A semi-rant on rudeness and blogging

Okay - I was in a ranty mood the other day and read a friend's blog that had a kind of ranty thing on it and thought I would post a rant of my own. I never got around to it and the rant kind of passed, but I am posting the stewed down version of my rant.

I like to think of this as just at no one in particular but then at everyone - lol - not directing to anyone in particular. Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes fame comes to mind when I thought about posting this originally.

So here is my rant, sort of - I've bookmarked tons of blogs (mostly writing related or people who write and/or are published). I try to visit blogs at least once a day, sometimes more if time permits and comment on several of them. Common courtesy says if someone visits you and speaks to you or posts a comment on your posting or in response to other commentors, then have the decency to acknowledge your commentors. I don't even care if it is a personal note or if you come to my blog and post an off the wall comment to something on my blog - just show that you are reading the comments and taking some time with your blog (this is your online presence, unless you have a website that is taking up more of your time). And those of you who just post something and never say anything back to your commentors, that is just rude.

Okay - now I'm off the little soapbox, and back to working - I shouldn't let this bother me but it does. If you aren't receiving the comments that's one thing but if you are getting them and reading them and want to keep people coming back to your blog, please post something back in the comment field to show that you are taking some of the advice or comments to heart. -

I hope I haven't been rude to anyone who comments on my blog and have at least let you know I've read your comment or appreciate the advice or something - because rudeness doesn't cut it in my life. My kids were fussed at last Sunday after returning from their trip to Baton Rouge for some rudeness towards some of the older adults who were in attendance, and when I found out, my kids assured me that they were not involved in this situation. They know better because I don't tolerate rudeness from them to me and definitely not to someone in the church, regardless if it is a peer or someone who is there to make sure they are safe and that they stay together (even if that person seems stricter than me) - I'm thankful I have raised them somewhat decently to have respect of all adults around them and to not let their peers dictate how they behave away from home -

Anyway - that is the rant - so it's passed and not anything big - just so you all know - see you all in the postings - E :)

Metallic colored butterflies

(Pink and Silver with gold body - Hailie has claimed this one)

So I went to Wal-Mart for groceries last night and bought some metallic markers (which I was really looking for the other colors of the Bic markers for the butterflies) by Prang - 6 colors - gold, silver, blue, green, purple and pink (but when it colors on the butterflies it looks bronze or dark rose or maybe a cross between a pink and bronze - but definitely not pink like I expected). Anyway - now I've colored four butterflies using all the metallic colors - so thought I'd share with you all - Thinking of selling them, by taking orders - hahaahah - no one will buy them, I couldn't even give them away for the contest - no story orders to get the butterflies and now I'm not published so can't give them away either - so now I'll just color and share with you all - here they are -

silver and gold with pink body

purple and silver with pink body

Blue and Green with pink body

Musing our Children Media Release

M E D I A R E L E A S E

For Immediate Release



Contact: Lea Schizas
E-Mail: museitupeditor@yahoo.ca

Website: Musing Our Children website



The Muse Reading and Writing Appreciation Week is coming to a school near you in October.

The Muse Reading and Writing Appreciation Week is a new initiative intended to reach school-aged children and parents across the world. Our goal is to introduce parents and children to local writers and authors who are passionate about creative writing and reading.

Delve into the imagination and bring a child with you!

Scheduled for the week of October 15-19, Reading and Writing Appreciation Week will reach around the globe. Authors, writers, and volunteers will visit schools and offer free handouts and information to anyone who would like to be involved in helping children and parents understand the value of reading and writing.

If you are interested in having a volunteer come to your classroom to read or to speak about writing during the week of Oct 15-19 please contact/email Lea Schizas at museitupeditor@yahoo.ca

Teachers, parents, and writers can remain updated throughout the year with tips, ideas, and readers’ thoughts and suggestions on how we, as a community, can ban together to help children understand the benefits of reading and writing via the Musing Our Children website: Musing Our Children website

Share the love of reading with a child or student and watch their world blossom!

Anyone interested in volunteering to read to children or talk to them about writing during the week of October 15, can contact/email Lea Schizas at museitupeditor@yahoo.ca or check out Musing Our Children website for more details.

Muse It Up Online Conference

I'm a guest speaker for this conference to take place in October. If you have some time to drop in, come hear what different authors and editors and others involved in the publishing world have to offer. Click here to check out the schedule of events or to see who is participating. See you all in the postings. - E :)

what kind of girl is your MC

Take this quiz with your MC in mind and see what kind of girl she is. Kelly is smart - but all that history stuff paid off for her - E :)

You are a Brainy Girl!

Whether you're an official student or a casual learner, you enjoy hitting the books.You know a little bit about everything, and you're always dying to know more.For a guy to win your heart, he's got to share some of your intellectual interests.A awesome book collection of his own doesn't hurt either!

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofgirlareyouquiz/">What Kind of Girl Are You?

CONTEST REVERTED

I regret to say that the contest is no longer valid. My stories have been reverted and are no longer "published". I was hoping the contest would be a way to pick up sales numbers but alas, no story to read, no reason to hold a contest - sorry to all you wonderful followers out there. E :)

GOOD NEWS AND SEMI-GOOD NEWS

Butterfly Halves was at the #5 spot last week on http://www.fictionwise.com/, Echelon Press's page (on the left side, scan down towards the bottom, where it says browse and a list of ways to browse, go under publishers), find Echelon Press and then you can see where stories are sitting on that board), and this week with the new additions and updates, it is still at #5. This may mean no sales but the books behind me didn't sell anything either or maybe one sale, enough to keep me in that postion, even with everyone above me selling - hope it means the latter - sales are good. But since this is the last week of the accounting period, I would like to see more sales, especially since I'm running a contest - see previous post.

The Tulip Kiss had been at #18 and today, it's up to #15 - so woohooo - means maybe one copy sold, enough to bring it up six slots.

I'm trying to come up with an idea for a contest for The Tulip Kiss, something I can do as a giveaway but am not coming up with anything right off the top of my head. If anyone has any ideas of what I can do as giveaways for the contest, I'm open to suggestions - Bring it on - E :)

Sample butterflies for Butterfly Halves contest

ENTER BUTTERFLY HALVES CONTEST AND WIN YOUR CHOICE
How to enter the contest:
1. Purchase your copy of "Butterfly Halves" from www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/ElysabethElderingeBooks.htm.
2. Read through (shouldn't take more than half an hour of your time to read).
3. Email me at eeldering@gmail.com and tell me the names of the two girls and what their occupational choices were at the end of the story.
4. Indicate your choice of two colors for your butterfly from the below list.
5. Include a mailing address for your butterfly to be sent to you.

It's that easy. So come on girls, read a good short story and win your butterfly today.

The color choices right now are from the Fashion group and include: Sunset Orange, Forest Green, Playful Purple, Rambunctious Red, Deep Sea Blue, Yellow Blaze, Key Lime, Blue Skies Blue. (Two colors are missing but should be found soon - they are Hot Aqua and Fundango Pink)
For the next run of the contest, I will change to the Earthly Expressions colors. The colors in that group are: Prairie Berry, Desert Rose, Harvest Orange, Adobe Orange, Honey Brown, Moonstone Yellow, Meadow Green, For-Ever Green, Misty Blue, Midnight Navy, Plumtastic Purple, and Stone Grey (not necessarily a butterfly color but it might work in combination with some of the other colors).

The third run of the contest will be choice of Paradise Pastels. The colors here are: Petal Pink, Pink Flamingo, Peach Parfait (almost sounds like a dessert), Summer Melon, Lemon Bliss, Tiki Hut Tan, Margarita Green, Lime Sorbet, Tranquil Teal, Oceanview Blue, Polynesian Purple, and Cloud Nine Grey (hum, I never knew Cloud-9 had a color - the place where dreams are made of - lol)

I've colored a few butterflies and scanned them into the computer so you can see what they look like - Let me know what you think.

Enter today and win your own butterfly - hand colored for you - E :)

Butterflies

I was sitting here thinking - I'm running this contest on http://www.myspace.com/elysabetheldering for butterfly halves and I have this metallic tempera paint, why not see if the paint sticks to the rubber butterflies and I did three of them - a gold one, a bronze one and a copper one. I also had some acrylic paint from a small stencil kit I purchased this weekend, you know those little cups of paint for like paint-by-number kits or things like that? Well, I thought wonder if this metallic will work. So i did three of them. Then I did the acrylic paint on a butterfly. I think they look pretty cool here but you be the judge - tell me what you think of my butterflies. I'm probably going to color them with permanent markers as that seems to do the best or the small acrylic paint things, because they look so much better. If anyone enters the contest and wins, they will receive their choice of colors for the butterflies (which I will give to them when I give the winners their notice) or a temporary butterfly tattoo. So purchase your copy of Butterfly Halves from http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/ElysabethElderingeBooks.htm and then come over to myspace and answer my contest questions.

