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Scribe & Quill ~ February 2005
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Vol. 3 Issue 1
ISSN: 1098-6375

Section 1 of 2 Sections

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MASTHEAD:
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* Editor/Publisher
Bev Walton-Porter <editor@scribequill.com>

* Assistant Editor / Advertising Manager
Mindy Phillips Lawrence <mplcreative1@aol.com>

*Contributing Editor
J.M.Cornwell <jcornwell@peoplepc.com>

* Humor Editor
Jaden Trinsic <humor@scribequill.com>

* Poetry Editor
Donna "Kai" Wilson <scribequillpoetry@gael-song.com>

* Book Review Editor
Sonali T. Sikchi <sonali_sikchi@hotmail.com>

* Nonfiction Columnist
Joyce Faulkner <katieseyes@aol.com>

* Video Game Reviewer
Jonathan Porter <editor@scribequill.com>

* Mascots:

-- Isis, the Feline Freelancer
<isis@scribequill.com >

-- Popeye the Editing Wonder Dog
<popeye@scribequill.com>

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
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~Editor's Note

~Reader Praise!

~Scribe & Quill Patrons

~Featured Interview:
Getting to Know…Author Vicki Hinze
By Mindy Phillips-Lawrence (mplcreative1@aol.com)

~Featured Article:
The Heart of a New Freelancer
By Penny Husted-Gamm (pjtg@charter.net)

~Featured Column:
Writer's Boot Camp 101
By Jill Vaile (jill@jilleliz.com)

~Featured Article:
Turning Your Speech into a Book
By Alyice Edrich (dabblingmum@yahoo.com)

~Featured Fiction:
Prometheus Laughing
By James I. Wasserman (severed_head@yahoo.com)

~Quotables

~Scribes of Note -- Virtual Quills

~Featured Column:
Loose Vowels
By J.M. Cornwell (jcornwell@peoplepc.com)

~Call for Submissions

~Featured Workshops

~Book Reviews
--"Villa Fair" Bernadette Gabay Dyer
--"Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire" by Alan Axelrod
--"Body Double" by Vicki Hinze
--"Haunted" by Tamara Thorne
--"The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fowler
--"The Forgotten" by Tamara Thorne
--"Serpent's Dance, Book One: Secrets of Self-Mastery Lessons 1-21"
--"The Devil Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger

~Renegade Writer Contest

~Scribe & Quill Professional Writing Courses

~The Last Word: Recommended Links for Writers

~Contact and submission information

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NOTE FROM THE EDITOR:
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Dear Gentle Readers,

In this first issue of 2005, we have a delightful selection of content for you. In this issue, delve into Mindy's interview with author Vicki Hinze, learn how to tighten up loose vowel usage, explore the heart of a new freelancer and put yourself through writer's boot camp! But that's not all -- there's much more informative and entertaining selections that await you. So dig in and enjoy!

One more thing: author Biff Mitchell reminded me that Chase's Calendar of Events recognizes this March 6 - 12 as Read an E-book Week. Find out more about it here:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb204475.htm

Until next time, write often and write well!

Sincerely,

Bev Walton~Porter, Editor
editor@scribequill.com
***
Mindy Lawrence, Asst. Editor/Advertising Manager
mplcreative1@aol.com

***

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COMMUNITY JOURNAL!

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READER SUPPORT FOR SCRIBE & QUILL
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We have the BEST readers on the planet! It's because of your encouragement that we continue to publish our 'zine for writers. We believe in your writing goals and we are there to support you every step of the way. Thanks, in turn, for lending us support as well!

Here's what readers are saying about Scribe & Quill:

"...Scribe & Quill is excellent work and I'm sure your book will be excellent work as well."
--Rowdy Rhodes, Site Manager
Freelance Writing Organization - Int'l
http://www.fwointl.com/index.html

"Dear Bev,
Thanks for your newsletter and for sharing about the things you are doing without a partner to support. That puts me to shame and I wish you all the best in all that you are doing. God bless."
--Nana Yaa Larbi

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--Karin Gillespie, author of "Bet Your Bottom Dollar"
(Simon and Schuster)

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PARTNER WITH SCRIBE & QUILL
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Developing and distributing a regular publication, either online or in print, requires time or incurs costs such as Web hosting, domain fees, program renewals and operating costs.

We are glad to deliver S & Q to our readers at no charge, but we appreciate any contributions made to show support for this endeavor. Become a patron of Scribe & Quill and help support the continued publication of this 'zine. When you become a patron, we will list your name on our Web site and run a short personal profile of you in our 'zine as our thanks to you for your support.

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Thank you for reading our magazine, and for your continued support.

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ADVERTISEMENT
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Love to write but hate to starve? Peter Bowerman, author of "The Well-Fed Writer," the award-winning standard on lucrative commercial freelancing (writing for business entities at hourly rates of $50-125+) has released his companion volume, "TWFW: Back For Seconds." Buyers who purchase either book through his site (www.wellfedwriter.com) get free shipping and some nice free e-book bonuses. I was one of Peter's pre-reviewers this past July and I thought it was great! AND my blurb to that effect appears in the front of the book. It reads:

"Presenting a smorgasbord of information on how to snag new writing clients, squelch your marketing fears, supercharge your networking plan and further sharpen your professional image, Bowerman offers a tried-and-true recipe for freelance success!"

See if you don't agree.

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FEATURED INTERVIEW:
Getting to Know...
Author Vicki Hinze
By Mindy Phillips Lawrence (mplcreative1@aol.com)

SQ: Why did you decide to publish under pseudonyms (Victoria Cole and Victoria Barrett) as well as your own name?

VICKI HINZE: Because I was writing different types of books. Victoria Cole did series suspense/drama. Victoria Barrett wrote paranormals. I didn't want my readers to get upset because the type of book they expected wasn't what they got, so I used pseudonyms to prevent it. Harder on me, trying to get the word out about my books using different names, but protecting the readers was worth it.

SQ: Aside from writing novels, you also have a Yahoo Group called Aids4Writers. What prompted you to assistance other writers on such an extensive level?

VK: Simply put, not having assistance when I started. I had a million questions and didn't know another writer I could ask. I promised myself when and if I learned anything about this business, I'd share it with others, so they didn't have to go through that. I did so through articles and such for years, and then about six or so years ago, I got the idea for Aids4Writers near the new year.

Every year I work on self-improvement in some way or form. That year, my goal was to do good for goodness' sake, expecting nothing in return in any way. I started Aids4Writers and posted daily. At the end of the year, the subscribers asked me to continue, so I did. I posted daily for the first few years, but then I just couldn't keep up with all the private requests as well as the public ones. So I went to two or three times per week. Now I post when I can, but share notes from lectures and workshops and seminars, and I still respond to all the urgent or private requests as soon as I see them. It's a hefty commitment, but one I feel privileged to do.

SQ: Tell us about your workday.

VK: I don't really have a typical workday. Often I start at 2 a.m. (I don't sleep much.) I check mail intermittently throughout the day on six different addresses. Depending on what's going on with my committees, I work on those (there are three main ones and a few others where I act as a consultant and the work is less frequent). I write an average of 15-25 pages, then when I'm done, I catch up on research, promotion, write articles, craft character charts and track books. At some time during the day I break to do 20 minutes of exercise and 20 minutes of vital reading (my Bible). The one thing I do every day is pray -- and I always ask for an assistant. Because of hurricanes and other wrenches lately, I often go back to work after dinner for a few hours, or do chats online or things like that. I love the interaction with other writers and readers.

SQ: Your husband is a retired military officer. How has that affected your writing and the topics you write about?

VK: It's had a significant impact. I write a great deal about military matters and the people who serve. When I started doing so, there was a decided lack of interest and understanding of what our military does for us. The events of 9/11 changed that, of course, but readers are very interested in learning more about the lifestyles and challenges our military members face. Again, I feel privileged to share.

SQ: "Body Double" is part of a series. What are you plans for the next books in that series?

VK: "Body Double" is the first book in the War Games series. Kate is a secondary character in that book and she just insisted she have her own, so I wrote "Double Vision." In it, I met another character named Darcy and she really got my attention. So I wrote her story in an anthology for the Signature Collection. It's called "Smokescreen: Total Recall." And from the start, there's been this character named Maggie that I liked a lot because she doesn't quite fit in and knows it. But she claims her space. I'm writing her book now, "Double Duty."

"Body Double," "Double Vision" and "Double Duty" are all Silhouette Bombshell novels. "Smokescreen: Total Recall" is an anthology being released under the Signature line.

I'm not sure what will happen next, though I am considering doing a trilogy of related books called "S.A.S.S. Confidential." In all the War Games books, the heroines are S.A.S.S. operatives. The S.A.S.S. Confidential would be related, but a different task force unit. Playing around with the idea of doing that right now. Really haven't decided just yet.

SQ: How do you develop characters in a book series to keep them and the stories fresh?

VK: I forget that they're characters and work with them until they become people -- ones I like, admire, respect and find interesting. When that happens, they are fresh because they take on their own life and you just follow along to see what it is and what it's about.

