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Writers Can Make a Difference

7/22/2015

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2015 Muskoka Novel Marathoners at Nuit Blanche in Huntsville – Photo credit: BL Storrie
I AM A WRITER! Or so I tell myself, almost every day.

That doesn’t sound like a problem, but it is. My dilemma is I don’t always write every day. Sometimes, I can go a week or two, without writing a single word of any real relevance to my current work-in-progress. Instead, I’m using my spare time to help other writers in a very unique way, by making decisions, by composing emails of encouragement, by pumping up the writers and getting them excited. You see, I volunteer as the Muskoka Novel Marathon Writer Liaison, and if that’s not enough, I also do all their social media postings and tweets, plus take care of their website for the whole year. I encourage the 40 participating writers to fundraise for the YMCA Literacy Programs, because I believe strongly that everyone should be able to experience the 
Magical World of Reading. This year, we raised over $29,000 for these programs that help people who are struggling with basic reading, writing, math and computer skills. This makes me feel pretty good. That’s over $6000 more than last year’s amount. I’m definitely smiling.

This past weekend, we finally experienced the moment, where all 40 writers gathered to spend 72-hours straight in one room… TOGETHER!

To continue reading this article, go to Ascribe Writers website where I'm guest blogging there today:
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                                                         Ascribe Writers Guest Post by Lori Twining
​

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Burn Baby, Burn Baby Blog Tour

12/10/2014

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BURN BABY, BURN BABY, Kevin Craig's fourth Novel, a contemporary young adult novel is being released by Curiosity Quills Press on December 11, 2014... that's TOMORROW. You can PRE-ORDER a copy today at AMAZON for only $4.99 for a Kindle version. Click the button below:
pre-order here
Today, I have the pleasure of being part of the Burn Baby Blog Tour and sharing my Review of the novel with you. Before I do that, I just want to tell you that I am a huge fan of YA (Young Adult) novels. I'm an avid reader and I read books from every genre, but, I love the YA category the best. In fact, I am also a writer in the same genre, so believe me when I say, "I KNOW MY YA! With that said, I will just blurt out, Burn Baby, Burn Baby was a FANTASTIC QUICK READ!

I read this book in one evening, while sitting in my rocking chair, wrapped in a fleecy blanket, chewing on my fingernails (especially during the last seven chapters or so). Actually, I believe this is the ONLY book I've read during 2014 (out of 83 books so far), that I have stayed up past my bedtime to finish reading it. It was that good. 

I do have a confession I want to throw out, actually it is more of a brag... I believe, I was actually in the same room as this writer, when he was pounding the keyboard during the Muskoka Novel Marathon writing this very novel. Kevin Craig is a machine. He hardly ever sleeps. I have been lucky enough to watch him create four novels over the past four summers and I can't wait to read each and every one of them. The amazing part of this, he was writing these novels while raising money for Literacy. What a wonderful cause to support!

Kevin has a talent with developing characters you fall in love with like Francis, the main character who is abused and bullied almost all his life. I dropped a tear or two reading about specific moments he spent with his father. I just wanted to reach inside the book and hug the poor boy. Take him home with me and try and protect him. Kevin created Francis's best friend Trig, who continuously stood up for Francis and was his full-time protection against the meanest kid in high school, Brandon Hayley, who I couldn't help but despise. Kevin, also created Rachel, a girl who was able to look past the ugliness and find only things to smile about... and kiss gently. My emotions were all over the map on this book: I went from happiness, to anger, to frustrated, to horror with every page I turned. I could easily picture this novel as a movie, as Francis was quite often doing, and I feel that I actually knew a few of these kids when they attended my high school back in the day. 

This book was a fantastic portrayal of the every day teenage life, with sticks and stones thrown in to make us gasp, including some trial and errors of coping with his problems, using methods such as alcohol, that every child experiences at one time or another. Teens are often struggling to find the right path on how to deal with small issues, let alone larger ones that happen near the end of the book. Sometimes, it's hard facing the truth of what life is like behind the closed door...sometimes, you never know. I loved the references of the Shakespeare quotes and the Paul Simon mentions. I can't give this away though, no spoilers from me, so you'll just have to wait and read it yourself. It's not what you think, I promise. PLUS, I loved all the author's acknowledgements at the end of the book... I possibly shed a tear or two.

