Veronica Jorge: October Featured Author
October 21, 2021 by Veronica Jorge in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured author, Reviewed by Veronica Jorge, Veronica Jorge, Write from the heart
Manager, Educator, and former High School Social Studies teacher, Veronica credits her love of history to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York.
Her Work in Progress is a Young Adult Novel based on a search into her ethnic roots that explores identity, belonging, and self-discovery. Her genres of choice are historical fiction, where she always makes new discoveries, literary works because she loves beautiful writing, and children’s picture books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited.
She currently resides in Macungie, PA., but she’s still a Brooklyn girl at heart. How sweet it is!
Veronica’s story “Fiona Malone’s Fesh,” is featured in the Fall 2021 Issue of Bethlehem Writers Roundtable.
In addition to her fiction, she has a monthly column, Write from the Heart, here on A Slice of Orange where she writes about writing, life and does book reviews.
Connect with her on Facebook @VeronicaJorgeauthor
Books Reviewed by Veronica
Researching for Authors
October 20, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, Margaret Bates, Researching for Authors
Researching for Authors
Presented by: Margaret Bates
Date: November 1 – 30, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
About the Workshop:
Research can feel overwhelming. For some of us, it’s been years since we’ve dug deeply into a topic, but sometimes you need to know more to add realism to your book and worldbuilding.
In this class, we’ll talk about how to make a research attack plan, how to use library databases and university research sources, how to understand and read journal articles, and even the approaches for speaking with primary sources, like experts in the field. Similarly, we’ll learn about the interviewing skills you can use to talk to subject matter experts, like doctors or firemen…etc. for getting the deepest realism in crafting your heroes and heroines. Finally, we’ll discuss the risks of the “research rabbit hole” and when to stop gathering information and commit to start writing after you’ve done your due diligence.
So, if you’re interested in deeper world building, more realism in your work, and learning how to get those details you need to write a successful novel, this is the class for you!
About the Presenter:
Margaret Bates was Magna Cum Laude in psychology as an undergraduate at Duke University. During her undergraduate work, she spent six months as an intern at a state hospital for schizophrenics in La Paz, Bolivia. During her graduate work, she spent five years working toward a Ph.D. in developmental psychology with an emphasis in autism intervention therapy and was everything but dissertation at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. In December of 2020, she finished her Master’s thesis in industrial/organizational psychology at The University of Baltimore with a focus on meaningfulness in life and healthy psychological functioning. She’s spent most of her life researching and can’t wait to teach you how to as well.
Mindset, Motivation & Well-being A to Z for Writers
October 20, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, Joy E. Held, Online Classes, Wellness for Writers
Mindset, Motivation & Well-being A to Z for Writers
Presented by: Joy Held
Date: November 1 – 30, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
About the Workshop:
Mindset, Motivation & Well-being A to Z for Writers presents a host of suggestions for overhauling your writing life inside and out. Some of the topics will resonate and some will need to percolate for a while, but everything from coping with anxiety to applying zero-based thinking can potentially recharge your existence until you are unstoppable in every aspect. These premises apply to more than just writers, but the creative juices needed to produce stories is more draining than it looks. These concepts could be the missing ingredient you’ve been searching for.
The course will present the ideas and offer outside readings or internet links to explain each one. Course participants will be encouraged to post experiences and thoughts.
About the Presenter:
Joy E. Held, A.A.S., B.A., M.F.A. is an author, freelance editor, educator, Yoga Alliance Registered yoga and meditation teacher, college English professor, certified Journal to the Self facilitator, and workshop presenter with over 500 articles published in trade magazines, newspapers, and literary journals. Her historical romance novel Message to Love was published in 2010 by The Wild Rose Press. Her nonfiction book Writer Wellness: A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity, third edition is available from Headline Books, Inc. Joy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Hearts Through History Romance Writers, Northeast Ohio RWA. She holds degrees in education, journalism, and an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.