SQ: You recently partnered with Writers-in-Motion. How did that come about and what does that add to your novels?

VK: I did, and we did a DVD that includes interviews, a book short -- a movie trailer for a book, a lecture I did for writers and other material. I met the producer, who has made four movies for Hollywood, at a conference in St. Simon's a few years ago. We were both teaching there, and talked often. He contacted me about the DVD as a means to promote "Body Double." I thought it sounded fabulous -- it was new, fresh, different and intriguing. So we did it. And I have to say it's exceeded every expectation I set for it -- and I set those expectations high.

I don't know that it adds anything to the novels, but it does add exposure through a different medium. Considering how visual most are, particularly those between 18-34 who are interested in shows like Alias, Buffy, et al (which is similar to Bombshells in that they're women's action/adventure), the DVD is a great way to introduce those potential readers to Bombshell novels.

Having the interviews and book shorts on my Web site has increased traffic to it significantly, and the booksellers seem to enjoy the DVD, so I'm hopeful that those benefits will translate into increased book sales. It'd be wonderful to help establish Bombshell novels. They're books that empower women, and I absolutely love that about them.

SQ: According to your biography on Writerspeakers.com, you have earned both a Master of Arts in Creative Writing and a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Theocentric Business and Ethics. How has your philosophy training aided you in developing you characters?

VK: It helps in that a character is always three-dimensional to me. Physical, emotional and spiritual -- or mind, body and spirit. All three aspects are equally developed and interlace, just as they do in human beings. Some are spiritual cripples, some emotional cripples, but their other aspects increase to take up the slack so that they're still extremely strong characters capable of growth, change and healing. That's essential to, by book's end, as a result of the events encountered in the book, that they become more balanced individuals.

I have to say that my studies in psychology have had an equal impact on character development. But I will also say that the philosophical studies help keep me balanced in a business that has many, many ups and downs.

SQ: What got you started in writing?

VK: Loving it. Just absolutely loving sitting down with a pen and pad and putting my thoughts down. Loving the rhythm of words strung together, the thinking that goes into realizing what your thoughts actually are. The magical process. And that others hear what you have to say is just the most wonderful bonus!

SQ: How many hours a day do you write?

VK: It depends. I don't often look at clocks. It's a pet peeve kind of thing. Actually, my alarm clock had been blinking for over a year when my husband just unplugged it. It was a while before I noticed it was gone. I work by the heart. I don't mean that in a goofy artist kind of way, just in a bluntly honest one. I won't write a book I don't love. Because I love it, I'm eager to do it. So it's not something that I can do for a set time or even set pages. I just write until I can't go anymore and then I stop until I can go to it again.

My challenge is in stopping. I get caught up in the words and I forget to stop, to eat -- I don't hear the phone, the door. My husband is a saint in that he makes sure I get food and drink and rest. If it's too long, he'll interrupt. Otherwise, he just sits food on the edge of my desk.

This is when I'm in heavy-create mode, which of course, isn't all the time. But when I write, these days, I write straight through a first draft, so all of that is in heavy create-mode and in a condensed frame of time.

SQ: Writing is a business. What advice would you give to someone starting out to let them know how to handle that side of writing life?

VK: Study the industry so you have a firm grip on exactly how things work. You shouldn't have to ask an editor the process a book goes through when it hits her desk. She assumes you know this. You should understand the difference between distributors, wholesalers and retailers. How your books will be sold. All of the information is available to you through numerous sources, and you would serve yourself well to partake of it before you need it.

Also get smart on literary contracts, on bookkeeping for writers, on taxes for writers. All these things take a little time if you learn them first -- before you need them. Aware, they'll take very little of your time. Unaware, they'll take a lot, and cost you energy, time and money.

SQ: In your archived help for writers, you include directions on how to set up a novel notebook in a loose-leaf binder. Do you have one of these for every novel you write?

VK: I do. I like the method of keeping everything organized and easy to find -- and portable, so I can work anywhere.

SQ: Do you organize your work solely in notebooks or do you also set up computer files of information, research and novel development?

VK: I set the work up on the computer -- different folder for each book, and separate files for each segment (as I would in the notebook). Then I run copies for the notebook -- a loose-leaf binder. The information stays there until the book is done, then all of the binder contents goes in a large envelope and is filed. That way all the research and everything pertaining to that novel is all in one place. No digging for things. I hate to hunt.

SQ: Many writers have cross talents in other arts. Do you? if so, in what?

VK: I used to oil paint and dance and enjoyed both very much. But writing became my passion and I began resenting time spent on other things, so I stopped.

SQ: You had some physical challenges a few years ago. How have those events affected your writing life?

VK: When I tore all the muscles loose from the chest wall on my right side, it did impact my ability to sit at my desk for long hours. Muscle spasms are frequent and frankly still challenging. The muscles have healed but they will never be as strong as they were before the fall. So I do weights to help, and other exercises. I stop working and stretch often. And when the knots in my shoulders and back get too painful, I leave the desk, taking a voice recorder and record for a while. Some days are better than others. Most days I can get done what I want to accomplish. It's merely the method of how I get it done that alters.

SQ: How did you first get connected to the publishing houses that carry your books?

VK: One, I met during a conference appointment. She asked to see the book, I submitted it, and she bought it and a second book. One, I did an interview for a newsletter on a different editor and this other editor liked my writing style. I submitted to her and she bought the book. Several, I just sent in a submission and the editor liked it. Some of these things happened with an agent, and some without.

SQ: What can you tell our readers about promoting their work and the need for self-promotion?

VK: I just did an article on this that is at http://www.eharlequin.com in the writer's community right up top. It's a lot more in-depth than anything I could say in answering one question. I do feel it's critical at this time, in this market, particularly for single title or mainstream authors.

SQ: What connection do you see between being a good writer and being a constant reader of other people's work?

VK: Reading deepens your creative well and adds flexibility to your writing that you just can't get any other way. It adds a richness and texture to the work that is connected to that nebulous rhythm and yet is more than that, too.

SQ: What other authors do YOU read?

VK: I read across the board and just about everyone. I buy new authors' books to support them and see what they're doing. I buy bestsellers to see what they're doing and how they're doing it. I read those writers in-between to see what they're doing. I'm not crazy about horror, but I read some of it. And just about everything else.

SQ: Who have you learned from the most?

VK: My children, frankly. And a woman named Nina Coombs Pykarre, who is the author of over 60 books and was my first creative writing teacher many years ago. She was patient, she was tough but fair and she made me stretch. An excellent teacher and a wonderful woman. Bless her, she still keeps up with me and watches over me. My own personal guardian angel -- with a red pen.

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FEATURED ARTICLE:
The Heart of a New Freelancer
By Penny Husted-Gamm (pjtg@charter.net)
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Being a new freelance writer is daunting. It's easy to become overwhelmed and unfocused. I feel like there is so much that I should already know that I don't know. I'm certain there are numerous rules about writing that I need to learn, but when I research writing I become overwhelmed with all of the information available. I end up on an endless quest of research: I research, discover things I don't know, research those things I don't know only to discover more things I don't know and the cycle continues. I'm a researcher, not a writer.

Then there are the many opportunities available in writing. Do I want to write a book? If so, do I want it to be fiction or non-fiction? Do I want it to be humorous or serious? Do I want to write about something that will require me to do in-depth research? If so, how do I compensate those people? Do I pay them? Do I have them sign a release? What do I do?

Do I want to write for periodicals? Print or e-zine? Do I want to write a factual article or a humorous article or an op-ed piece? What do I need to know about those types of pieces before I write them? Maybe that is something else I need to research.

There are a plethora of resources out there for writers: books, magazines, e-zines, newsletters. How do I know which ones I should be reading? Again, more to research.

At some point every beginning, unpublished freelance writer has to take a personal inventory of the obstacles that keep him or her from being published. The answers might surprise you. In my case, it became clear to me that I lacked focus. In addition to getting lost in cyberspace conducting endless research, I had several projects in the works at any one time: a novel, a humor book, a couple children's stories and an op-ed piece. I would bounce from project to project, stopping short of finishing a final, polished manuscript and querying agents and publishers.

I finally asked myself why I, a normally organized person, found myself very unorganized and unfocused. I initially thought the answer would be that I lacked a degree in writing. It wasn't. The answer staring at me in black and white from my journal was revealing: I don't want to be laughed at. I want to appear knowledgeable and professional. I'm terrified that I will make an embarrassing mistake or overlook something critical, and that I will be tagged with the label of amateur.

If I became focused, and dedicated time each week to research, writing, and querying, then I would actually be pursuing my lifelong dream of being a published writer. My work would be out there for someone else's scrutiny. By remaining unfocused, I can continue to feed my daydreams of being a brilliant writer with brilliant, witty work and I can listen to my loved ones tell me that I could be a really successful writer. By actually focusing on the task at hand, I open myself up to failure, to falling short of the standard I've set for myself. I distract myself with all of the obstacles ("How do I query when I don't have any publishing credits?"), when really the only obstacle confronting me is myself: my fear of falling short of my standards, of not living up to expectations, of disappointing myself or an editor, of being ridiculed for making an amateur mistake.