FEEL THE POWER OF THE BUTTERFLY - contest

I'm running a contest on myspace for Butterfly Halves. Please see my link to enter the contest. - E :)

http://www.myspace.com/elysabetheldering

Butterfly Halves hits #4 best seller on Echelon Press's list

Now if that isn't good news, I don't know what it is. Check out the fictionwise listing --- http://www.fictionwise.com/eBooks/EchelonPresseBooks.htm. This is the listing for the third week of Butterfly Halves being up. I hadn't even checked the listings today but someone informed me on the Echelon Author's forum this evening that I was #4 - so I'm doing the happy dance -


Yay - so glad you all have been by to purchase my story - thank you all my friends and readers - E :)

What movie is your love like

I agree with this to a point. There is a typo or something missing in one of the lines and I'm not really sure what it is supposed to say - but most of this rings true for me - E :)

Your Love Life is Like Titanic

"Promise me you'll survive. That you won't give up, no matter what happens, no matter how hopeless." You think that you only really have one true love in your life. And that you better to anything and everything to be with that person. You tend to be very nostalgic about past loves that didn't work out. There are many secret feelings that you keep to yourself. Your love style: Deep and emotional Your Hollywood Ending Will Be: Bittersweet

What Movie Is Your Love Life Like?

Tagged meme

LindaBudz from Just Like the Nut (http://www.justlikethenut.blogspot.com/) has tagged me for my blog’s first ever meme!

The ground rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I read her meme and one of them spurred something that I hadn't thought of in a long time, so here goes my meme:

1. When I was in 8th grade, living on the base at West Point, my father was a "medic" in the hospital. I would miss the school bus on purpose (even missed the late bus (the second bus) that ran) every once in a while, couldn't get away with it every day and take the public bus to the hospital and sit there and observe people coming into the emergency room (usually when my father was working and I knew when the last bus ran up the mountain to our house or my father could take a dinner break and take me home). One time, a young guy had come in; he had been in a fight and there were knives and probably other weaponry involved. Of course since he had been stabbed in the chest, they needed x-rays. There was a big commotion about the x-rays being reversed, the x-ray techs being incompetent, et cetera. After three sets of x-rays, it was determined that the man's insides were reversed, literally - his heart was on the right side and his lungs were turned around - it was like someone had flipped his innards. He was lucky this was the case because if he had been "normal", the knive would have probably punctured his heart or done more damage than it did. He walked out of the hospital, alive and patched up. (See Linda's embalming comment - don't know why her witnessing two embalmings triggered this -maybe it was Weird Occurrence in my lifetime thing).

2. The year my father was supposed to go to Vietnam, he received orders to stay in Germany (changing planes, handed new orders so a good thing - happened Thanksgiving day). When we first arrived in Germany, we had snow but that isn't the amazing thing (obviously in December there would be snow -lol). My grandmother from South Carolina came to visit us the following April (she loved to travel and would visit the families at some time during their stint at whatever base they were assigned). It snowed the night after she arrived, and the next morning we were doing the castle tour thing (must have been during spring break because I don't remember us missing school for her visit) and the temperatures had risen enough to melt most of the snow - although some places were out of the sun's reach. What we witnessed were women in bikinis on rooftops or other places that still had snow sunbathing (my grandmother wanted us to carry our heavy winter coats with us - which was yuck - 70+ degree weather and we had to tote the winter coats while women were out sunbathing).

3. I fell asleep at the wheel of my Taurus wagon once on a major highway and hit the guard rail and bounced back into traffic and pulled over to the side without much damage. I was more shaken than anything

4. I triggered an asthma attack by eating a half gallon of Mayfield's Moose Tracks ice cream - over a period of about 4-6 hours. Because I had been tested for food allergies a few years before this and had shown a positive to peanuts, the peanut butter cups triggered a similar reaction but not as severe as the allergic reaction to something I ate that prompted the testing.

5. My allergin testing for possible food triggers showed positive to almost every food I enjoyed and ate at the time. I still eat the foods I like except the nuts (almonds make my forehead and face itch - and that happened long before I got tested for allergies) and haven't had an attack quite like the first one.

6. I have worked in the same type of job for the past 20 years; and have worked at home for the past 7 of those.

7. I sprained my wrist on my first ever work study job. I worked in the cafeteria (at Montreat-Anderson College, now Montreat University I think) and my specific job was scooping ice cream. It was four days before I even knew my wrist was sprained - I had worked Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and dinner, Sunday lunch and dinner and Monday dinner and then started classes on Tuesday. My first class didn't have to write anything but my second class, Bible, we had to take notes and when I was attempting to write, I broke down in tears because the pain was too much. I looked at my wrist and it was very swollen.

8. I've had two anaphylactic reactions to aspirin (unrelated incidents) and one milder reaction. The wrist sprain led me to the first anaphylactic reaction to aspirin. I went to the school nurse and she wrapped my wrist and gave me some aspirin (had never had because my mother didn't keep it in the house, always telling us that if she ever got any aspirin in her system she'd have to have her stomach pumped - that's how severe her reactions are) because of the anti-inflammatory properties. I walked from the nurse's office down to the post office (all downhill), then back up the hill and up a flight of stairs to my French class. By the time I finished class, I couldn't breathe; it felt like my lungs were full of water and I was probably in a panic state. (I attributed my shortness of breath to the walking down the hill, up the hill and running up a flight of stairs to get to class before being late until the end of class when I was vaguely aware of what the instructor was asking me. It was a scary thing). Went straight to the nurse and she gave me some Benadryl and I slept the whole afternoon, sleeping off the aspirin reaction. Ended up having my wrist splinted for over three weeks, with a thumb spica (only half way up my thumb) the first time and then a full spica the second time - never was said it was a fracture (had tons of x-rays to check for it but I know I couldn't make a fist and it hurt like crazy).

The second incident happened about a week after the sprain and the reaction to the aspirin when I had my monthly and took some Midol for my cramps (apparently back then aspirin was a main ingredient in Midol; but the reaction wasn't nearly as bad as the first one - but similar - took some benadryl and slept it off)

The third incident happened when I was at a friend's house and her father was tuning my car or working on it and he had said something about feeling the radiator or something and I popped my finger in the fan (yes, dumb me - sticking my fingers on anything engine related while the car is running). It was the sensation that my finger had been cut off super quick but it only blood blistered in the end. They took me to military base emergency room and I must have been in shock because when they asked me if I was allergic to any medications, I told them no at first but then remembered before leaving telling them I was allergic to aspirin and had had two reactions to them. Whatever pain killer they prescribed to me, we think, must have had some aspirin in it. By the time we got back to my friend's house, I had watery eyes, was sneezing and going through the usual "hayfever allergy" symptoms. We all thought it was because of the cat but since it was happening outside and the cat was nowhere near me, we called the pharmacy back and they looked it up and sure enough there was such a minute trace of aspirin or a derivative of aspirin, that it triggered a simple allergy reaction. I was told to stop taking the medication immediately; I did and the symptoms resolved within a few hours.

And as you all can see from most of my items - I'm prolific at times. Guess that's what being a writer means, although there are times when the words don't flow as easily as these.

Now to tag 8 people --- hmmmm - who will be my victims, um friends to tag - lol - (the rules say I am supposed to say who I am tagging and then go to their blogs and let them know they've been tagged so my taggees will be Janelle, Chai, Kimberli, Writing Angel, Heather, Susan M., (that's six - maybe that will work) -

Enjoy - see you all in the postings - E :)

Free workshop this weekend - Editors and authors working together

I'm one of the contributors to the workshop - so if you are interested in working with editors for different things - stop on over and see us - E :)