Laughter Rx by Jenny Jensen
October 19, 2021 by Jenny Jensen in category On writing . . . by Jenny Jensen tagged as Auntie Mame, autumn, Flavia de Luce, funny books, Jenny Jensen, Magic and Mayhem
It’s fall. And it’s a beautiful fall. Cottonwoods are going gold, sunflowers are bursting out along the ditch banks and best of all, the Sandhill Cranes are returning. They do this amazing ballet in the sky, circling and calling out their own special symphony – music to rake leaves by.
I love the Fall and though it is marked by so much beauty; it is also tinged with melancholy. I’m not sure if that sadness is from mourning the end of summer and all that season gives us or if it’s just the knowing that dark, cold days are coming. Whatever the cause, fall can make me feel blue. What I need is a good laugh—hopefully a full on belly laugh.
There are plenty of comedy films and shows that are wonderful for a LOL, even a good ROTFL. I get a lot of joy from comedy films. I enjoy visual and physical comedy.
And I have to admit loving the thousands of classic film quips – words in the end after all – but it’s the humorous, witty, often ridiculous written word that uplifts my spirits for the long run. Books are the best place I’ve found for humor that sticks with you like a good diner meal.
Words stay with you – the perfect combination of words that describe a place, or show a feeling or capture the essence of this (often ridiculous) human condition we all share ‑ become a memory. (I guess that’s why Bartlett felt compelled to gather his faves into a big fat book. There are just so many good quotes. So many perfect words.) And unlike a visual motion media, the written word is taken in at your own pace – you have time to absorb the funny and appreciate it.
So I am making a new fall book list designed for the laughter that lightens the spirit. I’ve included some old favorites I haven’t looked at in years. Auntie Mame (Patrick Dennis) came to mind first. I thought I’d follow that with a couple of Flavia de Luce (Alan Bradley) adventures I haven’t read yet (nothing says cutting wit like an eleven-year-old British girl genius). What is needed next is some full on silly and for me nothing can do that better than a funny witch. I love Robyn Peterman’s Magic and Mayhem series and add one or three of those.
That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’m stumped and so I’m reaching out to other readers for suggestions. Who better to ask than the authors, devotees and avid readers of Slice of Orange? If you’ve chanced to read this post, I’d love to hear your humorous book suggestions. I’d especially like to read a romance that will make me laugh as well as sigh with satisfaction. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long, dark winter. We need to keep the laugh meter spiking. Enjoy the fall and thanks in advance.
OH HORRORS! Storytelling that goes bump in the night
October 15, 2021 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster, Writing tagged as #Thriller, #writingtips, #writingvoice #writingtips #thrillers, horror
My job as a thriller writer is to keep the reader on the edge of her seat, but when it comes to jump-out-of-your-skin storytelling horror is the cardio workout for the imagination. The writer in me is in awe of the imaginative details; the reader (movie-goer) is in love with the unpredictability of the genre.Here are three of my favorites.
FINAL DESTINATION – MOVIE FRANCHISE
The premise is basic, the acting just decent, but the writing was so darn inventive. Just when I thought the writers couldn’t surprise me again, scenes became more elaborate, unpredictable, and downright delightfully terrifying. This is a great lesson in taking the time to kick your writing up a notch.
MISERY – STEPHEN KING
We’re all suckers for a good plot, especially when it pumps with plausibility. An obsessed fan, a writer who is her captive, and the life and death struggle between them makes this a great look at how a writer can create a nail biter when the characters are locked into a single location.
NEEDFUL THINGS – STEPHEN KING (again)
The slow burn makes the horrific climax in this book incredibly satisfying. King uses multiple characters and their motivations to keep the reader off base. This technique creates a literary funnel that feeds into the one person the reader should have been paying attention to from the beginning. Psychological horror becomes physical and the swiftness of the climax is chilling, and the reader doesn’t even know they are being led down a path until it’s too late.
So, I’ve got the pumpkin carved, the candy bowl is on the table, I’m waiting for the doorbell to ring and before those trick-or-treaters descend I’ve got just enough time to open my book and scare myself silly. What about you? What’s your favorite Halloween-horror page turner?
Featured Books
OFF THE RAILS: A Collection of Weird, Wicked, & Wacky Stories
What happens if everything you thought you understood goes . . . OFF THE RAILS?
More info →