Sometimes the research a new freelance writer has to do is not on the Web, but in her heart.

===
BIO:
===
Penny Husted-Gamm is an award-winning landscape photographer. She completed her Masters in Counseling in 2001 and has recently begun to pursue freelance writing. Her writing interests include children's books, humor and political satire.

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FEATURED COLUMN:
Writer's Boot Camp
(Writing Resolutions: You Made'em – Do You Intend to Keep'em?)
By Jill Vaile (jill@jilleliz.com)
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The clock's ticking -- it's already FEBRUARY! Before we're done, you'll be typing to a new tune!

Here's just how you are going to make those goals HAPPEN. Get out your armor and fatigues -- you'll need them to defeat those lurking attackers.

Welcome to Writer's Boot Cramp 101 and pay close attention! You're going to learn how to keep the path clear and obtain unobstructed word flow.

You can't mount your offense until you get into shape! And you don't even have to do a single pushup in this boot camp. The first obstacle on this course is just one word: SCHEDULE.

Get out that PDA, calendar, white board, cardboard, bristle board -- whatever you use will be quite satisfactory. It's about the real writing time you schedule, not the decorations on it.

Give this serious thought and consider the reality of your life, and when it will best suit you to block your time. When are you most creative? Can you ensure your designated time will be as uninterrupted as reality will allow? Other than yourself, who can you count on to run interference, understand what you are doing and the fact that you will not be deterred?

Call in all favors, all outstanding debts. The enemy is nigh and all assistance is welcome.

First, schedule yourself at least three sessions per week. If you feel confident you can do more, go for five -- even seven! From then on EVERY scheduled time for writing is as if written in stone. No exceptions, no backing down. Make yourself clear, and share this calendar with anyone and everyone who needs to "get it." Hire a babysitter, send the kids to daycare -- a class, a sport, school, grandma's -- trade with a neighbor or whatever it takes. Once you have covered all your bases, it's time to dig in.

The trench awaits. Here's a few of your MOST UNWANTED or WORST ENEMIES to watch out for:

MEET WRITING SABATEUR#1: (a.k.a., the "well-intentioned" relative):
These infidels are easily identified by their facial abnormality. They display an expression of conflict: a forced/phony smile, and a "tsk-tsk" frown. In their hands will be your favorite home baked-items. BEWARE! The gooey goods harbor a sheaf of papers requiring no less than "your immediate attention!"

COMMON ATTACK MODES INCLUDE:
Shrill shouting of words like, "It's an EMERGENCY! I need you to fill out these [useless] forms or the sky will fall!"
These saboteurs try to gain access to restricted areas by the use of stealth. They arrive unannounced, uninvited and are most unwelcome. Characteristic comments include:, "I'm SO glad you don't work!" and "I know you SAY you're busy, but...."

DEFENSIVE MANEUVERS:
1. Never, ever give a house key to these people!
2. Camouflage is imperative. DO NOT emerge from your writing trench. The incessant ringing of your doorbell and knocking, circling of the residence and attempts to peek in windows will eventually subside. Employ your best foxhole camouflage procedure. NEVER attempt to check for safety until a minimum of 30 minutes elapses from the last noisy cursing retreat.

SABOTEUR #2: (a.k.a.: "The Volunteer") Type #2 may appear in a group or an association, and just as often as a single. The important point to focus on is they masquerade as a "do-gooder." (They always do good when YOU do the work, and they don't have to!)

The "Volunteer" usually lurks at functions where your presence is guaranteed. Exercise extreme caution at parent meetings, school events, places of worship and any activity that involves your children.

A tell-tale pen, clipboard and various sign-up forms can identify the Volunteer. The use of tanks to get your name on the latest volunteer work list is not unusual.

NOTE: Well-etched forehead lines appear prominently and are tell-tale signs.

COMMON ATTACK MODES include dogged determination to get your name on the latest volunteer work list. Lines frequently used are:

"Oh you're the WRITER, aren't you?"
And watch for:
"Well, it's not THAT much of a time commitment. After all, it benefits your (son/daughter/niece/godson/dog/cat)" NOTE: this can also be labeled as guilt!

DEFENSIVE MANEUVERS:
1. Implement evasive maneuver tactics.
2. NEVER be alone with this time-wasting stalker!
3. NEVER be the last one leaving any meeting or gathering while the Volunteer lies in wait.
4. Ensure your child is cranky and whining prior to departure so as to make a fast exit. If necessary, a slight pinch will improve your odds of escape.

Now we come to the saboteurs over which you exercise total control! These are known as Interference Distractions and it is up to you to disable them:

1. E-mail/Internet: Schedule specific time (not during your writing time!) to check e-mail and use the Internet. Neither exceed your allotted time or assume you can just "leave it on." Not a chance. No one is strong enough to withstand this temptation (or indulge this excuse!)
2. All forms of external contact, including:
* Telephones
* Cell phones
* PDA's
* 2 way communication devices -- even an internal home intercom

NOTE: For some, music and/or TV offer a "white noise" that improves their concentration. If this is you, by all means feed the muse!

DEFENSIVE MANEUVERS:
1. When you begin your scheduled writing time, immediately disable all sound capabilities -- do not succumb to flashing message alerts or tell yourself, "I'll just check to see who called..it could be important." NOTHING is more important than reaching your goals!

2. Be tough. Pay no heed to that little voice repeating , "What if?" Learn to turn it off, or if you must, reply with, "What if I don't do what I must, for me?" If you are too weak-willed to conquer those feelings, set a timer and FORCE yourself to do only what you've set as your task until that alarm goes off. Then, return to work after no more than five timed minutes of satisfying yourself that the house did not burn down, the kids are fine and the S.O. (Significant Other) will muddle through.

Next on our list we find an issue so powerful and destructive, it has been the bane of many an AWOL author. It's an insidious master of shape shifting and disguise. It is truly one thing that can destroy a writer's concentration and accomplishment: GUILT.

There is guilt over the child(ren), the pet, the spouse, the parent! Every single best intention can be reduced to a faint memory when we are inundated with GUILT. Defensive measures must be taken! Earplugs (for you, not them!) a strict understanding of your PRIVATE writing time --no interruptions. (If need be, go once or twice to the library or your closest coffee shop. This should convince all parties you mean business!
Use rewards for children and spouses -- those who behave the way you need them to and allow your creativity to flow. All will be "found" after you are finished writing. No one will starve in the interim. (Leave snacks, if you must). There will be NO TV, or video games. If you hear a peep of fighting, unplug it and confiscate the items. Show them you are immovable in this endeavor.

Give yourself a reality check and learn to say, "Oh well." You are NOT Suzy Homemaker. Aren't you trying to be Danielle Steele or YOU the author? Schedule all appointments around YOUR schedule -- including family members. (By the same token, don't forget to have that pad and pen with you while you while away the hours at the dentist's office, doctor appointments, etc.)

Stake your claim with clear tactical actions, locations, rules and enemy consequences.

It is futile to try to make others not so inclined, to understand the fragility of grasping a train of thought, or a thread that reveals itself in the writing process. Creativity is many things -- none of them simply explained. Interruptions, while seemingly harmless to others, can cause a kernel of greatness to evaporate faster than the tiniest drop of dew. This is in essence what you seek to forestall and protect.

If you are firmly and comfortably insulated and can reach into your space, you grant yourself a real chance to produce something outstanding.

Do you WANT to write?

Then heed the words of "The Boss":

"No retreat, baby, no surrender!"

Your DMZ will become a welcome fortress of creativity, and everyone else will learn to just deal with it.

===
BIO:
===
Jill E. Vaile is a freelance photojournalist with a passionate devotion to electronic rights issues. Her photographic interests range from shooting beautiful California landscapes, to her fave rock bands and her 200-pound Newfy Companion, Ralphie. He is also the inspiration behind her design company, NEWFAngled Designs. Jill writes columns, articles and books on subjects including rights, legal issues, tech, gardening, cooking and restaurant reviews. She is also the Editorial Manager at Moondance.org.

Jill can be contacted at: jill@jilleliz.com. You can see some of her pictures at her galleries: http://jilleliz.com/Galleries.html

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FEATURED ARTICLE:
Turning Your Speech Into a Book
By Alyice Edrich
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**

Most speakers want to become published authors, but don't know where to start; after all, they're speakers, not writers, right? Nothing could be further from the truth. All great speeches start with an idea. That idea then finds its way to paper to be memorized and spoken in front of a crowd. All great books also start with an idea and make their way to paper. But
instead of being spoken to large crowds, they are read by crowds of thousands.

When asked what prevents a speaker from writing his or her first book, the answer is often a resounding: I don't know where to start. That's no different than an author saying to himself, "I have an idea, but I don't know where to begin."

With speakers, their main obstacle is getting past the idea that they are no longer speaking to an audience face-to-face. Therefore, how can they take what they know and organize those thoughts into something that is not only readable, but comprehensive?

While it is true that speaking differs from books, it isn't difficult to take a speech and turn it into a book when you know where to start.