Burn Baby, Burn Baby is a must read for all kids over the age of 12... and any parent who might have a child living in their house who may be abusive to others, or more importantly, may be the one getting tortured and is now scared to leave the house for worry, he may never come home alive.

You should add this novel to your Christmas Wish List this year.  ~  5 out of 5 Stars.

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Description from back of the Book:

Seventeen-year-old Francis Fripp’s confidence is practically non-existent since his abusive father drenched him in accelerant and threw a match at him eight years ago. Now badly scarred, Francis relies on his best friend Trig to protect him from the constant bullying doled out at the hands of his nemesis, Brandon Hayley—the unrelenting boy who gave him the dreaded nickname of Burn Baby.

The new girl at school, Rachel Higgins, is the first to see past Francis’s pariah-inducing scars. If Brandon’s bullying doesn’t destroy him, Francis might experience life as a normal teenager for the first time in his life. He just has to avoid Brandon and convince himself he’s worthy of Rachel’s attentions. Sounds easy enough, but Francis himself has a hard time seeing past his scars. And Brandon is getting violently frustrated, as his attempts to bully Francis are constantly thwarted. Francis is in turmoil as he simultaneously rushes toward his first kiss and a possible violent end.

About The Author:

Kevin Craig is the author of three previous novels; Summer on Fire, Sebastian’s Poet, and The Reasons. He is a 4-time winner of the Muskoka Novel Marathon’s Best Novel Award. Kevin is also a playwright and has had eight 10-minute plays produced. His poetry, short stories, memoir and articles have been published internationally. Kevin was a founding member of the Ontario Writers’ Conference and a long-time member of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region (WCDR). He is represented by literary agent Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group. 

Find Kevin Craig Online:
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

Find the novel, Burn Baby Burn Baby on Goodreads
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Author Kevin Craig
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Winners of the 2014 Muskoka Novel Marathon

9/28/2014

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2014 Muskoka Novel Marathon Writers ~ Huntsville, Ontario
I've known this exciting information for over a week and didn't even remember to share it with you. As you know, I was one of this year's Muskoka Novel Marathon organizers. This means, instead of blogging here on my own site, I was blogging over there at www.muskokanovelmarathon.com. If you are curious as to what the novel writing marathon is all about, go visit the site. It's worth a few minutes of your time.

The Muskoka Novel Marathon took place July 10-13, 2014 in Huntsville. 

The Official List of winners:
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Read More
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Can Twitter Help Writers?

5/19/2014

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Twitter... unless you live in a remote area of the World, you probably know what Twitter is, right?

Basically, it's a small post or status update told in 140 characters or less, called a #Tweet.  You can add pictures and videos to the message, if you like. 

Twitter uses #Hashtags to make it easier for people to follow the the topics that they are most interested in, such as #writing...people who like to write, will check on this hashtag to see what other people are writing.

In 2009, an intelligent woman by the name of Johanna Harness started the hashtag #amwriting. I love this particular hashtag, because, a writer can always find someone else online, no matter what time of the day, no matter where you are in the World, and you can communicate with them. If you're having writer's block, jump on board and talk with someone else who either just experienced the same thing, or is struggling with it right beside you (virtually, of course).

At first when I joined Twitter, I must admit it was extremely overwhelming for me. Sure, I knew how to communicate with other social media sites, like Facebook, Pinterest, Blogging, etc., but Twitter was different. So many people collecting followers like they were playing a video game. I did sit back and watch for a while. I became friends with a few people that I actually knew already (my kids and a few friends) and watched what they had to say. Truthfully, most of them were using it as a chat line to talk to friends in the same room as them, at the same party, or in the same town. I wasn't interested in that. I wanted to meet other writers and authors. Why? Because, I like to call myself a writer, even though, I have a real paying job that I go to Monday to Friday 8-5 and sometimes, even longer than that. I have three busy kids who play sports everywhere and often. Enough said about that. 

So, obviously, I didn't feel I had enough time to dabble in social media I knew nothing about, right?

Wrong. As a writer, this is the place to be. I strongly urge you to join Twitter and become a Tweeter.

