Alley Cat RETREAT!!

So, Case just traveled across the NATION to Iowa! Needless to say the excitement and exhaustion of traveling caused a bump in the blogosphere.

Here's some fun pics as we start our retreat and plan for The Writers Alley!

Please leave a comment about some things you'd like to see on The Alley in the future and how we can serve you more.

The tagline we're proposing is:

The journey of a story is paved wtih possibilities -

Where will the words take you?

Check out weekend post for pics from our retreat!!

Publication Prep Part 1 - BELIEVING

Don't think dreaming big is wise?
Well... it worked for me...
as shown above!

I'm a big believer in dreaming big.

When my daughter is "on deck" at softball, I always ask her, "Lacy, are you going to hit the ball?"

At the beginning of the season, it never fails. She ALWAYS responds with a shrug of her shoulder and says, "I might."

And Mommy responds with a classic hands-on-hips lecture.

You aren't going to "might" hit the ball! You go out there and hit that dad gum ball. I wanna hear you yell, "YES, I WILL HIT THAT BALL!!!!!" Be CONFIDENT. You CAN do this.

Because my sweetie CAN hit that ball. She's actually REALLY good at it.

And then, after she smiles and says, "Yeah, I'm gonna hit the ball, Momma" she stands in the "on deck" spot (not sure what that is really called) and practices hitting the ball while the player in front of her does so.

She swings to warm up her arm. She psychs herself up, determined to hit that ball.

And about 50% of the time, she does.

Publication is the same way. We can't go into this expecting to fail. We can't get up to bat with our manuscripts and be like, "No one is going to like it. No one will publish this."

Because if we don't believe in our writing... why should a publisher? And even more, why should a reader?

We use our heart when we're writing. Writing can be very emotional. So if your heart isn't convinced that you can write a sellable book...then there's a good possibility that your heart won't be 100% in it. You do NOT want your heart giving a half-hearted effort:-)

Now for you pessimists out there...

I know there is a lot of importance in managing expectations and making sure we don't get too cocky in our writing. Sometimes that can bring forth a bit of disillusionment and things like people sending agents crazy queries like, "God told me you'd be my agent and that my book will be published" or "This is the BEST manuscript you will read this year."

Yeah, don't be uppity. It doesn't look good on you. Kinda like bell-bottoms or super poofy bangs.

But there is also a lot of value in believing in our dream, in shooting for the stars, in trusting that God has GOOD things in store for us.

The worse thing that can happen is that you fail.

And honestly, whether you believe or not, that is always in the cards as a possibility.

If you don't try... you've failed before you start.

Discuss: Are you a half-full or half-empty writer? How much do YOU believe in your writing? When you start thinking negative thoughts, what do you do to combat them?

Successful Writers Need a Gathering Time

Successful writers need a time to gather and refresh their thoughts.







A time to share their book ideas and listen to other's suggestions.

A time to worship, to praise the God who has given the gift of writing, and to ask His blessings.

A time to breathe the fresh air.

A time to laugh

I suppose the entire post could be filled with this list. 



The point is we all have made so many friends through the Internet. We haven't heard their voices, but we've seen their pics and read their words. 

We're not sure if these treasured friends are tall, short, cackle or snort when they laugh, wear high heals and fashion wear or prefer the grunge look. Do we really know what makes them laugh, cry, smile?




And who could tell if this person might have the perfect idea to fill in a gap of your story until you discover all the above?

The Internet has brought men and women in contact with each other from around the world, yet we sometimes walk on eggshells as we pen an email for fear the tone is misunderstood.





What would happen if you discovered another writer, with similar interests lived in reasonable range to your home? Imagine how this friendship could spark something in your writing.

I've mentioned in a past post the amazing friendship between C.S. Lewis and J.R. R.Tolkien. They met nearly every night in a pub in the UK to crit each other's manuscripts. If you've read both of their works have you found the similarities? They both use a horn, they both used the same name of a city: Lewis for his giants and Tolkien for his rock city. They also sharpened each other's words.



Organizations like ACFW have formed local chapters. In Montana mini groups within those chapters meet weekly at coffee houses to brainstorm and crit.

So....the Writers Alley gals, affectionately called Alley Cats, decided to use this same idea to push our writing and friendships to a deeper level. 

Our common goal is to take another step forward on the writing journey, to deepen our relationship with Christ, to hold each other up as life rains and shines, to minister to others on the journey, and to share our stories with a world in need.