The first thing you, as a speaker, should do is to take all your speeches, on the same subject, and line them up on your desk (or kitchen table) by chronological order.

Once your speeches are in chronological order, it's time to do a quick glance over each speech. The idea is to pretend that the person you are speaking to is new to your subject and will need you to take him/her by the hand. As you read from one speech to the next what do you find missing? Is there a speech you could write to fill the gap between paper A and paper B? If
so, write that speech.

Once you've written enough speeches to flow from point A to point B it's time to begin the process of turning those speeches into books. It's time to add meat, or content, so that you begin forming a book.

Give each speech a chapter title. In the same chronological order, retype or paste your speeches into Microsoft Word®. This now becomes the basis (as it's more than an outline) for your book.

Go back to speech one, which is now Chapter One. As you glance over your document, say a prayer for God's wisdom over your work. Ask the Lord to help you find clarity in what you write and to turn your words from speech to book format.

Take a deep breathe, and trust your instincts. As you read over each one of your speeches, begin filling in the missing pieces. Add content to anything that could make your chapter clearer for the reader who knows nothing about your subject. Add statistics, examples from your business life, humor and above
all, don't hold back the knowledge that is within you.

Once you've done this with each speech (chapter) let your book sit for a day or so while you find experts to quote. Once you get your quotes, go back to your book and insert the quotes in the appropriate spots.

In a matter of 45 days you will have your very first book.

Happy writing!

====
BIO:
====

Alyice Edrich is the author of several work-from-home e-books, including one that allows parents to earn $50 in two hours without joining an MLM or home party business. She is also the editor of The Dabbling Mum.com, a national publication for BUSY parents (http://thedabblingmum.com).

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FEATURED FICTION:
Prometheus Laughing
By James I. Wasserman (severed_head@yahoo.com)
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**

Richard Nolan looked in the mirror.

He growled at the 36-year-old-man staring back at him. Unshaven, too much gel in his slicked black hair, a damned polyester suit. "Rich men don't have to shave." Richard said. He
contemplated punching the mirror. He couldn't. Despite that inner distaste, that dull, numb arrogance, he could only clench his trembling fists. He remembered the transaction that happened earlier today.

Johansson looked nervous. He was always nervous. Frikkin loser, Richard thought to himself. "Look," the scientist said, hands shaking, "I don't know about this, Nolan. Y'know. Y'know they monitor our security cards. Know when I come in and out. It's
encoded on the card."

Richard glared at him. "Pal, do you want in or not? You told me about all this. All you have to do is go in and out. Just take the vial. Say hello and goodbye."

"It's not that easy," Johansson replied. The scientist was shaking again. He clung to his keys like they were his umbilical cord, leading back into the womb.

"What did I say just now? You told me in and out. If they don't have cameras in there that's their problem. They got a bunch of those things, right? Just take one and say goodbye."

"And what then? They'll find out."

"So they'll find out. Later. Meanwhile I'll be fencing that damned stuff and we'll be both rich and you won't need to go back. I told you, I can get us hidden."

"I'm not sure."

Nolan grunted. "I know about you, Johansson. You don't do this and I go write a letter to your boss maybe, how you had an idea to steal."

Prometheus.

That was what the little vial in Richard's left hand contained. That was what mattered. He had the stuff and Johansson was dead. No loose ends. "I killed a man." Richard thought aloud, remembering twisting the knife in the man's chest. Stupid idiot.
Little nervous bastard. Would've been a problem anyways, the dumb prick.

Prometheus-1128 had been Pursuing Technologies' greatest achievement. No one had known about it except the scientists who worked on it. The neurotic Hans Johansson had been one of them. It was supposed to be a cancer treatment that would reverse cell growth -- some kind of virus that rewrote cancerous cells' genes and stopped them from dividing and forming tumors. A revelation. Possibly the most incredible discovery ever made.

Richard Nolan and Hans Johansson had several things in common, then: neurosis and greed. Only the similarity was unequal. What Johansson lacked in greed Nolan made up for in abundance. They had met at a friend's wedding, and while a little drunk, had a bit of a discussion in the men's room.

"So you work at Pursuing Tech, eh? Lotsa good shit going on there, I suppose?"

"Man, you have no idea. They don't either. Only a couple of us really know what it can do."

"Really? Bein' a scientist would make you pretty rich, wouldn't it?"

"Well, the stock in this thing would."

"Hey, I used to do a bit of...ah...nosin' around. Ever think of more than stock?"

And so it had begun. A partnership between a scientist with an inferiority complex and a sloth electrician. It was that very complex, that crack in the principles of an underpaid chemist that had made Nolan predator and Johansson prey.

"Dead chemist." Richard muttered to himself. He smiled, then scowled. In Nolan's mind, the only real money lay in easy money -- money that was earned by selling false real estate or toxic swampland. That was losers' business. He, however, had really pulled something off.

Prometheus.

Richard Nolan placed his prize, soon to be placed in the eyes of more subversive (and wealthy) biotechnological institutions, in a metal safebox under his bed.

"Well, it's gonna be a long night tomorrow." Richard grinned, this time at his kitchen. It was a morbid kitchen, entirely decorated out of shades of greasy black and white. The only item that disturbed the peace was a rather large potted plant that sat quietly in its beige ceramic pot in the corner. "I'm gonna be rich." he said, and began his planning. He withdrew the switchblade he used to kill Hans Johansson from his jacket pocket and placed it on the kitchen table. The blade was clean.
"Must have wiped it." He muttered as he walked away.

* * *

The night went quickly. Richard awoke at 6am. Usually he'd be heading over to some chump's house, fixing their bloody television, maybe making some money selling free cable.

Not today.

He stood outside the newspaper stand a few blocks from his apartment, still silently gloating about how easy it had been. And no one could connect him to Johansson, really -- the scientist was the thief. Nolan just happened to be there to bleed him and claim the prize.

"Buck-fifty," The greasy proprietor of the stand said as Richard picked up a copy of the local daily newspaper, The Herald, a tabloidesque, overstuffed volume which catered to mostly those with short attention spans and a grade-three reading level. Like Nolan himself.

"Yeah, yeah. Just takin' a look here, buddy." Richard
said.

"Buy the thing."

"Prick," Nolan mused, tossing some change at the man, who had to bend over and pick it up.

***

Richard returned to his apartment to find that it had been festering more than usual. He had left a pizza box, like the rock of ages, opened on the kitchen counter. There was a distinct odor. He didn't care, nor did he notice that the blade he placed on the counter was gone. "Lessee what we got." He said, opening The Herald.

He expected to see...well, something. Local scientist killed. Pursuing Technologies scrambling to find the lost treasure.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing about Johansson, nothing about the company. It was almost utterly absurd. It occurred to Richard that it was convenient -- well, no report, he was in
the clear. A cover-up maybe; but no obituary for Johansson? It was if none of it existed.

"What the hell?" Richard was now used to talking to himself. Who else did he have to talk to? His boss? His ex?

The phone rang. Richard jumped, alarmed. He grabbed the receiver. "I quit, you lousy old bastard." He said pre-emptively, grinning like a maniac. How I've waited to say those words to that old prick, he thought. But it wasn't his boss.

"Is this Richard Nolan?" A voice asked.

Richard hesitated.

"Who the hell--?"

Click. Whoever called hung up.

Richard felt the creeps coming on. Alarm bells. "I killed a guy!" He shouted. "This is all bullshit!" A cold shiver went up his spine. He remembered vividly how he had slashed Johansson. It was a little odd, though, now that he thought about it. The man had had no expression. No look of surprise. As if in some
weird way, he had expected it. Easy. His stomach twisted. Then, remembering the vial, Richard rushed into the now rank-smelling apartment to the safebox.

It was still there, in all of its glory.

Richard's eyes widened and he looked closer. There was something wrong. The vial was cracked. A pungent odor escaped from it. "Jeezus shit!" he exclaimed. Panic rushed through him. He steadied himself, but almost felt like he was coming apart. The phone call, the missing news, the vial -- oh, the vial. That was all he had.

Richard bolted from the room, aware only that his shirt was wet. Cold sweat, Richard thought, "Jesus Christ, what the hell is happening?" Thoughts raced. It had been easy to get away with
this. Johansson had been a good boy, a good dupe. That was it --Nolan had not been careful. Had he thought this through? Had he really learned about this thing he had stolen, this thing that he intended to fence for some quick (albeit very extravagant) cash? What was Prometheus-1128, and why had Johansson gotten it so easily? That nervous guy. One day, the conversation and the next, he just had the damn thing.

Cancerous tumors. Cell growth. The cure for cancer? But how did that thing really work? He hadn't cared at the time. Johansson had said. Well, nothing. Nothing much, really.

Richard tried to focus on the situation at hand. He ran into the corridor and stopped short. The potted plant was on its side, dirt spilled. But there was something much more disturbing there.

Several feet down the hall stood what looked to be a humanoid figure. Humanoid, but not. It was mossy. Green like leaves. A wiry mass of green with two empty eyeholes and a mocking mouth.