T.E.L.L. Open Workshop Discussion.We are pleased to invite all writers and editors to participate in theupcoming discusssion on our yahoo grouphttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/literature-league.EDITING: EDITORS AND WRITERS WORKING TOGETHER.The discussion takes place on Sat 9th and Sun 10th June, from 10am - 10pmEST (3pm - 3am UK) each day. You can pop in and out anytime during thediscussion and take part in any of the threads/topics that have started,or pose a question to us our our guests.During the discussion we will explore:Copy Editing,Self Editing,Proofreading,Acquisitions Editing,Magazine and Newspaper Editing,Editor and Writer Etiquette,and more.We aim to provide writers with valuable information that could help themform better working relationships with the editors they work with in thefuture.To assist in this we have the pleasure of the company of the followinghighly experienced guests during the the 2 days:Brenna Lyons, who is multi-published in indie/e; at the height of her timewith one publisher, she had more than 4 dozen titles out and selling.She's the current president of EPIC, and has worked with many editorsduring her time as a writer. Brenna will be available on and offthroughout the discussion.Elizabeth Burton, who is currently Executive Editor for ZumayaPublications LLC, and has been an editor for almost 20 years. She is alsoan author of three published novels with a fourth, The Everdark Gate, dueout this fall, she has written three erotic romance novellas for eXtasyBooks and was a finalist in the Writers of the Future contest forspeculative fiction. Elizabeth will be available throughout the first dayand up till 1pm EST on Sunday.Jolie du Pre, who is a writer of lesbian erotica and lesbian eroticromance. Her stories have appeared on numerous websites, in e-book and inprint in Best Lesbian Erotica 2007 and more. Jolie is also the editor ofIridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica, published by AlysonBooks. She is the founder of GLBT Promo, a promotional group for GLBTerotica and erotic romance. She is the moderator for the Erotic AuthorsAssociation's blog and she is also a weekly contributor to The BlushingLadies Journal. Jolie will be available from 1pm EST on Sunday.Elysabeth Eldering, who has an article on editing and self publishing toher credit. She is also the editor of the paranormal mystery storyline forthe Magazine of Unbelievable Stories published by Quill-Pen Press. To hercredit, she has also been asked to edit novels for the same publisher inthe upcoming year. She has edited four novels and is in the process ofstarting her own editing service. Elysabeth also does book reviews forArmchair Interviews, Curled Up With a Good Book, and New Mystery Readersezine. In 2007, Elysabeth volunteered to judge mid length storiessubmitted for the Derringers Awards. She will be available from 1pm EST onSat.Between them, our four guests are very experienced in all aspects ofediting, and also in working with editors. Why not join us this weekendand either share your own experience and hints/tips, or find out how tobetter your working relationships with a writer or editor?Our yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/literature-league will hostthis discussion. Simply go to the group and join in order to participate.If you don't currently have a yahoo ID, follow the instructions at thispoint to get one. You can follow/participate through your email inbox, orfrom the group directly via the 'Messages' link on the left column of thegroup page (this is the quickest and easiest method).Some discussion rules:1) Stay on topic at all times. Diverse if you are trying to make a validpoint, but do not stray off into non-topic discussions.2) NO SPAM, and NO SOLICITING! There will be no warnings to anyone onthis. Do it once, and you're off the discussion and banned from the group.See you all on Saturday!Jim Brown

June - what a month - Birthdays galore

I told you before that there were tons of birthdays and remember dates in June so here they are -

1st - one of my cousin's b-day (we aren't in close contact so I couldn't tell you if it was Brian's, Sherrie's or Christopher's - so when I say one of the cousin's you'll know it's one of those three)
2nd - my brother's anniversary and I believe it is his 17th? - hum I guess I should call and find out what they just celebrated - again not very close so don't keep in contact
5th - MINE - A milestone for me - I'll be 45 which is probably half my life expectancy - woohoooooo -
6th - Brandon's, my nephew who my son was with during spring break and they got picked up by the cops which Benjamin thought was the coolest thing
9th - another one of the cousin's (see note above on the 1st)
15th - one of my friend's from high school
19th - the other cousin's (the only reason I remember the dates is that it was the 1st plus the 9th - to make 19 - lol)

There are more I'm sure and I'm too addled-brained to think of them all - we have a slew of them between the middle of May and the end of June - then things are quiet for a bit and pick back up in the fall - so more then when I can get everything together.

See you all in the postings - E :)

Mystery Readers/reviewers needed

Below is the information from today's posting under "Masterclass" - This is a relatively new blog and the postings have been really great so far. I would like to encourage all you mystery fans out there to post reviews on the site. Reviewers are wonderful to us authors.

you can see all the postings by going to www.criminalbrief.com - hope to see you all in the postings - E :)


Below, Doug Allyn makes a casual reference to his fifth Edgar nomination. He neglects to mention that he has actually been nominated seven times, more than any other mystery writer in any category, and once walked home with the little porcelain bust of Poe. He arrived on the mystery scene with a bang in 1986, winning the Robert L. Fish Award for Best First Short Story, which despite its name, is an Edgar equivalent. He has also won the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine’s Readers Choice Award more times than any other writer.

THE NOT-SO-SHORT STORY
by Doug Allyn
What a fun site this is going to be. In the premier essay, Ed Hoch posed the question, ‘why do I write short stories?’ and while I agree 100% with Ed’s answers, (the precision of the plot, the intensity of the experience), my own reply would be quite different.
As Samuel L. Jackson says in “Pulp Fiction,” (just after he shoots the kid on the couch) “allow me to retort.”
Here’s a dirty little secret short story writers guard like aces in a game of Texas hold ’em. As an art form, short stories offer more creative freedom than the novel.
Whoa, aren’t there limits? Poe himself said “The short story must involve a single incident which is resolved at a single point in time.” Or words to that effect.
Horse hockey. Here’s the truth: The short story must be…short. If you can’t make your point in fifteen thousand words, you’re either writing a novel or you belong in politics. Aside from the lone limit of length, shorts offer all the splendid possibilities of the novel, plus a few perks.
For example: Jeffery Deaver sometimes employs literary slight of hand in his excellent short fiction. He’ll describe a character with complete accuracy, relying on the reader’s own preconceptions to provide the mystery. His stories supply a double kick when we realize Jeff hasn’t misled us, we’ve tricked ourselves. It’s a gutsy gambit, and while Jeff plays it to perfection, the technique won’t work at novel length, where further descriptions would necessarily destroy the illusion.
Shira Rozan’s exquisite, Edgar-nominated tale, ‘Building,’ illustrates another bonus of the short form; the hero needn’t be likeable. Her brutish narrator tells his tale in savage interior monologues. As a short, the story works brilliantly, but a novel set inside this guy’s head would read like a bad month at Buchenwald.
What about time? Unlike the novel, a short can actually play out in real time, in a single, intense moment, a la Poe. Nor are greater lengths a problem. My personal fave, and a big influence on my own work, is John O’Hara. Best known for epic, socially conscious, (i.e soapy) novels, O’Hara also wrote short stories that trashed every time limit profs tried to drum into my skull in Creative Writing 101.
Some O’Hara tales resolve in minutes, others can take decades to play out, but the payoff is always worth the wait.
In short fiction, style is like a smorgasbord, and in my own work, I’ve pretty much tasted everything on the table. The late, great, Cathleen Jordan (longtime editor of Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine) once remarked that there was no such thing as a Doug Allyn story. When you open the envelope, you never know what you’re going to get. Which ain’t necessarily a good thing.
After my fifth Edgar nomination, (and fifth loss) my agent griped that the weirdoes who populate my tales couldn’t win. (My hero that year was an alcoholic undertaker) “Try somebody more mainstream, a cop or a private eye, even a lawyer.”
Perhaps he was right. Or not. When I did win, my hero was a medieval minstrel obsessed with a blind bear. Not exactly mainstream novel material.
I truly believe the most egregious limitations of the short form are those we impose on ourselves. Writers are human. We want people to like our stuff, (with the exception of Joyce Carol Oates, who doesn’t give a damn, and rightly so), but our eagerness to please sometimes tugs us toward safer, oft-traveled pathways.
There’s nothing wrong with using a classic form when it suits the story, but when we restrict ourselves to the familiar, in an attempt to ‘give the readers what they want,’ we risk becoming the equivalent of Golden Oldies radio.
Time and again, our readers have proved their ears are wide open. This year’s Ellery Queen Readers Award winner, was a first time writer with an off-the-wall tale of a college professor driven to outlawry in the Everglades.
Why write short fiction? Because when we trust the readers, our creative options are unlimited. Write it right, and they will come.

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Posted in Mystery Masterclass on June 2nd, 2007RSS 2.0 Trackback.
2 comments
June 2nd, 2007 at 5:18 pm, Tom Walsh Says:
Doug Allyn: “What a fun site this is going to be.”
Doug, it’s already fun, but it would be a lot more fun with greater reader participation!
The bloggers, published writers all, are doing their part with great enthusiasm and success. But where is the input from folks who are merely readers?Comments encouraging the bloggers are fine, they’re just not enough. So far, we have only four Instant Reviews, three by published writers and the other by an elderly gent with no authorial ambitions. Why haven’t more, non-writer fans of short form crime fiction been willing to contribute a review?
Wouldn’t it be great if mystery fans were like sports fans who can’t wait to share their strongly held views (positive and negative) about yesterday’s game? The goal of this site is to promote the short mystery story. What better way than to review a story just read? Well, all right, bloggers’ stories should be off limits (for reasons of civility). That still leaves a heck of a lot of stories to discuss. Fans, start typing!
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:49 pm, Elysabeth Eldering Says:
I agree - where are the readers? It seems the same few of us are commenting (not that it is a bad thing) but still we need to promote this blog and need to get more readers in here to do reviews - I would but since I have so many reviews going on right now, it is hard to get more going (unless I can post a review that I’ve posted on other websites here?) - I know that the more we get ourselves out there, the more readers we will attract. Like I’m part of this blog -I’ve just adopted it as one of my own - lol.
I will post on my blog - looking for readers to do book and short mystery story reviews - and I’ll get others to post too - I’ve got several places to post - hopefully that will bring in the readers - E

More good news

It seems no matter what you do some days to try to work and keep your mind on your task at hand, there are many distractions in our lives.