This coming Friday, the Alley Cats will gather at Angie's. Three via Skype. The time will be too short. The minutes precious. The memories strengthening, as  gathering time should be.
.

Is there a way you could meet with someone or a small group? Spend a portion or a whole day with them? Ask around. There is a bulletin board at my local coffee shop and one at my library. Notes are attached for meetings, concerts, etc. Perhaps you could find someone there. Bring an agenda, notepad, scenes from your manuscript, camera, and chocolate and prepare to become a successful writer. 

Go ahead. Give it a whirl. You just might like it:)

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photos above courtesy of Renee Smith

This blog post is by Mary Vee

Mary has moved to Michigan with her husband, closer to her three college kids. She misses the mountains of Montana, but loves seeing family more often. She writes contemporary and romance Christian fiction with a focus on the homeless population and loves to pen missionary and Bible adventure stories on her ministry blog, God Loves Kids.

Visit Mary at her website and her ministry blog to families: God Loves Kids. Or chat on Facebook or Twitter

Great APPs for Writers

Photo by samuiblue
freedigitalphotos.net

You know it happens. You are in the carpool line and you think of a great scene...or a fabulous line...and you have no pen and paper anywhere! What to do? You don't want to lose the awesome words swirling amid your brain cells.

Well, I have some help for you. I did a little research and came up with some smartphone APPs that might help you out. I did not try out all these APPs, as some cost money and it is not yet pay day, if you know what I mean!

PLAIN TEXT
For editing text on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. PlainText is a simple text editor with an uncomplicated, paper-like user interface. Unlike the default Notes app, PlainText allows you to create and organize your documents in folders and sync everything with Dropbox.com. (FREE to download)

EVERNOTE
Evernote is an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Stay organized, save your ideas and improve productivity. Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders--and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go. (FREE to download, but can pay a fee for more storage)

iA WRITER
A very popular APP that uses the iCloud with folder accessibility, as well as Drop-box enabled. It also has the ability to focus on just the words, by limiting the view to 3 written lines. This APP costs $.99 to download. 

STORY TRACKER
Story Tracker makes keeping track of your submitted stories, novels, poems, scripts, and articles easy. Never wonder again where or when you submitted your work. The information is all right there on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch!

** Note: This is the free Lite version of Story Tracker. The Lite version is almost identical to the full version, but only allows you to store up to 5 stories, 5 markets, and 5 submissions. It also includes database backup and export over WiFi (but not restore/import), allowing easy upgrade to the full version. The full version has no such limitations. ** (Full version costs $7.99 to download.)

EASY WRITER (for iPad)
This looks to be an excellent APP for writing and syncing with Dropbox. There is a paid version that gives you much more options and features, but this is a popular APP for iPad users.

DROPBOX
Dropbox lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Access any file you save to your Dropbox from all your computers, iPhone, iPad and even the Dropbox website!  (FREE for download)

DROPVOX - Voice Recording 
DropVox records audio and sends it directly to your Dropbox account in quality M4A format. Dictate your scene into DropVox and save for typing up later!  (FREE for download)


What APPs do you use that help you as a writer? 

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This post is brought to you by

 Sherrinda Ketchersid

Sherrinda is a minister's wife and mother to three giant sons and one gorgeous daughter. A born and bred Texan, she writes historical romance filled with fun, faith, and forever love.

Faith - a Writer's Tool Against Discouragement

There is a wall-hanging I have with this Bible verse – “Faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.”

Faith is ‘hope’ with its work clothes on.

So let me clarify.

In the writing world there are a lot of "what ifs". Doubts creep in to steal our joy, insecurities beats at our confidence, and the temptation to envy shreds at our peace.

It’s a world of uncertainties.

And as with any other thing in our lives, it can consume us.

It can bring with it worry, fear, and anger sending our spirits into a storm of doubt.

But Jesus calms storms, if you haven’t heard. He uses faith.

What is faith? It’s believing in the promises of God, even when what we see or feel contradicts them.

And this faith isn’t some special power of our own making. It’s something GOD gives us. We can’t do it on our own. We CAN’T have faith on our own. It’s a gift….from God.

Even faith in your writing.

If you believe God’s called you to this, then there’s a specific plan for your writing – even if it doesn’t look like it right now.

What? You don’t believe me? You say getting published is as possible as a 90 year old woman having a baby :-)

Yeah, you know where I’m going with this.

Sarah’s a GREAT example. Abraham’s wife knew God’s promises. She was going to have a child, but she was moving into the gray-haired phase of life and there was no crib or even a belly bump in sight.