Richard turned tail and ran. He didn't know where he was going, but he ran. When he looked around himself he realized his location: the kitchen again. He had been running in circles. Richard was also aware of a horrible cramp in his stomach. "Not now!" he thought. "Oh god, no time for a tummyache now! Oh please. Please!"

The vines, Richard pondered with a chill, that thing...it looked like...

...like Hans Johansson.

The man, that man who had never seemed to exist, who gave him Prometheus, what the scientist said could stop cell growth. Cell.

Growth.

Richard bolted from the thing. He yelped like a child. His stomach turned and he realized his shirt was wet. He threw it off, saw the gaping mouth and empty eyes staring up at him from his stomach, grinning, mocking the silly little man, paled and fell.

Outside, there was a hand-delivered note lying on the stairs:

Dear Mr. Nolan,

Enjoy your newfound treasure.

Jillian Banks, Ph.D.
Human Testing Division, Pursuing Technologies, Inc.

===
BIO:
===

James I. Wasserman is a 29-year-old Ph.D. student. He is mostly a horror writer but dabbles in dark humor and fantasy. He has featured stories in The Dogwood Journal as well as Planet SF,
Zygote in my coffee and upcoming publications in Wild Violet magazine, Dark Fire and Anathematic online journals. Wasserman is always open to comments, other venues to publish or
a chat. He can be reached via http://www.jamesiwasserman.com.

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End of Section I
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Scribe & Quill ~ February 2005
Section II
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ISSN: 1098-6375

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Instructor: J.M. Cornwell
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QUOTABLES
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"I am interested in language because it wounds or seduces me."
--"The Pleasure of the Text" by Roland Barthes

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SCRIBES OF NOTE
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**

At Scribe & Quill a virtual quill is our way of congratulating scribes of note who have made an article sale, published a book, snagged an agent/publisher or have reported to us a number of other notable successes in writing/publishing.

Our quills are virtual because they exist only in cyberspace. We honor the recipients here with an old-fashioned pat on the back and publication of your news so our readers can celebrate with you!

Have a success you'd like to trumpet to the rest of world? Send your triumph to editor@scribequill.com with VIRTUAL QUILL in the subject line.

This issue's virtual quills are awarded to:

A.J. Conley (conleya@cedarville.edu) has published "The Monster's Mind: A Novella" through Publish America (http://www.publishamerica.com).

USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Forster's (rebeccaforster@aol.com) newest legal thriller, "Silent Witness," has been released by New American Library.

Michael LaRocca (michaellarocca@yawweb.org) has created a new e-book he's giving away free. It contains the best 34 articles about writing from four years of his newsletter, Mad About Books. You can download your free copy, in PDF or EXE format, at
http://freereads.topcities.com/freebooksonthenet.html He's also updated his free "How To Get Published" e-book. You can download it at the same place, in HTML or EXE format.

Margaret Mascarenhas (masc@sancharnet.in) has signed a representation contract with Ellen Levine at Trident Media in New York City, NY. She also signed a contract with Replicacao Editora (Portugal) for the Portuguese translation of her first novel, "Skin" (Penguin-India 2001, Mercure de France 2002).

James Sandefer (scorpios@robsoncom.net) has published "Mental Abyss - Struggling to Survive Clinical Depression." The book is available at most bookstores and through his Web site at http://www.depressionsurvival.com.

Joy V. Smith's (pagadan@aol.com) marketing article, "Spreading the Word," will be in the March/April 2005 issue of Working Writer: http://www.workingwriter1.com/

Karen Wiesner (http://www.karenweisner.com) has announced that her upcoming book from Writer's Digest Books, "First Draft in 30 Days," is available for pre-order from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and BooksAMillion.com as well as http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/kswiesner/nonfiction2.html#order

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Books by Author Marilyn Meredith!

"Wingbeat" is the latest in Marilyn Meredith's Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series. As often happens, Tempe, the resident deputy of Bear Creek, a small community in the southern Sierra, finds herself torn between loyalty to her minister husband, her job and her Native American heritage. The book begins with the wingbeat of an owl -- a harbinger of danger, suspicious newcomers -- and a hidden marijuana farm, a false accusation, a grandfather's heartache and murder.

"Bad Tidings," written under the name of F.M. Meredith, is the second in the Rocky Bluff P.D. series. Lt. Tom Gilbreath, called "the old hound dog" behind his back, must often deliver bad news and receives some of his own. His wife, Marlene, knows as much about what is going on with the Rocky Bluff P.D. as her husband and even more about the other officers' private lives.
Officer Joe Guzzo has a perfect wife and a wandering eye. A knock-out, Officer Georgia Lindquist captures the interest of all the single guys in the department and the notice of the married ones. Two murders bring chaos to the beach community of Rocky Bluff and keep Lt. Gilbreath busy as he faces a crisis of his own.

To learn more about these books and others, visit Marilyn's Web site at http://fictionforyou.com

~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**
FEATURED COLUMN:
Grammar Goofs: Loose Vowels
By J.M. Cornwell (jcornwell@peoplepc.com)
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**~~**

Grammar is about more than just punctuation, rules and exceptions. It's also about using the right words and knowing how to spell them correctly.

There are some words that are spelled differently but sound alike. They are called HOMONYMS. There are other words that if you change one vowel you change the meaning and these words can be mistaken for each other if you're not careful. So, without further ado, we'll jump into the fire and see what pops up.

You might not have noticed it, but one of the words that people use interchangeably — and wrong — is in the paragraph above: FURTHER. Further is confused with FARTHER. Did you notice the difference? One vowel changes the whole word. Maybe that's why they are so often mixed up. Further and farther both denote distance or advancement, but one is advancement in physical distance and the other in time or degree. Do you know which is which? Simply put, FARTHER is physical distance and FURTHER is advancement in time or degree. If you remember FAR is distance, you should have no trouble telling these two words apart.

Bob walked FARTHER down the road.
Alice saw it was late but wanted to read FURTHER in the book.
Bob and Alice chose to FURTHER their education by going to graduate school.

The next culprits are simply homonyms: to, too and two. We can almost forget about two because it is seldom mixed up with TO or TOO and it is the only number of the group. However, TWO is one of this group of homonyms. It's easy when you're typing or writing to forget to add the extra O, but it does change the meaning of the word. TO is like a director or pointer and it has to do with direction. TOO, however, is something else altogether. Every time you see TOO think ALSO or IN ADDITION because that's what it means. TOO is also used to denote degree.

There is one special grammatical nicety to remember when using TOO. When you use TOO to mean also or in addition, it should be separated from the surrounding words by a comma.

Bob got up and went TO the medicine cabinet to get the aspirin.
Alice had a headache, TOO, and asked Bob for the bottle.
Bob thought Alice had TOO many headaches.

A friend recently drove down to the business district and noticed a sign that said: Will Build to Suite. Can you tell what's wrong with the sign? Some people would pass it and not thing twice, but being grammar hounds I'm sure you know what's wrong. If so, you have spotted our next victims of loose vowels. Add an E to SUIT and you have SUITE, but they have entirely different meanings. SUIT can be a verb or a noun, but SUITE is always a noun.

Bob asked Alice to go into their hotel SUITE and get his black SUIT from the closet.
Alice thought Bob's emerald green tie would SUIT his green eyes.

A SUITE is a group of rooms or a group of complementary computer programs, according to computer programmers. A SUIT is a group of coordinated clothes, playing card designs. They are similar, but that one loose vowel changes the meaning.

There are lots more loose vowels slipping and sliding in and out of sight. Keep an eye out for them.

===
BIO:
===

J. M. Cornwell is a nationally syndicated freelance journalist, author and editor with a sense of humor and a desire for endless amounts of work.

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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
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Adams Media, Inc. in Avon, Massachusetts, is compiling an anthology of stories for a new book tentatively titled "HerStory: Why I Live in my Bathtub and Other True-Life Stories about the Moments that Make Us," to be published in Fall 2005. The book will contain 30 true stories -- written by strong women like you -– that celebrate the moments that help women everywhere deal with the cathartic stuff of life. They are stories about women who have taken charge of their lives and inspire us to take charge of our own destinies. Genuine, edgy, sometimes ironic but always authentic, these stories might have such themes as:

• A woman takes the proverbial bull by the horns and proposes marriage to her live-in boyfriend
• An overworked software engineer dumps her six-figure job and heads to London to fulfill her life-long dream of becoming a professional belly dancer
• A mother of three finds a way to preserve her career and stay home with the kids
• A middle-aged single woman with a ticking clock says to hell with a husband and heads for the local sperm bank
• A harried new mom rekindles the flagging romance with her husband
• A young artist uses her canvas to heal the divide between herself and her mother
• A disillusioned grad student abandons the city to take up organic farming in the country

No essays or vignettes, but good stories with a beginning, middle and end that highlight a milestone or turning point in your life, large or small, approximately 2,000 words. Contributors whose stories are included in the book will receive $200 and a copy of the book upon publication.

Send your stories to the email shown below by March 10th, 2005.