Here are 10 Reasons Why Writers Should Be on Twitter:

  1. Editing Skills: Twitter forces a writer to condense their comment or ideas into 140 characters. Believe me, this is hard, if you are a novelist. 140 characters takes an extreme amount of editing skills. You must choose your words carefully. It helps you weed out all the unnecessary words in your work.
  2. Supporting Other Writers: Not only do you receive support from other writers, but you are able to give other writers support as well. You want them to succeed too. You can help each other by using writing tags like #amwriting, #WritingBuddies or #MustKeepWriting. Offer encouragement to each other and help celebrate their achievements. You are writing together, only many miles apart, or sometimes many continents apart.
  3. Network & Meet Other Writers: Networking with other writers is perfect when you are attending Writer Conferences around the World. After having several conversations with these writers online, you can meet up at conferences and you already have a friend. You seek each other out and you have someone to sit with...and be nervous with, while you wait to make your pitch to an agent. You are instant friends.
  4. Find Useful information: This is critical to a writers' life...finding more information on topics such as conference locations, writing contests, submission to writing anthologies, finding out about agents seeking certain manuscripts, writers' groups meeting in your area, online courses, furthering your education, etc. A wealth of information is at your finger tips. I like to call it an opportunity that you should not miss out on. Example: I just received news that I am being included in a writing anthology being published in the Fall, that I originally noticed on Twitter and Facebook. I figured, "What the heck, I'm going to submit something. No one will know that I'll get rejected but me and my hubby." So, I did it. I submitted and BAM! They accepted two pieces. Now, I'm doing the Snoopy Happy Dance around the house.
  5. Promote Your Own Writing: This bit of advice should be taken as a percentage of promoting yourself and others with a 20%-80% split. If you continuously promote your book 100% of the time, people will stop following you immediately. They already have your book, if they want it. If you tweet personal statuses, they are able to see you as a real person and they will eventually like you for you, and then they will check out your website link and find out you have books for sale. So, 20% should be about you and 80% regarding other people's work, by retweeting about them or what they have to say. Make friends.
  6. Inspiration & Motivation: You can find writing prompts from various established writers, like Sarah Selecky who offers up a daily writing prompt. You can get inspired by listening in on other writers conversation about their love for hockey, baseball, music, birds or flowers, etc. You can get pumped up and motivated by some of your virtual friends encouraging you to attend a conference with them (my favourite is the Ontario Writers' Conference in Ajax), or enter a short story contest or a 3-Day Novel Writing Contest like the Muskoka Novel Marathon (one of my favourite writing events of the year).
  7. Build your Writer Platform: A Writer Platform is something that takes time, and I don't mean hours or days, I mean years. The visibility you have as a writer is what will sell your writing. If you have your own website and you are blogging once a week or once a month, people will read your posts when you tweet them, post them to Facebook, etc. You will increase the traffic on your site, making a bigger readership. Don't think that once you finally get that huge publishing contract in your hand, that you will start promoting yourself then, because it takes years! Do it now, spend an hour or two a week tweeting, blogging, posting, whatever you need to do, to just get your name out there. People need to know your name. Believe me, when you show up at a writers' conference and someone looks at your name tag (yes, we all have to wear one)... and that person you have never met before, holds out their hand to you and says, "Oh, you are Lori Twining (insert your own name for a grandeur effect), I know that name. It's great to finally meet you!" Those three sentences will make your heart fill with happiness and you will be floating on clouds for the rest of the conference, not to mention blushing. This actually happened to me at conferences, and as I say, it made me feel so spectacular, that I turned around, tucking my shyness into my pocket and boldly confronted other writers that I recognized their names from social media, making them smile too. More instant friends.
  8. Keep up with the Publishing World: This is important to know where the publishing world is headed. Are e-books taking over? Should you forget about your dream of being published in a book format? You know, a book, you can hold in your hands and smell as many times as you want in a day? Literary Agents are posting to Twitter every day about the kinds of stories they are interested in reading & promotion. They are even posting courses they are running regarding how to get that agent, or how to approach an agent properly. They help you with your query letters. They make suggestions as to what you should be concentrating on to get published. All very important topics for a writer. I just signed up for a course in the States, being run by a Literary Agent living here in Canada. I met her three years ago at the Ontario Writers' Conference. She will personally edit 15 pages of my work and give me suggestions on how to make it better. If she thinks your writing is awesome, she will ask to see more. These little steps to networking with Agents and figuring out your craft are crucial to your Writers' Life.
  9. Learning Your Craft: I know you have been writing for years, but there is always something that you don't know about your own craft. I love following certain authors who give tips and suggestions about their writing life. It's not only informative but it gives you hope, and encourages you to carry-on with your writing. Sometimes, writers, and yes, I'm speaking from experience here, want to quit writing because you think your work sucks. Well, finding out someone like Stephen King or Chuck Wendig have moments of uncertainty, makes me feel better. I thought I was the only one out there in Writerland that has these "myworkisshitmoments".
  10. Job Opportunities: People laugh at me for tweeting and they say I'm wasting my time...BUT, if they only knew how many freelance writing jobs you can obtain while on Social Media. Seriously, businesses all over the planet are looking for help with writing their silly song jingles, their promotional material for selling their products. Twitter will help you find these jobs. Bottom line, you will finally come to the point where you will say, "Who needs that 8-5 paying job anymore, when I can stay home and make money from my office, doing something I love to do...and that's WRITE.  
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My Twitter Buddies & I, meeting up at the Ontario Writers' Conference in Ajax this year.
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New Writing Marathon