More waiting.

But Sarah believed God! How do we know? When God told she and Abraham that it was time, she laughed. Not a ‘you’ve gotta be CRAZY” type laugh, but a laugh of pure joy.

She trusted God’s promises and reveled in his fulfillment of them.

Unseen became SEEN.

The writing journey is like this. We can’t see when or how our stories are going to unfold into an ‘in-print’ reality. We can’t know how the Master Author will mold and shape his timeline for our lives into the perfect moment for our unseen to become seen.

But the best way to fight our fears, worries, and insecurities – is FAITH.

And the best way to encourage faith, is remind ourselves of God’s promises.

Here are a few:

1.       Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Are we Works in Progress? You betcha. But we’re created for GOOD works – even our writing. Whether it’s to minister to thousands, or only to our own hearts.

2.       Psalm 37:4- Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Great verse. When we delight ourselves in HIM – and the knowledge of His love permeates our vision, then we desire what HE desires for us. Takes away the envy and the worry :-)

3.       Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

If we have been called to create stories for His glory, then we can have faith that God has a plan.

It may be on the scenic route or down the road less travelled, but God always fulfills his promises.

He gives us Faith to believe in His promises – and that’s one of the greatest tools we can have as writers…and as kids of the King.

**********************************************************************

Pepper Basham writes Blue Ridge romance peppered with grace and humor. When she's not torturing her fellow Alleycats at The Writers Alley, she can be found at her blog, Words Seasoned with Salt, at her university job, or hanging out with her family in the beautiful mountains of Northeastern Tennessee.

What's Up the Street Next Week?

Welcome to the WEEKEND!

We have some exciting changes coming up at The Alley and we want you to be a part of them, but FIRST
We have some news!

Casey Herringshaw SEMI-FINALED in ACFW's Genesis contest! YES!

We are happy dancing with her and so many others! Were you a semi-finalist? Share it here!
(Notice Casey is holding KRISTA's debut novel! Both in adorable pink...just sayin')

We also have a 6 day countdown until the FIRST AlleyCat retreat hosted by Angie Dicken. So we're gearing up for some brainstorming sessions and homespun encouragement to bring back to you guys!

So what's up the street next week?

Monday - Pepper's still trying to figure out what on earth she's going to chat about.

Tuesday- Sherrinda's bringing more Apps for Writers to The Alley

Wednesday - Mary's gearing us up for the retreat with a Pre-retreat post

Thursday - Krista's writing about how to get ready for publication.

Friday - And Casey's still trying to figure out what she's going to blog about along with Pepper. It's a surprise :-)

WE HAVE WINNERS!!!!!

Barbara THompson won Regina Jenning's novel from my guest post with Amy Lathrop. Please contact Casey Herringshaw at caseym.writer@gmail.com

Winner of Siri Mitchell's novel, The Messenger is - Karen K

Winner of Julie Lessman's newest book, Love at Any Cost, is Jeanne T

Please email Pepper at pepperbasham@yahoo.com

Tips to Treasure with Ruth Logan Herne

I've called Ruthy my 'writing mother' for about 2 years now.
My own mother doesn't mind sharing space in my heart with Ruthy, because she knows Ruthy will try her best to keep me straight. (They'd make great friends. Sassy and sweet!)

She's just that way.
You know...tough love.

The picture to the left is one I keep by my computer - just because it's a good reminder! :-)
Life happens.

So we're going to end this week with some direct, tough love writing tips for you guys straight from the wonderful Yankee Belle, Ruth Logan Herne :-)

Ruthy is a prolific writer with a NEW book out which promises to be another classic to my Ruthy shelf - The Lawman's Second Chance.
You can find Ruthy causing trouble over at the fabulous place called Seekerville.

Now...let's get to those tips :-)

Best writing tip: Shut up and write. Then write some more. And keep writing... Basically: write, write, write. Totally Churchill inspired!

(How's that for sugar-coated? ;-)

Best writing quote is my favorite Bible verse from Ecclesiastes 3: To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heaven.... God's timing is present, it is here among us, it is probably the most ignored universal truth because we humans seem to think we're in control.

Until we realize we're NOT, and then, oh!!! The scramble, the angst, the running around, the gnashing of teeth, the renting of cloth, very much Maurice Sendak's "Where the Wild Things Are", right????

And then we calm down, grab hold of faith and march on.

To everything there is a season... Simple eloquence that speaks to the soul.

So Alley Pals - do you have a Bible verse that inspires you?