If you have questions or need further information, please contact:

Indi Zeleny, Editor
Box 1312
Carmel Valley, CA 93924
zindiz@yahoo.com

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FEATURED WORKSHOPS
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SECOND ANNUAL LISTENING ROOM

INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITER'S RETREAT, FEBRUARY 15 - 21,

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN

You have to act quickly! Songwriters from the US, Denmark and UK are signed up to gather for an intensive week of co-writing, networking and development of craft at Big Sur Lodge, Pfeiffer State Park, Feburary 15-21, 2005. Limited space with a maximum of 20 participants.

Songwriters wishing to be considered as participants for the February event can send an inquiry e-mail to brett@brettperkinspresents.com or magnus@henrymiller.org for further information. Participation is open to writers at every level, and based on a review of their current works.

More detail here: http://www.henrymiller.org/SWW1.html

***

2nd Annual Fiction Workshop for adult novels, young adult fiction and narrative nonfiction
March 11 - 13, 2005, (2 PM Friday - 2 PM Sunday)

Last year we had our first annual Fiction Workshop for adult novels, young adult novels and narrative nonfiction. The workshop was a great success so we're excited to continue to offer this workshop.

If you have a manuscript in progress our workshop will provide you with the tools you need to prepare your work for publication. Add the magic and inspiration of the Big Sur setting, gourmet meals, a professional and positive faculty and we promise you will have an unforgettable, insightful, fun and creative weekend.

Through intimate personal meetings, small-group evaluations, panel discussions and much sharing of information, our goal is to have you leave Big Sur with the knowledge and advice on how to get your work ready for submission and acceptance by agents and publishers. To achieve this we have recruited top agents, editors and authors from the fiction part of the publishing field who are most instructive, supportive and giving to new writers.

More detail here: http://www.henrymiller.org/FWW.html
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Henry Miller Library
Highway One, Big Sur, CA 93920
Phone/Fax 831-667-2574
Web site: http://www.henrymiller.org
E-mail: hmlib@henrymiller.org

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BOOK REVIEWS
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RATING LEGEND:

**** Quills = Excellent
*** Quills = Good
** Quills = Fair
* Quills = Poor

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"Villa Fair" by Bernadette Gabay Dyer
Reviewed by: Judith Woolcock Colombo (judithcolombo@hotmail.com)
Publisher: Beach Holme Publishing, Vancouver
ISBN: 088804104
Rating: * * * Quills
http://www.beachholme.bc.ca/fiction/villa.htm

Inspiring and mesmerizing, mysterious and haunting, amusing and surprising, anticlimactic and ordinary are the adjectives that best describe the collection of stories within the pages of "Villa Fair." Jamaican-born Canadian author Bernadette Gabay Dyer draws upon her Caribbean heritage as well as her Canadian experiences to present us with a varied collection of
stories that takes the reader on voyages to the past, the present, the Caribbean and the North American and European continents.

"Leaving Fargo" is the tale that transports us back in time to the 1500s to one of the first expulsions of Sephardic Jews from Portugal and Spain. This is the story of one of the author's paternal ancestors, Jacob Israel Gabay, a 16-year-old artist who finds himself, along with his three brothers and dying mother, in the hold of a Spanish galleon heading away from
persecution in Portugal toward the unknown. Jamaica, a new land, promises freedom. However, all is uncertain to the fatherless brothers who, by the time the new land is sighted, have now also lost their beloved mother. Well-written and beautifully told, this story reminded me of the tales surrounding the journeys to Jamaica made by both my maternal Sephardic Jewish ancestors and my paternal African ones. This story, like the ones I grew up with, spoke of fear, grief and finally hope.

"Man, Man," also set in the past, is a spellbinding tale of a ten-year-old slave boy who loves to wander the plantation grounds from the sea to the Great House. No one questions the boy's presence as he moves unmolested around the estate. Eventually, the young master brings a new bride home from
England. The appearance of this lonely and sorrowful child immediately evokes the sympathy of the young mistress. None of the servants or the slaves she questions about the boy will answer her satisfactorily, so she follows him one night only to find out the haunting truth.

Some stories, although not as finely crafted, are delightful or amusing tales. In "Ackee Night in Canada," a Jamaican artist serves up a fatally delicious meal to a straying lover. In "Peaches and Crème," two young women vie for the attentions of a handsome young man only to have him run off with their middle-aged aunt. In "Six Little Sparrows," a Pakistani family brings color to the dull gray days of a librarian who does not really realize their contribution to her days until they return to their homeland.

Other stories, although well-written, leave the reader unsatisfied. "An African Out In The Cold" is such a tale. We are introduced to two young men Jomo and Anjoli, childhood friends from Africa. We learn of their friendship and their importance to each other. We see Jomo arriving in Toronto to visit his friend only to find an empty apartment and no sight of Anjoli. The narrative builds to a climax, except the climax never really happens and the story fizzles out.

It is obvious from many of stories in this book that Ms. Dyer is an excellent writer. Therefore, I found "Villa Fair" the title story to be disappointing. This story is told in the style of 18th-century romances, such as "Jamaica Inn" and others in that genre. The young master of the plantation goes to England, meets a beautiful young maiden, marries her and returns home. Time passes, they have an only son who falls in love with a mulatto woman of dubious virtue and has an illegitimate child with her. The story of course ends tragically. However, although both the story and its language is cliché, it could still be an enjoyable read for fans of
Victorian romance tales.

Although, I found some of the stories weaker than the others overall, this is a good collection. There is something for every taste. Many will find the stories set in the Caribbean exotic or nostalgic, or the romances their cup of tea. All will enjoy the excellent tales.

===
Bio:
===
Judith Woolcock Colombo is the author of "The Fablesinger" and "Night Crimes," now available in e-book format from the publisher at http://www.publishamerica.com. For more information, visit Judith's Web site at http://odin.prohosting.com/~night01, or send her e-mail at judithcolombo@hotmail.com.

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"Elizabeth I CEO: Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire" by Alan Axelrod
Reviewed by: Judith Woolcock Colombo (judithcolombo@hotmail.com)
Publisher: Prentice Hall Press, New Jersey
ISBN: 0735203571
Rating: * * * * Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0735203571/scriquil

When I was a child, I studied British history. Among all the monarchs that truly ruled England, I came to regard Elizabeth I as the greatest monarch that country ever had. As I grew up and read more about her, I came to admire her courageous and intelligent leadership. I admired her as the woman who took a bankrupt and dissolute nation and turned it into a prosperous and productive one.

Elizabeth took a nation impoverished by wars and built it into a vast empire, especially with England's acquisitions of lands in the Americas. Of course, like every leader, her actions started a chain of events that had diverse future consequences, some wonderful for her nation, but terrible for the other nations that became ensnared in England's empire building.

However, no one can really argue that Elizabeth was not a wise and prudent ruler given the times in which she ruled and the condition of the nation that fell into her hands at the age of twenty-five. Although many of her tactics of absolute rule could not be applied in a modern nation, her methods of accepting responsibility not only for her own actions and those
of her subordinates, but in commanding the love and loyalty of her people are unparalleled by any modern leader.

In "Elizabeth I CEO," historian Alan Axelrod has taken many of the traits and practices Elizabeth used to turn the fortunes of a nation around and applied them to the running of a modern business. Axelrod states, "You can learn that being a leader is being a leader, whether your enterprise is a Renaissance kingdom, a small business, a major corporation, a corporate
department, or a three-person work group with a job to do."

Axelrod uses Elizabeth's behavior and words to map a blueprint for corporate survival, personal image building, staff development and control and success. The author uses 136 examples from Elizabeth's life and rule to make specific points. He illustrates these points with incidents taken from
Elizabeth's life and from her superb speeches. Many of the examples, such as the ones illustrating pointers such as "Survival Is Never About Panic," "Control The Message Not The Messenger" or "Taking The Path Of Creative Compromise," are valid applications of Elizabeth's principles of rule to
modern business practices.

However, other pointers, such as "Getting Your People In Line" that illustrated Elizabeth's endeavor to get the bishops to enforce the unification of the church, unsuccessfully apply an example, however valid, from Elizabethan England to modern business. There are a few of these stretches in the book. Nevertheless, Elizabeth I CEO works not only because there are many interesting and successful comparisons between how this
remarkable woman ran a successful country and a modern business leader building a successful company, but because to many people the life and rule of this woman is a fascinating example of how one can rule creatively and ethically.

One thing I learned from this book was that to rule a nation or a company and to rule it well is an extremely difficult task. It was even more so in Elizabeth's day when a nation's dissatisfaction with a leader would not lead to impeachment, but to imprisonment and execution.

I really liked this book, but perhaps not for the reason its author intended. Although many of Axelrod's arguments are valid, I found the book most interesting, not as a blueprint to running a business or carving out a corporate empire, but as a character study. I have always admired courage, honesty and conviction. Elizabeth I was a woman and ruler who embodied all
of these qualities.

In a time when Kings and Queens ruled by divine right, she genuinely cared for her people, wooed them and moved among them listening to them. Often she refused the easier path and traveled the difficult one because it was the correct thing to do. This book brings that aspect of Elizabeth's reign to
light. Instead of recommending this book to corporate CEOs or managers, we should present it to presidents and prime ministers. I highly recommend it.