Okay, I was taking a quick break from the computer (read as bathroom break) and the phone rang - when I got back I saw it was a local number (not a bill collector). We had stopped by a new insurance place in our little town a couple of weeks ago - they were giving lots of goodies away including lunch - free bbq plates and let us bring some home for the boys (son and bear) and all. Well they had a registration for a drawing and I didn't think anything about it until Hailie came down and said I should have answered the phone because it was for me and I needed to listen to the message. So I did my *98 and listened and I won a gift certificate (which I won't know exactly how much or for what merchant until tomorrow morning). -- soo woohooo more good news - E :)

Echelon's New Fast Fiction contest is out

Come on all you short story writers - Echelon has posted it's new Fast Fiction contest and we love contests. You may get published within a week of the notification time or you could write something just as awesome as the winner and receive a contract to be published - which is what happened with my Butterfly Halves story. -

So here are the details -

Fast and Foreign Fiction Writing Contest

As writers we have a wonderful array of locations to set our fiction in. This month Echelon Press challenges you to step outside your comfortable neighborhood and take us to someplace foreign. We want you to send us your stories of the unique and exotic, the bold and adventurous, the mystical and romantic. Take us far away. We want to read your stories that take place anywhere outside of the United States. For some this may mean where you live, but not where live!

Every author at every level should be committed to keeping their name in front of readers. Are you looking for your first publishing credit? Are you between books? Looking for a way to revive characters from books that have been out for a while? Want to introduce new characters for upcoming books? Looking for a way to build your readership? Have we got a promotional opportunity for you!

Echelon Press would like to publish your "Fast and Foreign" June story. The fast part means you have until June 11, 2007 to submit your story of 3000-6000 words. The winner will be notified by June 12, 2007 and have 5 days to edit/revise the story. Echelon Press will publish your story in its e-book division on June 18, 2007. Simple!

Send your submissions as a Word (doc) attachment to contest@echelonpress.com. Your cover letter should be in the body of an e-mail. Cover letters that do not adhere to professional standards will disqualify the submission from further consideration.

Our only real request is that the setting, anyplace outside of the United States be the catalyst for your story! You pick the genre. Stories must adhere to the following guidelines.

Standard Manuscript format:
File saved in Word format (.doc) or (.rtf)
8 ½ x 11 page
Times New Roman 12pt font/black
1-inch margin on all sides/ 1.5 line spacing
Align text left, do not justify (aligning text both left and right)
Header containing title, author name, and page number
Capital letters at the beginning of sentences and proper nouns
Indent new paragraphs 0.3. Do not add blank line between paragraphs.
Show scene breaks with * * * * centered in the appropriate line.

All cover letters must include:
Name (and pseudonym if applicable)
Mailing address
Phone number
E-mail address (required)
Web address (required)

*Winners under 18 years of age must show parent's permission prior to contract.
Previous Winners:
June 2007 -- Coming Soon!
May 2007 -- No Contest
April 2007 -- No Contest
March 2007 -- Janelle Dakota -- Hear the Wind Blow (Fanciful)
February 2007 -- Yvonne Walus -- Small Price to Pay (Frisky)
January 2007 -- Elysabeth Eldering -- The Tulip Kiss (Frigid)
December 2006 -- Dan Strohschien -- The Naughty List (Festive)
November 2006 -- Jamie Summers -- A True Friend (Fatal)
October 2006 -- C.A. Verstraete -- The Witch Tree (Freaky)

On the front page of Fictionwise

When I opened Fictionwise's home page today (like just 5 seconds ago), Butterfly Halves is right there on top of the other listings of newly published stories. Thank you fictionwise for putting me there so that I will be seen.

so check out www.fictionwise.com and see my story right on the front page (this may change tonight or tomorrow - so hurry before they decide to put something else in the #1 place - lol-)

It's pretty cool to be the first thing people see on the website - E :)

Second Time Around (Butterfly Halves is officially published - lol)

I've posted this blog on my Book space area - an ning networking group - I'm not sure how I signed up with ning - but I believe it started with Maverick Marketers (another of Karen's sites - but I'm glad I did - book place is for authors, editors, readers, publishers - anyone who likes books - so if you would like to sign up - make sure you add me to your friends' list - the weblink is above in the title but here it is again - http://morganmandelbooks.ning.com/profile/elysabeth42 --- I also belong to a crime space on ning and a publishers site (besides Karen) and maybe one other group - so check out the ning networking things and see where you belong - http://www.ning.com/ - there are many out there and everyone should belong somewhere - lol

I don't know about most of you but when you get your first publishing contract, it is very exciting - can't sit still, must shout it from the rooftops and do the happy dance. How about when you get the second one? or the third? or the 100th? Are you still excited when you get acceptance and receive the contract, even if the contract is basically the same as the first?


I know I am. I received my first contract in January from the Fast and Frigid contest for Echelon Press. That was very exciting. Well, I've entered two more monthly contests since then (forgot to or was too busy to enter the April contest) and didn't win either of them but my March entry (one of my friends did win that so she was published in March), a young adult fantasy story received a contract. Butterfly Halves is officially published now and all I can do is the happy dance, and the announcements and everything. Of course when I got the request to contract the story, I was doing all those things too. So the last two months have been promoting Butterfly Halves and The Tulip Kiss, but in different manners.


So I leave the question to all you published authors - is the second time around just as exciting and good as the first one or not? - E :)

I made a new friend yesterday

How cool is that? Well I went to Curves to do my thing; got there and there was one other person there - so we were like one machine difference in our points - and we were chatting as we moved around the circuit (we have 8 machines in our facility - some have all 14 machines and some have anywhere between the 8 and 14 - 8 around with rest stops (30 seconds on each and every station including the rest stops between the machines) - our circuit is once around for the full benefit of the workout - we have to go around the circuit three times. So anyway, I think we were both winding down our third time and we were chatting and I leaned over and said - My name's Elysabeth and she goes, I'm Elizabeth too. So after we left curves we had planned to meet this morning about 10 or so - me bringing Hailie with me so she could get her workout done - and workout with my new friend -

I was up until 4ish this morning working with Jane on designing our mini fliers for the Printer's Row book festival in Chicago in a couple of weeks. So I was working it and reworking it and converting to a PDF file (did you know you could convert files online for free to PDF - www.pdfonline.com - really cool thing) - the site we used to print up 1000 brochures (index card size is what we ended up going with - which is 4.25 x 5.5 size - www.printplace.com) - would only take PDF files, JPG files and a couple of other things - so we are getting double sided mini fliers with all of Jane's info on one side and all my info on the other side. We worked it and reworked it and finally I told Jane I needed to go to bed. so shortly after 4 a.m. - we said our final goodnights and headed to bed.

This morning I had set the alarm for about 9ish to get up but had gotten up to go to the bathroom before the alarm went off and just as I was going to crawl back in bed and try to catch a few more ZZZZs this morning the phone rang. Now I was thinking it was one of the kids' friends calling to see if they could come over to play, so wasn't a happy camper. I checked the caller ID and it said Mark R****** - so I didn't know who it was. I decided to answer and it was my new friend from Curves, Beth. (I had given her a business card when we left out of Curves yesterday). She informed me that we couldn't go to curves at 10ish like we had planned because their vehicle was in the shop and she wouldn't have a ride until later in the day - so no problem - we agreed to meet about 1 to do our curves thing. Well then we were chatting on the phone and it got to be 11ish and 11:15 and so on - we finally hung up the phone after 2 hours and I sat down at my computer to check emails and at least put a dent in my work - I had just opened a couple of emails and lo and behold my mind said 1 o'clock wasn't going to work due to the fact that our curves closes from 1-3 for lunch. So I called her back to let her know and we had two options - go at that time or wait until they opened up after lunch - so Hailie says she doesn't want to go later - she wanted to go now so she could get something for her leg (she scratched it up and got run over by a runaway 3-wheeler vehicle) - so Beth said that was fine - we found out that we live like 1/2 mile from each other and she's on my way into town - so I told her I could swing by there and get her -

After we did our Curves thing, we went to Fred's (spent too much there and now have to go back); went over to Family Dollar and she went to CVS (which is right next to Family Dollar) and then I realized while we were in Family Dollar I needed to go back to Fred's to get printer ink refill kit for my printer so back to Fred's. Then we needed to take Beth home and I needed to scoot over to the next town to get to the DMV (stupid me - got my registration and decal and misplaced the decal) - so I showed Beth where we lived and then dropped her off.