4/21/2014

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Did you hear? There's a new 3-Day Novel Writing Marathon coming to Toronto. 

If you've never experienced a 72-hour writing marathon, you really should add it to your Bucket List. It is an amazing experience for a writer. I know, it sounds overwhelming at first, thinking about trying to stay up for 72 hours straight, but something happens to you...you find amazing strength, just like a superhero, and surprisingly, you can do it. You will write and write, until you hear the horn signifying the marathon has come to an end. It's all thanks to the little brain chemicals, called endorphins. Neurotransmitters send messages pumping through your nervous system, giving you the ultimate energy to keep going and going, like that little Energizer Bunny.
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I've had the pleasure of participating in quite a few 3-Day Novel Writing Marathons:
  • The International 3-Day Novel Contest (Vancouver)
  • The 3-Day Novel Marathon (Owen Sound)
  • The Muskoka Novel Marathon (Huntsville)
So, I was very excited to hear there was a new one that popped up within driving distance of Owen Sound. With all the writers scattered across South-Western Ontario, there is no doubt in my mind that this marathon will be successful. Seriously, if you have never experienced writing in a 3-day novel writing marathon, you must participate in one.

Check this opportunity out at: TaNoMa

PictureMartin Avery & Cynthia Langill
There is one very cool detail about the Toronto Novel Marathon (TaNoMa) that you may not know... the same guy, who is one of the co-founders for this new writing marathon was also a co-founder for The Owen Sound 3-Day Novel Marathon, The Muskoka Novel Marathon (MNM) and The Great Canadian Winter Novel Marathon in Pickering. 

The guy who gets all this credit is non-other than, Martin Avery! He has some amazing experience at organizing a writing marathon (and writing novels ~ check out some of his books HERE). This year, he has teamed up with an elementary school friend of his, Cynthia Langill, and together they are organizing a novel writing marathon to raise awareness and funds for Recovery from Addiction. 

Sponsors' donations will go to Renascent, an abstinence based treatment centre facility that treats men, women and families with addiction issues (a 12-step philosophy).

TaNoMa Details

  • Writing Marathon Date: August 1st - 4th, 2014
  • Place: Renascent’s head office at 38 Isabella Street in midtown Toronto. 
  • How many writers: There is space for 27 writers this year and they expect that number to double by next year.
  • Registration Fee: $100
  • Rules: Go to TaNoMa Rules and regulations HERE.
  • Prizes and Judges: Go HERE.
  • Charity and Fund-raising information: Go HERE.
  • Follow TaNoMa on Facebook
  • Follow TaNoMa on Twitter
  • To Register: Go HERE.
Think about it...this is your opportunity to participate in the FIRST EVER Toronto Writing Marathon! 

You'll even get a cool T-Shirt to wear while bragging to all your other writing friends. 


Just go ahead and do it...SIGN UP NOW!  :)
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    Lori Twining

    I love reading everything... books, magazines, blog posts and even manuals. I believe if you want to improve your writing skills, you MUST be a voracious reader.

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