***

"Body Double" by Vicki Hinze (http://www.vickihinze.com)
Reviewed by: Mindy Phillips Lawrence (mplcreative1@aol.com)
Publisher: Silhouette Bombshell
ISBN: 0373513267
Rating: * * * * Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0373513267/scriquil

Vicki Hinze is a conscientious, exciting writer. In "Body Double," the first book in her War Games series, Air Force Captain Amanda West, a former CIA operative and current U.S. Air Force paramilitary S.A.S.S. (Secret Assignment Security Specialist), is in peril. She is buried in a vault in
the Middle East and wakes up in the United States after being kept alive by IV injection. Three months of her life have been replaced by emptiness. Portions of her memory have been stolen in a plot to use as fodder for her kidnapper's cause. She teams up with investigator Captain Mark Ross, who also has sections of his memory wiped away, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Hinze's story is realistically based on the thoughts she had as the U.S. military sought the true Saddam among a myriad of clones. It is this information she draws on in having Amanda West discover a number of agents who have been turned into doubles and programmed for nefarious uses by GRID (Group Resources for Individual Development). Amanda seeks answers to the number of doubles, who they are, where they are and how they were created. In the mix, she allows herself to become intimate with Captain Ross. But is it Ross or his clone she is with that night?

Amanda's life is marred by flashbacks of the abuse she suffered as a child at her father's hand. She has trouble trusting anyone, especially males, which adds to her danger to others as a paramilitary agent and the danger to herself at the hands of a memory thief who can manipulate her fears. The intricate plot further includes the enemy's knowledge of her abuse and
Amanda's knowledge that GRID leader Thomas Kunz was also an abused child. The two take different roads in dealing with their past. Amanda fights for her ideals and the security of the country, Kunz for utter control.

Hinze keeps her story moving. Although Amanda is seldom out of trouble, she is one of the strongest female characters that has come along in some time. The plot and subplot mesh well, and Hinze keeps the acronyms simple, explaining them clearly in the beginning.

If you intend to read this book, first take care of personal business, get your drink and find a comfortable chair. You won't be getting up until you are finished.

***

"Haunted" by Tamara Thorne
Reviewed by: J. M. Cornwell (jcornwell@peoplepc.com)
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
ISBN: 0786010908
Rating: * * *1/2 Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0786010908/scriquil

First the hint of sweet, warm and sultry night-blooming jasmine that hints at passion and fantasies come true. But as you embrace the scent, the rising stench of decay and the freezing cold of a black heart that won't die, will drag you towards the gates of hell.

Bestselling horror author, David Masters, has just moved from New York City to the coast of California to live in Baudey House, the scene of his latest horror novel. David feels his books are most believable and sell better when he is scared to death. Baudey House, home to gruesome murders and alleged
hauntings stronger than any David has experienced before, is about to teach him why it was nicknamed Body House, and he and his daughter Amber will learn the true meaning of terror -- and the sacrifice of love.

"Haunted" is Tamara Thorne's first novel under her own name. She previously wrote for Kensington Publishing under the name of Chris Curry, ostensibly to hide the fact that she was a married woman and not a young male who fashioned tales of blood-soaked murder, mystery and mayhem.

Using her research into and experiences with the paranormal, Thorne fashions a convincing tale in "Haunted" that transcends the horror genre and gives it the feel of an everyday occurrence. Some of the characters in the book are merely walk-ons, but each one is carefully drawn with quirks and warts
intact. The reader gets the sense that Thorne knows these people intimately and has merely changed their names to hide their identities.

One of the best features of "Haunted" is the delicate balance struck between fact and fancy, romance and death, all of which is overlaid with seemingly unrelated details and bits of information that become a tightly and subtly woven tapestry of terror that creeps up on you when you least expect it. Thorne's voice is absent throughout and never interferes with the tale. The details are understated, almost as though Thorne is writing about her neighbors instead of recounting a saga of possession, voodoo, grisly murder and the tender moments between lovers separated by death and consigned to walk the boundaries between limbo and hell.

If you haven't discovered Tamara Thorne yet, put her at the top of your list.

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"The Jane Austen Book Club" by Karen Joy Fowler
Reviewed by: Sonali T. Sikchi (sonali_sikchi@hotmail.com)
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (2004)
ISBN: 0399151613
Rating: * * * * Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0399151613/scriquil

People magazine has declared us to be living in "a Jane Austen moment." What has suddenly, unexpectedly, made Austen so hip? In 1995, Hollywood actress Emma Thompson and director Ang Lee vividly brought Austen to the limelight through "Sense and Sensibility." Since then, other Austen novels, such as "Persuasion," "Emma" and others, have also been made into films. However, "Clueless" and the wildly popular "Bridget Jones's Diary," riffs on "Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice" respectively. They are Austen-lite, if you will, having made Jane Austen into an adjective with the unfortunate, incorrect infamy of being the founder of chick-lit.

The latest book off the presses, "The Jane Austen Book Club," stands apart from the usual Austenesque offerings these days with its complex cast of people, intricate relationships, social commentary and the astonishing power of dialogue rife with shades of meaning.

"Each of us has a private Austen," writes Karen Joy Fowler in this bestseller, a book about a book club that reads only works by the 228-year-old author. Through the individual perceptions of Austen that each of the five women and one man bring to the club discussions, we discover the characters' personalities and quirks. As Fowler deftly weaves the various threads of the story together, she demonstrates what Austen does best: keenly observe and strongly critique the economic circumstances and social and cultural restrictions that limit people's choices in life.

This book club in California's Central Valley meets for six months in each of the members' houses. It starts out in Jocelyn's house, since the group was her idea and she handpicked the members. The members form the thoroughly dissimilar group united only by their interest in Austen's works. We focus on Jocelyn and her past and present life history. Even though the prologue briefly outlines bare minimum details of each of the six persons, we have some idea going into the rest of the book what to expect from everyone. Through the individual sections, organized by club meetings, Fowler adds layers to the club host's story as well as uncovering bits of the other people's history.

Jocelyn runs a kennel and breeds Rhodesian Ridgebacks. Queenie, Sahara and the others are the only family she has. She met Sylvia at a summer camp when they were both 11 years old. They have remained friends for more than forty years, even through Sylvia's marriage to Jocelyn's former boyfriend, David. Now the thirty-two-year old marriage is in the separation phase of its break-up. When Sylvia's daughter, Allegra, was 19, Jocelyn spent six months introducing her to suitable men, despite Allegra's advertised preference for women. Since that fiasco, Jocelyn has just as earnestly spent 11 years producing suitable young women.

At 28, Prudie is the youngest of the group. She teaches high school French and is the only one in the club who is still married. At 67, Bernadette , a kind, thoughtful, grandmotherly sort who loves to ramble on and on, is the oldest member. Then there is Grigg, a dapper man in his early 40s with incredible eyelashes and a shockingly non-elitist love of science fiction.

As we understand each individual person, and see their marriages dissolve, affairs begin, love happening, we discover their different Austens. We also start asking ourselves, "Who is my private Austen?"

***

"The Forgotten" by Tamara Thorne
Reviewed by: J.M. Cornwell
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
ISBN: 078601475X
Rating: * * * Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/078601475X/scriquil

Even psychologists have trouble letting go of the past and moving on -- until it pays them a personal visit. Will Banning is in the midst of a therapy session with one of his patients when the window behind his desk shatters and birds hurtle into the room broken, bloody and dead. But that is just the beginning for the residents of Caledonia, California who are about to find out that there are things that go bump in the daylight, too.

In "The Forgotten," Tamara Thorne departs from her usual horror track and ventures into government conspiracy and mental tampering. She doesn't leave the ghosts behind, but instead provides a stage for the existence and interaction of both that will keep the reader guessing whether the ghosts or the conspiracy are real up to the very end.

One of the delights of "The Forgotten" is the very realistic personalities of Will Banning's cats, which are written in minute and loving detail. The cats are as much a part of the story as the humans and provide an almost comic relief, as does a dog named Anteater and other pets. What provides the real fright is not gruesome ghosts or ghostly visitations, but the
machinations of Banning's older brother and his military connections.

The story is difficult to slide into at first because of the seeming lack of Thorne's usual touch of horror, making the reader believe they are about to dive into yet another tale of government conspiracy that is a weak version of the "X-Files," but once the story gets rolling it is relentlessly fascinating, if a little tedious and predictable in spots. Despite the
uneven pace, "The Forgotten" is a fairly light and often enjoyable read. Thorne even adds a cameo appearance from David Masters -- the horror novelist from "Haunted" who still lives in Baudey House -- to give pragmatic Will Banning a different perspective on the paranormal through his experiences.

If Thorne had lavished as much detail on the main characters as she put into the animals, and especially Banning's cats, "The Forgotten" would have been a much better and less predictable book. Despite it flaws, here is the ring of truth that proves Thorne has not run out of ideas, nor lost her deft touch in telling a fascinating tale that will make the reader question
reality and pay closer attention to the shadows.