We chatted in the car like we had known each other a while. She's been in Honea Path 10 years and I've been here 9 years - coincidence? fate? karma? - something is working that got us together - so I've made a new friend (you have to realize I haven't had too many friends in this town especially working at home, I'm such a social isolate but not totally my fault - it's different living out in the country than it is in town or closer to town or in an area that actually has more than a handful of "neighbors" to get in with socially) -- Beth is an artist and who knows I may have to engage her services to do my cover art for my stories (if Karen approves it) - we shall see though - okay now I need to work and get some lines to make up for not being here all morning and haf the afternoon - see you all in the postings - E :)

BLOG MILESTONE

I'd been so busy the last couple of days I'd forgotten to check to see how many hits I've had on my blog - well when I just checked it from the last posting I put up - I have hit over 1000 hits (although there is no telling how many are my own from the counter I have there because it adds in when I post a new entry as well as when I just view my blog - and considering I've made over 60 something postings, maybe it is closer to 900 hits I've had altogether - but it is a still great to see my counter ticked off at 1004 hits - lol - so for all intents and purposes, I have just had over 1000 hits on my blog.

Thank you my readers and fans - keep on blogging and keep on checking back for updates - see you all in the postings - E :)

Depressing sales for The Tulip Kiss on fictionwise

Karen has been posting fictionwise sales per week on the authors' forum on yahoo. I like this a lot. It helps us see if we had any sales and helps us project what our possible royalties will look like when we receive them. - so she is keeping us informed (since there is still a glitch on Echelon Press's webstore page and I believe now she is sending every ebook directly to fictionwise and not even publishing on the Echelon website - but she is still publishing printed books - so anyway - I like this being informed of what sales look like on fictionwise, although it can be depressing when you look at it a week at a time - such is the case for these past three weeks so far

I knew I wasn't selling much but golly gee - do I not have any fans out there? - The first week of May (April 30 through May 6) my sales totaled all of 2 (Jane from down under purchased a copy and had some delightful things to say to me via email about my story and that she can't wait to purchase more of my writings (she also gave me a good rating on the fictionwise site)- so thank you Jane from down under) and Jane from Washington state purchased another copy just to put a rating on the story - which I think her for also) - so my whole two copies for the month of May so far.

(Overall, Echelon authors sold 99 stories this first week with one author selling 23 copies of her story - and of course Janelle sold 11 copies that week - way to go Yvonne and Janelle)

Fictionwise only updates their site once a week, every Monday. Any books to be uploaded are uploaded on Mondays. I'm anxiously awaiting my Butterfly Halves to be uploaded since Karen said it had already been submitted to them (she thought it should have been uploaded yesterday but as of this evening sometime, it had not so alas, hopefully for memorial day - will be a good thing)

Okay, week #2 (May 7 - May 13) - Zero books sold on fictionwise - what's up with that - I have no sales whatsoever, how tres, tres tres sad for me - where are my friends and fans? Yvonne sold only 8 copies (for her first place sales this week) and Janelle sold 3 copies (placing her in second place). Where are the fans and readers? (overall, all Echelon stories that sold this week was very low - only 35 copies of stories sold - these are just authors from Echelon who sold stories).

Week #3 - (May 14 - May 20) - Although I still sold 0 copies of The Tulip Kiss (my fans must all be sleeping - I mean a story that you can download for only $1 and I've been pushing it with my email signatures, and other things - bookmarks floating around places and mentions just about everywhere I go - so where are my wonderful reading fans?), Echelon authors did sell 80 stories overall (not as many as the first week but more authors sold stories than previously). Yvonne has taken a dip in sales and is now 4th with only 6 copies sold. Janelle took a small dip also, she sold 3 copies and now sits at 7th place on the chart. The top two sellers both sold 10 copies each and they are both brand new uploads - so awesome job ladies.

All I'm asking is if you have purchased a copy of my story, either from Echelon when it first came out, or from fictionwise since the end of January, please review or rate the story. I believe that reviews do help sell stories, especially ebooks, since people can't hold the story in their hands and flip through to read passages throughout to decided if they want to buy the story. If you have purchased a story, I really do thank you from the bottom of my heart and would love to know what you think of it. Either review it publically on Echelon, rate it on fictionwise or drop me an email or note here to let me know what you think of it.

Thanks again to all the wonderful readers of short stories out there - see you all in the postings - E :)

Birthdays and end of school and busy days

Today was my sister-in-law's birthday - she is 39 (and now she can say she is 39 and holding forever - lol) - I wish her many more.

Saturday is Janelle Dakota's birthday - she will be 43. We only get better with age.

Monday is bear's birthday (oh yeah, bear is my description of my sort of husband since we don't really live together - separated but living in the same house on different floors and the reason I call him a bear is because he is manic depressive and when he's depressed he just kind of growls like a bear - no it's not because he's cuddly like a teddy bear - lol) - he will be 54.

Tuesday is the last day of school for the kids (we started the first week of August but this coming school year, the governor has passed something - not sure what to call it really - saying that all schools in South Carolina cannot start before the third Monday of August - trying to get them all on similar schedules with breaks and such - we think) - they have half days Friday, Monday and Tuesday and Tuesday really isn't even a half day because all they need to do is go pick up report cards and say their goodbyes. This is a monumental time for Hailie as she will be leaving middle school for good and heading to high school in the fall (no, I'm not ready for her to be in high school - the expense, the activities, the constant running here and there and everywhere to take to those activities, and whatever else comes with starting high school in this day and time). She has become friends with quite a few teachers over the past four years and so I'm sure she'll be sad (although she already informs me that she's ready to go to high school and she's excited) - guess we'll find out Tuesday when we go get report cards.

Bear's sister's birthday is either the 27th or 29th (I have a hard time remembering which) - she will be 44. She is the youngest of his sisters with a 5-year gap between her and the youngest child in the family. Bear is the oldest. There are six kids in his family overall with him being the oldest, four sisters and then a brother as the youngest - lol - you'd think being around women all his life pretty much he'd know what to do when it comes to communicating and all - but alas - nope - he doesn't - no communication or very little and no pizzazz like when we first met - he fizzled out - that is why the marriage went downhill basically.

When we get into June - there are a string more birthdays to deal with - but I'll post those later - I'm getting tired and since it is now 2:35 a.m. and I haven't been sleeping well as it is - I think I should turn in and try to get some sleep before starting work - see you all in the postings - E :)

Top rankings for stories on fictionwise.com

I've been asked that since this was good news on the Echelon Authors forum on yahoo - to post the info here.

Fictionwise is a pretty neat place for our short stories and other ebooks. They update their website every Monday and so by chance I was looking through the short stories (I did all, then by individual categories) and then browsed through all the fiction posted there and these were the results I came up with -

For just browsing the short stoies there are 5175 items posted in all the short stories, The Tulip Kiss was 469 (I think that's the right spot or maybe it was 439 - it seems I remember it being in the top 500 - which equates to the top 10%) out of those.

Breaking it down to mainstream (the category that The Tulip Kiss falls in) - there are 154 items listed and The Tulip Kiss was 3rd - that's pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

For the overall fiction category - of 2744 items under the mainstream category, The Tulip Kiss is 56th - again - right up there a good bit.

When I checked Echelon Press's books - I ranked 12th out of 151 items -

Tells me that The Tulip Kiss is selling some but not a lot. I'd like to see sales pick up but not sure how to really market that one story - I've tried several things and am gearing up a display for the Printer's Row in Chicago June 9-10 (Karen will allow us authors to pay a small fee and will set up a display for us to get our stuff advertised). I'm doing up some bookmarks, some tulips with some information (going to be really cute because the tulips will be in little flower pots) and a few other things since by this time my young adult fantasy story, Butterfly Halves, should be out.

I checked out Janelle's rankings and the following is true for her:

For overall fantasy stories - of 1845 items, Hear the Wind Blow ranks 6th - way to go Janelle - keep up the good work

For short stories - overall - no category - of the 5175 items, she is 31st (again this is pretty awesome).

For short stories - fantasy category - 2nd of 506 items (now her story just went up on fictionwise on April 30th, so basically in two weeks she has maintained some high spots on fictionwise)

On Echelon Press's listings of the 151 items, she is ranked #2 - I think she deserves a round of applause for doing such a great job - onl being on fictionwise for 2 weeks and already ranking in top 10 of her category and on our publisher's listing as well.

