published books’.

Today I want to open a dialogue with reviewers. If you have that policy, might you be persuaded to change it? Or to approach the problem in a different way?

I used the word ‘problem’. Because I appreciate – very well – that in making this policy you are trying to tackle a major problem. Your time as a reviewer is precious – and let me say your efforts are enormously appreciated by readers and authors alike. You get pitches for many more books than you can read and you need a way to fillet out the ones that are seriously worth your reading hours. A blanket ban is a way to fend off a lot of substandard material and save you…

Life is precious! Unborn, born, even those life that just started and even those you will end due to old age. However, why do some people don’t care about someone else’s lives?

Ranting! Yes, I am ranting! I do it all the time especially when there are things that I don’t like. I rant not in a very diva way. Lately, my newsfeed on my facebook account and news that I watch are all about war. All over the world, they have their own war that they are fighting. In my own country, we are facing some unworthy wars as well.

I’ve been watching lots of news lately and it’s about the Syrian war. I am not going to get through what is happening and why there is war in their country in the first place.  I don’t like politics, and I don’t like concerning myself with idiotic ideas that…

In today’s world where there is a surge of various booming ventures and professional service providers, we as a consumer find it really hard to find the one which sees our interest a bit before their own and to say the least at least gives us what we pay for. There is a multitude of companies or ventures out there which not only overcharge us but also rip us off shaking our confidence in humanity. So for all those victims out there, let’s see these various modern day rip offs that ew come across every day.

1. The Bottled Water: What the water companies claim about their packaged water bottles being some mystical and totally pure and derived from the foothills of your country’s favourite and glacial mountains is a big lie. As various sources have pointed out almost every packaged water company fills their water from municipal tap water.
So, yes what you…