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"Serpent's Dance, Book One:
Secrets of Self-Mastery Lessons 1-21" by Shri Yannam
Reviewed by: Sonali T. Sikchi (sonali_sikchi@hotmail.com)
Publisher: Authorhouse (2002)
ISBN: 0759658463
Rating: * * * Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0759658463/scriquil

The title "Serpent's Dance" immediately evokes an image of snake charmers, exotic spices, vibrant silks and all the external accoutrements of an Asian culture far removed from our lives. However, Shri Yannam's book is a direct antithesis of that image. It is a life manual on personal transformation --
internal, individualist, quotidian. Yannam hopes that his book will "...enrich your life, inspire you to knit and reintegrate your inner selves, and weave you back into our beautiful tapestry of human consciousness."

"Serpent's Dance" is essentially a dialog between the teacher in the form of Siddhah the cobra and the author who is the student. The premise of the story is that a tornado hits the author's home, and in the whirlwind of energy and natural forces, a vortex opens up allowing the author to perceive
and comprehend a mythical, idealized, almost deific being and his teachings. Following true Zen traditions, this teaching is done through a one-on-one conversation between the teacher and the student.

The main goal of a person's life is to keep the yin (masculine) and the yang (feminine) in balance in all things all the time. For example, consider the serpent's first secret, "Relinquish while thou persists, and thou shall succeed." Siddhah explains this by saying that if you find yourself struggling too hard for some of your goals without achieving them, then there is an imbalance within you. The masculine has taken control over
creativity; thus, relinquishing the masculine by letting go of the attachment to the goals frees up the feminine creativity. At the same time, by harnessing the persistent masculine to allow creativity full rein leads to the success that has so far been elusive.

In another example, the serpent says, "Become what thou seeks, and thou shall have it." By this he means that if you are trying to be happy, then all you will succeed in doing is trying. Trying to be happy means that you are searching for happiness, but are not happy at this moment in time. So if
you want to truly be happy, become the embodiment of happiness. When you recognize that the happiness you seek outside is actually already present within, "you empower the feminine." When you modify your behavior to leverage this recognition, "you empower the masculine." A balance between
the yin and yang results in the desired success.

By using fanciful protagonists and an illusory premise, Yannam enables the reader to relax into the fictitious framework he sets up, thereby allowing the reader to be receptive to the deeply philosophical aphorisms he expounds on. The presentation of the problem, the revelation of the maxim and the subsequent explanation are set forth in a logical and rational manner,
without being pedantic. And this makes the book accessible to a wide range of readers.

***

"The Devil Wears Prada: A Novel" by Lauren Weisberger
Reviewed by: Sonali T. Sikchi (sonali_sikchi@hotmail.com)
Publisher: Doubleday (2003)
ISBN: 038550926X
Rating: * * Quills
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/038550926X/scriquil

With a killer title and a stint on her resume as an assistant to Anna Wintour, the powerful editor of "Vogue" magazine, Lauren Weisberger brings us a fictitious tale of a young college graduate in her early 20s who goes to work for Miranda Priestly, the all-powerful editor of "Runway," the ultimate magazine of the fashion industry. As one of two personal assistants to Miranda -- "a job a million girls will die for" --Andrea Sachs's entire life is mercilessly dominated by the incessant demands of her inhuman boss. Miranda's behavior is so insanely over-the-top that it's a gas to see what she'll do next.

Weisberger's verve for humor and dialogue keeps the story of the nightmarish job in a light vein. For instance, when Miranda goes to Paris for the collections, Andrea receives a call back at the New York office (where, incidentally, she's not allowed to leave her desk to eat or go to the bathroom lest her boss should call). Miranda shrills over the line, "I am standing in the pouring rain on the Rue de Rivoli, and my driver has vanished. Vanished! Find him immediately!" Andrea's life is a nonstop litany of such cryptic requirements by Miranda interspersed with outward disdain and inner rhapsodies over Jimmy Choos, Prada and Versace.

The thin plot reveals characters who are flat and shallow. What remains unclear is why Andrea thinks that, despite having no writing credentials, she can land her dream position as a writer for "The New Yorker" by becoming a personal slave of a fashion editor, no matter how influential that editor might be. What is also unexplained is why throughout the majority of the book she feels justified in being a spineless doormat, ditching her loyal friend and boyfriend so that she can have a stab at that job. Of course, tritely in the end she does the right thing and ditches the boss and returns to the bosom of her family and friends.

If you read the first chapter, then you know the rest. What is essentially a short story has been made into a book with all the filler pages describing hilarious and outlandish tales of her evil boss, the skinny and chic staff in their expensive brand-name outfits, the fashion editors who double as make-up artists, the $200 Hermes scarves that are treated as disposable tissues and so on. However, the hyper storytelling style and language and occasional bending of the rules of grammar seem to work for this tale.

===
BIO:
===

Sonali T. Sikchi is a Seattle-based freelance writer with feature articles and book reviews published in national and regional magazines such as History Magazine, Alaska Airlines Magazine, Horizon Air Magazine, Scribe & Quill, uncapped, Citysearch and others. As a freelance editor and proofreader, she works with authors, book publishers, magazines and
nonprofit organizations. She can be reached by e-mail at
sonali_sikchi@hotmail.com.

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RENEGADE WRITER CONTEST!
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>>>Scribe and Quill Renegade Writer Contest – 2005 <<<

How to WIN a Copy of "The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success" by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell.

Happy New Year to all of our wonderful readers! Linda Formichelli, co-author along with Diana Burrell, made Scribe and Quill an offer we couldn't refuse – A copy of their new book, "The Renegade Writer," to give away as a gift to one of our readers.

Here's how you can have the chance to win this lively volume on how to take your conventional writing unconventional and profitable in 2005. Send Scribe and Quill a 400-500 word article on the most unconventional and successful way you have networked with another writer, editor or publisher to promote your writing (either articles or books). We are all ears! One will win, others may be published. Include your name, e-mail address and your writing genre. ** Entries OVER the word count will automatically be disqualified! ** We will announce the winner in the April issue.

The deadline for ALL contest entries to be submitted is midnight on March 15, 2005. After that date, we turn into miffed editors and pull the chute under your writing chair, sending your entry into the slush pile. Send all entries to either mplcreative1@aol.com OR scribequill@adelphia.net with [SQ – Renegade Writer Contest] in the subject line.

Best of luck!

Mindy Phillips Lawrence
Mplcreative1@aol.com

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Love is in the air this Valentine's Day at Jewels of the Quill! To show our appreciation of our loyal fans and to celebrate the holiday we as romance writers love best, Jewels of the Quill will be giving away a $30 Shopping Spree in the Jewels of the Quill Merchandise Shop http://www.cafeshops.com/jewelsshop (USA citizens only) along with a cache of e-books including my entire Angelfire Trilogy (one book offer per winner;
no country limitations). To enter, you must be a verified member of our Fans of Jewels of the Quill Newsletter. Only Fans of Jewels of the Quill newsletter members (set to receive mail) will be eligible to enter. Subscription to the Fans of Jewels of the Quill Newsletter is free to all. To subscribe, visit the Jewels website http://www.JewelsoftheQuill.com,
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FansofJewelsoftheQuill/, or send a blank e-mail to FansofJewelsoftheQuill-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Winners will be chosen from our Fans of Jewels of the Quill member list on February 28th. Please feel free to invite your friends!

You can win a download copy of my mainstream romance novel "Reluctant Hearts," Book 1 of the Wounded Wounded Warriors Series, in BooksWeLove.net's Valentine Contest. Visit my fiction giveaways page for more information: http://www.karenwiesner.com

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Karen Wiesner and Chris Spindler are giving away the official
Falcon's Bend pen, knife and bumper sticker (deadline March 31). Visit the Falcons Bend Community at http://www.falconsbend.com

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THE LAST WORD --
RECOMMENDED LINKS FOR WRITERS:
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Absolute Write http://www.absolutewrite.com
Arts & Letters Daily http://www.aldaily.com
BookWire http://www.bookwire.com
The Burry Man Writers Center http://www.burryman.com
CreativityforLife.com http://www.creativityforlife.com
Done Deal http://www.scriptsales.com
Fiction Addiction http://www.fictionaddiction.net
FundsforWriters http://www.fundsforwriters.com
HollyLisle.com http://www.hollylisle.com
Hollywoodlitsales http://www.hollywoodlitsales.com
MediaBistro http://www.mediabistro.com
Mom Writers http://www.momwriters.com
National Writer's Union http://www.nwu.org
Poetic Voices http://www.poeticvoices.com
Publishers Lunch http://www.publisherslunch.com
Romance Central http://romance-central.com
Spicy Green Iguana http://www.spicygreeniguana.com
Visual Thesaurus http://www.visualthesaurus.com
Will Write 4 Food http://www.willwrite4food.com
Word Dragon http://www.worddragon.com
Worldwide Freelance Writer http://www.worldwidefreelance.com
The Writer Gazette http://www.writergazette.com
Writers Weekly http://www.writersweekly.com

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