For everyone who has purchased any story from fictionwise or Echelon Press, please make sure after you read to rate the stories or go to the Echelon site and post a review - with ebooks, I think reviews and covers really do help sales a lot. We appreciate everyone who has already purchased our stories and for those of you haven't, what are you waiting for - they are good, quality short stories (or we wouldn't be published) - so I encourage you all to download a quick read and check back and drop us a note when you have purchased a story and let us know what you think of them - For a $1 - you can't go wrong - see you all in the postings - E :)

Publisher's blurb for Butterfly Halves

I've been asked to post the new blurb for the upcoming story, Butterfly Halves. Here it is -

Determined to possess a beautiful butterfly necklace, two sisters find themselveschallenged by time and space when they break the necklace in half in a fit of siblingrivalry. Fate sends each of them into an unknown place, separated and alone. But somethingstronger is at hand; will they discover the power of the butterfly and be reunited, or has fate other plans?


One person has said to take out the necklace part and leave that as a mystery; one person says it will be better with the girls' names and ages - what do all of you think?


The necklace is vital to the story but I'm game - I'll make the suggestions to the publisher and see what she says - Thanks for reading and commenting - see you all in the posts - E :)

Butterfly Halves blurb

Ya'll let me know what you think of this: Follow the adventures of two sisters who find themselves separated by time and place when they break a butterfly necklace. Learn the power of the butterfly that eventually reunites them. I sort of wrote it but had help rewriting it and editing (not my strong suit on my own stuff) - I think it is very befitting of the story.

Can't wait to say my story is published but more later. See you all in the postings - E :)

Cover, fictionwise bestselling list, and some general news

It's been a couple of weeks since I updated my blog, so figured I'd share with you a few things.


Last night, my friend Janelle (see book cover Hear the Wind Blow) posted about her bestselling figures, so I figured I needed to post mine as well. On fictionwise, in the mainstream short stories, The Tulip Kiss is ranked #3 out of 153 short stories. Fictionwise updates the rankings and ratings and all every Monday. So this is in large part due to the fact that two copies (Janelle purchased a copy and another Jane from down under did as well) sold in one week. Out of all the short stories, 5167 of them, The Tulip Kiss ranked 439th. Top 500 isn't bad. Janelle's story ranked 40th out of those 5167, because she had 14 copies sell in one week (her story was just posted to fictionwise on Monday, April 30) - way to go Janelle.


General news - I have to go back for another sleep study the end of this month - not fun - but they are going to put me on CPAP this time and see if I sleep better, although I'm not so sure I will even with a breather to help me breath better. I'll still be hooked up to trodes on my head, chest, legs, and a belt around my waist and chest to monitor my breathing, my eye movements, my heart rate and my leg movements. The problem with studies like this is that the person being tested doesn't sleep well as it is and then to throw all the other stuff in makes one more likely not to sleep. I can't sleep in other people's beds and can't sleep hooked up to monitors, so maybe the CPAP will help, maybe not - guess we'll find out in the next few weeks.



And now - my cover for Butterfly Halves is here. I can't wait to see the book published. So here you go -


It's so pretty - and I think it will have sell appeal - drop me a line and let me know what you think of this cover.

See you all in the postings - E :)

Got Sleep?

Well, last night I had a sleep study and I didn't sleep much at all. Of course the technician who had wired me up and all couldn't divulge in the specifics of what the test showed, but this is what I told him when he came to get me up at something like 10 'til 6 this morning.

(I should explain I was forced to go "lights out" at by 11:30 p.m. - nowhere near my normal bedtime of 2 a.m. and then was awakened once to adjust some wires (would have probably been the time to put the CPAP on me but they didn't do that last night and then tried to sleep and had my room entered again by one of the other technicians to readjust my nose wire.)

When I was being de-wired, I told the tech, it took me about 2 hours to fall alseep (after being told that for the CPAP to be placed, if in the first 2 hours after lights out you have 80 episodes) and that I probably slept about 3-4 hours total. He proceeded to tell me he couldn't go over the specifics but that I'd have to discuss the findings of the study with the doctor on my followup visit. Of course, getting wired up wasn't fun and the de-wiring was just gross - lumps of conductor glob in my hair and on my face and all - yuck.

After I finally got dressed, called the kids to make sure they were up and then went to help Judy install her new print center (one of those all in one things) and then came home and was going to hop in the shower and take a nap. I had to check my emails and post a few things here before I could do that. Finally, I'm to a point I can stop and take a shower and a nap - only being home an hour - so see ya'll in the postings - E :)

"The Best Writers Conference of 2007"

Yep, I'm a bit biased but this is going to be the best one that I'll attend this year. Maybe it is because I know the folks who are coordinating and pulling everything together, maybe it's because I'm more involved in the group this year, but definitely check it out. It's at the beach, and who doesn't like the beach - see ya'll in the postings - E :)

Self-Promotion workshop today

I should have posted this earlier but it was posted on the Echelon Authors page and I mentioned it at writing group Thursday evening but didn't even think about it until this morning when I was checking my Yahoo groups to see where new messages have been added.

I'm funny about posting message from email so I usually do all my replies directly in the forum groups but this morning apparently there was a glip in my posting - my first post went to the owner of the group when it was a direct reply to someone else's post.

If you are an author, this workshop seems to be a great idea - (although the forum says it is an erotic group of sorts, this particular workshop is geared towards all authors and publishers - it isn't just pertaining to erotic material being published) - so if you are looking for some new ideas to promote yourself and your books - join the forum and the discussion and see what you can get out of it (again the link is http://groups.yahoo.com/group/literature-league/)

See you all in the postings - E :)

Write Here ... Right Now

This link is the new forum called Write Here...Right Now - it is pretty cool - and apparently I have already referred some people there so thought I'd send it out to the rest of the world (those who read my blog) - come on over and see what it's all about - E :)


(link is in the title - but if it doesn't work - here it is again http://cher2.proboards43.com/index.cgi)

Interesting things happened last night

Our writing group can get pretty rowdy in that we have a good time. You can't miss Kevin's laugh - he doesn't mean to be loud but he's very loud when he laughs. He's a jovial person to say the least. So we were sitting there critiquing a story and having a good time and the author who was at the bookstore doing a book signing comes in to join us for the last 45 minutes of the session. She was very nice and even did a couple of critiques on a few of the readings - which was pretty cool in itself - seems her book signing was kind of fizzled out by this time.

Susan hasn't read in a while but she's busy coordinating the writer's conference to be held in October at Myrtle Beach and being on the board of directors for the group of which we are one chapter. I miss her blogs about jazzercise and the Queen of Pain and alien instructors as well as her reading in group.

Aimee (don't you just love the spelling of her name - French) - started something different and now we are going to be exposed to something new with her writing. She usually does articles or essay type things, but last night, hum, she brought a screenplay to group (okay the first five pages). Said she had wanted to do a screenplay, so bought a book about writing one and then started doing one - she's hoping it will be a movie. Someone said that screenplays had to be under 155 pages (120 more like it for a 2 hour movie) - so now she has to cram all these thoughts into a 120 pages - talk about tight writing. The few persons who knew a little bit about screenplays said that she would basically need to have a minute's worth of "air time" per page (that means every scene, every action, every conversation that can be captured in 1 minute has to be on the page) - needless to say there will be more than fits the "usual minute per page" because she is experimenting and this is something new for us too. So my question is this - how does one critique screenplays, especially not having been exposed to screenplays before? You can't really critique the writing because you aren't familiar with the specifics of what is required for screenplay writing, so what do you critique? I guess I need to do some research now on critiquing screenplays - hummmm - not like I don't have a ton of stuff to do already.

The last young lady who read last night - well I must say she really has a good reading voice - her story is about an autistic girl who lives in a group home and runs away, hops a train and ends up in Texas with her uncle. And the author was really impressed with her story as well, made some very nice comments. As we were leaving, she (the young lady who read and I'm sorry I've forgotten her name) asked me to give her some zingers that kids nowadays toss out - remember when we were kids and we would get snidy or something would ensue and you'd quip out - "Yo'r mama" or things like that - so that's what she's looking for. So if you have any phrases that kids toss around today - drop me a line (I'm going to ask my younguns but they probably don't know any zingers, we'll see).

And I got to attend the socialization time after group again - what a month - I've had two good meetings, been able to attend social time and have had a fairly productive month work wise so far (about to make the rest pretty productive too since I was assigned over 260 minutes' worth of dictation yesterday) -- hope to see you all in the postings - E :)

(I found out her name - Marjorie - and she is very sweet - so ya'll come up with some PC little quips or zingers that the kids yell at each other please - E :) )

ebook site

Just in case anyone has problems accessing stories on the Echelon Press site, which you never know, my stories are currently available on FictionWise as well. http://www.fictionwise.com/ - you can purchase the stories through them as well.

Echelon is still experiencing some hiccups on the webstore page (after logging in and no one seems to know what is going on with it) - so if you have an account on Echelon (the only reasons one would need to actually log in would be to make a purchase and to post a review), we are asking everyone who logs in to please make sure you click the log out button before leaving the website. This is your best bet; that way whoever comes to the website after you won't be logged in as you and have access to your account info. Just remember to log out to be on the safe side; not discouraging anyone from perusing the site or purchasing, just want everyone to be safe. E :)

free online workshops link correction

I received an email from a member on another group who said the links weren't working correctly so here is the main page link - hope it works - see you all there - E :)
http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/

Free online workshop - only passing on the information

Lea Schizas from Muse it Up and the Magazine of Unbelievable Stories posted this on our editor's forum and said I could post to other forums and on my blog - Christina and Cheryl are editors also for the MUS. I'm not sure if I will be a presenter or not - but we will see - hope to see you all there - E :)

Our workshops are slowly coming in and placed in the WORKSHOP webpage. Take a look at what we have so far and many more to come. CherylWright, and Christina Barber will be Presenters in this year'sconference once again.
http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/2007workshops.htm

Hop on over to our PRESENTERS webpages and take a look also at ourline up for 2007:
http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/presenters.htm

This is a FREE conference to take place October 8 - 14, 2007. Sevendays of FREE workshops, FREE handouts, FREE chats and all week longquestion and answer periods with our Presenters, plus prizes to be wonevery day and a FREE eBook of all the Presenters and their offerings. Deadline for registration is August 1st, 2007 but don't wait untilthen because you may forget and there will be no acceptions past thisdate.Register for FREE now at:
http://www.freewebs.com/themuseonlinewritersconference/registration.htm

Last year we had close to 1300 attend from all over the world and wehad a blast. Many attendees also had an opportunity to meet some ofthe publishers and get contracts. So hurry now while it's fresh onyour mind and register. Tell your writing friends and readers all about us.

Lea Schizas

Clarification on kids getting picked up by police

It seems from the comments on that posting that there is a misunderstanding or something going on -

My brother and his family moved from North Carolina about a month ago (maybe a little longer - 6 weeks maybe). They moved to a small town right outside of Clemson (which is nothing but a college town - so you have lots of teenagers running around that area and it can be crazy with college students out and about all the time). About four or so days after moving, my brother and my nephew were having an argument; my brother hollered at Brandon, "Well, if you hate it so much, why don't you go ahead and go back to North Carolina." So Brandon walked out of the house and proceeded to walk in a direction that he hoped would lead him back towards an area that would allow him to hitch a ride out of the town. After about 3 hours of him being gone (it had definitely gotten dark by this time), they called the police and had him searched for. He finally called from a grocery story only 6 miles from their house saying he was hungry and wanted to come home. It took him 4 hours to walk the 6 miles (he should have been able to walk it quicker than that because he is in JRROTC and involved in other things that keep you active). So he's a marked person already having encountered the police due to an argument with my brother and "running away" from home.

So the fact that it is spring break week, the kids were walking on a busy road where they didn't have any business being in the first place, and the fact that my nephew has had a first encounter with the police in Seneca, made the being "picked up by the police for walking" a comical situation.

My son said he has something to tell his friends at school because the highlight of his spring break was being picked up by the police for walking and riding in the back of the police car. He said he thought the plexiglass plates between the front and back were just things that happened on TV, but he confirmed that they were real and that the doors only opened from the outside - lol - he was totally fascinated by the ride in the police car.

So that is my clarification for ya'll and hope to see you on the postings - E :)

spring break stories and writing group stuff

This afternoon I picked up my son, who has been spending the week more or less with my brother and his family. I was late but no big deal - I got there. We met in the parking lot at Wal-Mart and then went to Ryan's for lunch. My nephew was talking about the "po-po" and God I hate my brother for allowing him to be so disrespectful to others (po-po = police) - and the story is that the kids were bored yesterday, so Sharon tells them to go out for a walk. They live in a small town about an hour from the small town I live in, so all the roads are considered highways, byways, et cetera - they are all interchangeable in South Carolina small towns. Apparently the kids (ages 16, 12, and 6) had walked up to one of the major roads in the town and had even crossed the street (story is nephew was going to find a way to his girlfriend's house to ask her out on a date - hahaha - they've only been in the town for about a month and yes same boy who was smitten with daughter's friend on first meeting - that lasted about 2 weeks - so goes life). They were sitting off the road about 10 feet resting when a cop drove by them once, going the opposite direction they were. The cop comes back up the road, turns around and pulls over and asks them if they have a phone number. My nephew wasn't thinking and blurted out the number. So my brother who is home on his lunch break gets the call wanting to know if they have kids (Sharon actually took the number) and then the cop wants to know if she knows where the kids are. Not being able to answer, she finds out that the cop had the kids - Paul goes to get them - and so the big joke is that they got pulled for walking - (My son says his highlight was getting to ride in the back of a police car - lol) -

Writing group was interesting tonight. Of the ten stories read, three of them were actually set in the same area and it was funny to hear all three of them mention places and names similar (street names, places) and what's cool is I knew most of the places they referrenced because they all talked about Charleston, which is where my oldest is and my husband's mother lives in that area too.

We had a young lady who attends the Fine Arts Center (part of the art program in some of the local high schools) and wants to be a writer - so not sure she'll come because she was a bit young and we probably all seemed like a bunch of fuddy-duddies to her. Only time will tell.

After group - I actually got to enjoy the social time at one of the local restaurants which I don't get to do very often because either I have to get home because I have the kids with me or husband had to go to work. This week being spring break and husband not working his normal shifts (that crazy work 2 days, off 2 days, work 3 days, off 2 days, work 2 days, off 3 days - 12-hour shifts) was the perfect time for me to enjoy the social hour afterwards. Although I was informed by Susan, who is in charge of the conference and is really doing a great job of getting things together, that no matter what, every person has to be there - lol - but that conference is during band season and from my calendar of events plotted through the end of the year that is State competition and the husband's weekend to work. So the dilemma is this - miss a band competition (if they make it to State, which they should - they have the last two years) and figure out what to do with my kids for the weekend and go to Myrtle Beach to attend a conference OR miss the conference, hope they go to state and watch my kids participate. And we are talking something six months down the road and a lot can happen during those six months. (I can hope the kids don't make it to state and then take them with me but then what to do with them while I volunteer and work the conference in order to get my registration for free would be yet another dilemma - decisions, decisions, decisions) - I guess I'll have to keep you all posted on this situation as things come up -

see you all in the postings - E :)

Spring break week

Peace and quiet for me in the household this week. Daughter went to Myrtle Beach with church group and won't be home until Thursday evening - so it would have been quiet with just her gone, but then last night son was bugging me while I was working and chatting with sister-in-law online and so I made arrangements to meet them in town (sort of a halfway point for both of us) to take him to her so he could spend the week with his cousins - and best of all, bear (sorry that's my husband, although we are legally (paper) married, we haven't been together in almost four years and he lives on the second floor, I make my living in the basement (first floor of this house) and so I don't really consider him my husband much - and he growls like a bear - not that he's cuddly like a teddy bear - he's more like a grizzly - so thereby, I refer to him as "bear") is working first shift this week, so no him over my head walking around or coming down to bug me for snacks or anything like that for this week at least. Most days when he is working his modified 2nd/3rd 12 hour shifts he sleeps during the day, while the kids are in school but with him working weird training hours of late, he's been sleeping at night more or less.

Started Curves today and it felt good - only did two of the three circuits (8 machines, 3 times around and stretches = 30 minutes which is the recommended time of exercise) - but still felt good - so hopefully it will work out for my health -

So yes, April is definitely coming in like a lamb.

After taking Benjamin to town and running to Wal-Mart (needed a few things or wanted a few things, but I did really good - came out only spending $87 when I thought I had spent over $100 - so felt good about that) and returning home, the craziest thing happened to me. I pulled in my driveway and came down the little hill to the curve (driveway goes all the way around the house and stretched across the area I needed to go was a snake - a big black with white rings (looked like to me) snake - had to be about 3 inches or bigger around - monster thing - wouldn't move so I ran over it - and I know it was as long as my car is wide because both tires went over him (so he was probably a bit longer - I drive a Ford Focus - not like it is a very wide car) - and then when I parked and was getting out of the car, the stupid thing slithered off towards the creek/woods on the other side of our property - not our property but right on the boundary - --- Did I tell ya'll I hate snakes - and this freaked me out - I almost didn't want to pull into my parking spot, but he wouldn't move and I had frozen foods in the car and I needed to go to the bathroom - so I just ran over him and then he crawled away - oy ---- hope he stays out of my house (I've already encountered two smaller snakes in the house since moving here - and I hate them ) - snakes and spiders - oh yes, April is coming in like a lamb - lol - see you all in the postings - E :)

Fast fiction contest on Echelon

Okay, so today is April Fool's day - and this is not a joke - Echelon Press has posted the next fast fiction contest and the theme - Fast and Foolish - Jane and I had a thought this would be the theme - so write on - it is very fast. You have to submit by April 12, with winner announced on April 14, and story published on April 19; the foolish catalyst has to be a lie or joke (in honor of April Fool's days jokes abounding today).

Short stories are fun and can lead to publication (is how I got my second story submitted to publication - Karen was impressed enough to offer me a contract on the story) - Anyone interested, just check out www.echelonpress.com - scroll down to the bottom of the home page (second block of news) - and you will find all the guidelines needed for the story. Good luck to you all - see you in the postings - E :)

update on freaky occurrence

Karen has informed Jane that the tech guys couldn't find anything wrong and short of her redoing her web store page, they didn't know how to fix the problem.

Sorry, but I still don't think they are producing the same problem because they haven't a clue what they are doing. There is obviously something going on - so my advice to anyone who has an account on Echelon (and no I'm not saying don't ever use the site) that when you do log in to make a purchase or post a review to please make sure you click log off when you are finished with your transaction or posting so that the next person that comes to the site won't be logged in as you. We definitely want you all to still make purchases and post reviews just be safe - see you all in the postings - E :)

March Madness and Spring Cleaning

What's that saying - March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb? I believe that has been true for this month. March definitely came in like a lion and is leaving like a lamb. Not only does "March Madness" apply to basketball season but it also applies to my life at the moment. This month has been crazy in my household. What with all the doctors' appointments, lab stuff and field trips going on, it's no small miracle I've actually made it through the month.

I've been poked, prodded, and squashed with a pending sleep study and dietician's appointment still on the agenda. I don't like going for physicals but they are a necessity we can't go without, especially as we get older. This year's physical was not an enjoyable one at all. I've gained way too much weight in a year (all because I lead such a sedentary lifestyle), my blood pressure is elevated, I'm spilling protein in my urine, my cholesterol is good but my HDL (the good stuff) is too low, my LDL (the bad stuff) is high in the normal range, and my triglycerides were up slightly (nothing that a good diet and some exercise won't fix - so no need for pills for that right yet); and you guessed it - my fasting blood sugar is elevated.

So now that spring has sprung and the weather is getting warmer and my body is falling down, it's time to join curves and take my girl along with me so that we can both work on losing weight and getting in shape. (Yes this was a new year's resolution and it is still early in the year, so that really hasn't been a broken goal yet - It's taken a physical and string of blood tests to be the wake up call that I need to do this and the fact that the Curves lady was at the health fair last weekend and is still doing her canned good special (saves $149 registration fee, which I don't have) and then Hailie gets to come with me for $10 a month fee and mine is only $34. - so we are going to join Curves, although the first week, Hailie will be gone on Spring break, we will start doing these work outs together - so be on the lookout for some whining and trying to give up but with my friends' encouragement and all, I shall make it.

I can't wait for the contest to be posted on Echelon (yeah, I told Karen I was contest junkie - lol - I can't help it), but she has posted on her site that she is taking submissions for YA mysteries and fantasy (for both print and ebook publication) and she is taking all genres for ebook publication - so if any of you have finished novels and don't mind ebook publication, you might want to pop over to the website, www.echelonpress.com and check out the submissions page to see if you are interested in submitting your story and possibly getting published (of course the down side of her taking submissions is that she doesn't take unsolicited submissions - you have to know an author or have met an editor or Karen or an author at lecture or festival or some sort of event) - so if you know someone already there and have a story, you can name drop - lol - but be honest about it - if I don't know you, please don't use my name -

Okay - so we've come in like a lion, are leaving like a lamb and doing some spring cleaning - see you all in the postings - E :)

Reviews, Jane's story and freaky computer thing

Jane's story is officially up - see the cover -

Can't wait to see how she does.

Remember folks that if you purchase a book to please do a quick review on the Echelon site. That so much helps the sales of the stories. And, they can't hurt either. I'm hoping to use some prepublished reviews on my next story "Butterfly Halves" (because the reviews are so good and really make me believe that I have written a pretty good story).

Jane and I had a freaky computer experience last night while we were chatting and checking out echelon's site. We had both read Yvonne's story (February's winner) and were going to do a review for her. I was logged in on my account and when Jane opened the Echelon site and clicked on the webstore, it said "Welcome Elysabeth! ..." - and that was freaking us both out. So I logged off and told Jane to log off and to sign in as herself. Naturally, after being informed that she was in as her, I opened a browser and clicked on the web store link and my greeting was "Welcome Janelle! ..." - now we both were freaking out. Humm, what do we do. Jane scans her computer for viruses and goes to another (a desktop as opposed to the laptop). Same thing happens several more times. Finally, we decided to delete cookies and temp files and see if that rectified the problem. Seems it worked. After deleting all the junk, we were able to open the browser and Echelon's site and the webstore page with a greeting that said Welcome guest!... - and then when one was logged in, we were still geting the guest page until we logged ourselves in. We are unsure what caused that problem but it was very freaky. We decided it would be a good story to write - so who knows you may see a combined story about the computer mishap on the ides of March (considering this was taking place between 2 and 3:30 a.m. it was really the 16th of March, not the 15th. But who knows - will wait to see what Jane comes up with idea wise on the story - and go from there.

For now - hope to see you all in the postings - E :)

Story update and other things going on here

Karen finally emailed me and said that my story would be published in May - that seems so far away. I realize she is busy and all - so I guess I just need to be patient. I hope when she returns from being out of town that she will have time to work on the cover art - that I can't wait to see - I've an idea what I'd like to see but I'm going to leave it to her to design the cover art.

I've been judging some mid length short stories for the Derringer awards and have run across quite a few that seem to be not related to mystery at all. Makes me wonder if people are just submitting stories for the prestige of saying they were a Derringer Nominee.

I've edited one of the stories for the magazine and sent it back and now need to work on another and read two more submissions. Still awaiting B's submission due to the fact that she is working on a sort of ending story - solving Dylan's murder - The first issue of the magazine is available for purchase - see www.quill-pen.net for order forms - and so far presales have been pretty good.



For sneak peeks at the stories (well the first page of each) - check out the website. We've added a true crime section - which I don't know all the details of and we've brought aboard an editor for the anthology being planned. We are also taking submissions for novels and the editors are in the process of being asked if they would like to edit some after Andrei goes through his process. So be on the lookout for some novels coming from Qull-Pen Press in 2008.

Okay - not much else to report here - hope to see you all in the posts - E :)

Time change and body adjusting

Okay, so I was sitting at my computer on Saturday March 10 chatting with Jane and it got to be after 1 a.m. (really Sunday March 11) and then it got to be 1:40 a.m. and the next thing I know my computer clock said it was 3:06 a.m. - how cool is that - to actually be awake during a time change. Well, it was cool but then my body decided it didn't like that. So when I finally crawled in bed, and adjusted my clock there, it was 3:30 something - and I had set my alarm to get up about 9 or so this morning to start working. I drug myself out of bed closer to 10 than 9 and I was still very sleepy. So I worked this morning, and some this afternoon, then I decided to take a nap (about an hour and a half). Now, it is 2:29 a.m. and I'm not sleepy, but I'm sure I will pay for it tomorrow. I know I should be in bed right now but I can't go to sleep. Guess I should read or write or do something until I feel sleepy.

Instead, I've been killing time doing not much of anything. Watched a really good movie on Lifetime Real Women channel (LRW) called Mockingbird Don't Sing - apparently based on a true story of a girl who had been abused all her life and hadn't developed language skills but she did with the help of some people only to have it taken away from her by her mother and some strange woman who was her teacher for a brief period of time. It was very sad at the end. This story apparently made headline news back in the 1970s, when Walter Cronkite reported the case on the evening news. In the early 1970s I was in Germany, then in Kentucky, and by the mid 1970s, we had moved to West Point. I don't remember the story because I was between the ages of 8 (1970 - living in Germany at the time) and 16 (1978) when this occurred and I wasn't into being informed by news at that time in my life. I'm going to see about getting the video and watching it again because I'm sure with it being put on this channel there were parts they had to cut out for the commercials - It was very good.

Anyway, I am going to head to bed and try to sleep. No more naps during the day in order to get to bed and try to sleep some. Good night and see you all in the postings - E :)