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Aware by Neetu

June 26, 2019 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as Neetu Malik, Poet's Day, poetry, sand, tide, waves. quiet

Aware

I carve words in the sand

I know the tide will rise

and wash them away

but I write them
until my hands are gritty
and the color of sand

I speak to the waves

I know they don’t hear
but I let the words roll out
of my mouth anyway
until they sound

like the waves

I listen to the wind

even when it is still

I can hear silence in the quiet

it utters words I wouldn’t
otherwise hear—they come
from within

© Neetu Malik

First published in TAT Poetry, December 2016

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Veronica Jorge Reviews: #PleaseSayYes A Novel by Tari Lynn Jewett

June 22, 2019 by Veronica Jorge in category Book Reviews by Veronica Jorge, Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as #PleaseSayYes, romance, romantic comedy, Social Media, sweet romance, Tari Lynn Jewett

#PleaseSayYes

Tari Lynn Jewett

ISBN 978 173 3594318

Review:

Life can get complicated, but it helps when you have good friends, especially the kind who know what you need before you do, and who set out to help you even when you think you don’t need it. Confusion? Oh, yeah! Ticked off? Maybe a little.

Still brooding over her breakup last year, Lucy Vaughn settles in to her day job as an elementary school teacher. Evenings, she curls up with a Victorian romance novel. Life is peaceful, but lonely, until her friends and social media take over her life.

Lucy has a secret admirer who’s too shy to ask her out. So his brother decides to help things along to connect him with Lucy. He posts an anonymous invitation as a secret admirer asking Lucy to be his date for Valentine’s. Each day, he adds to the post giving hints as to his identity.

Lucy and her best friend Ashley sort through the clues: local guy, owns his own business, and he’s a musician. Then they compile a list of possibilities. Could it be the guy she met at the New Year’s Party? The techie from the school field trip? Her new neighbor?

Or maybe it’s the man Lucy least expects. He’s closer than she thinks. In fact, he has no idea that his brother has set this event in motion.

The social media posts, like true love, spiral out of control and go viral. Soon the whole world is commenting and urging Lucy to, “Please say yes!”

Got friends? On social media? Prepare yourself. You just might be the next Lucy Vaughn.

So while you’re waiting for your friends to take over your life, for your good of course, read Tari Lynn Jewett’s, #PleaseSayYes. It will make you laugh and warm your heart.

See you next time on July 22^nd.

~Veronica

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June Author: Denise M. Colby

June 21, 2019 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Christian Historical Fiction, Denise M Colby, Marketing, Social Media, writing

Denise Colby |The Writing Journey

Denise M. Colby loves to write words that encourage, enrich, and engage whether it’s in her blog, social media, magazine articles, or devotions. With over 20+ years’ experience in marketing, she enjoys using her skills to help other authors. She treasures the written word and the messages that can be conveyed when certain words are strung together. An avid journal writer, she usually can be found with a pen and notepad whenever she’s reading God’s word. Denise is writing her first novel, a Christian Historical Romance and can be found at www.denisemcolby.com

She’s a member of RWA, OCC/RWA, Faith, Hope & Love Chapter of RWA, ACFW (where she is a semi-finalist in the Genesis contest Historical Romance Category), OC Chapter of ACFW, and SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference (where she will be teaching two workshops in June – Brand and SEO Marketing for Your Website).

In addition to Denise’s column The Writing Journey on A Slice of Orange, you can read some of her magazine article here.

Denise M. Colby’s Books

SHORT and SWEET’S FAMILY ALBUM

THE SHORT & SWEET OF IT: When the Right Word Is a Short Word

WHEN PLANS GO AWRY

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Who Tells the Tale? Narrative Voice by Jenny Jensen

June 19, 2019 by Jenny Jensen in category On writing . . . by Jenny Jensen tagged as 1st person, editing, Narrative Voice, writing

Narrative Voice

The creative process is a mystery to me. I like it that way. Not knowing how or why an author chooses a certain literary device makes every book I read a fresh experience. I’m not always wowed by the tale but I like to start with no bias. Just lately though, I can’t help wondering what drives so many of my clients to write in 1^st person. I love a good tale told in 1^st person but it’s the most difficult narrative voice to get right.

Up until the mid 20^th century the lion’s share of novels were written in 3rd person. A quick glance of current literary prizewinners shows 30% written in 1^st person (The Handmaid’s Tale, The Hunger Games, The Martian etc.). Current genre and commercial fiction is more like 50%. Clearly, this is the age of 1^st person and I think I know why—energy, immediacy and intimacy. While those three qualities attract us they’re also what makes 1^st person hard to write well.

Be Compelling

The narrator has to be interesting enough to carry the reader through 200 plus pages of story. Basically it’s the only voice we hear so it better be entertaining. The character can be droll, hysterically funny, bitingly snarky, painfully deluded, even seriously insightful—as long as the energy exuded is compelling. Sometimes the narrator exists to showcase the main character. Watson is a rather deluded and bumbling narrator but we become fond of him. It’s his subject, Holmes that keeps the reader riveted. We want to stay for the whole ride.

1^st person is both immediate and intimate. The reader sees the action through the narrator’s eyes rather than from the outside. It’s close up and personal so the reader has a sense of being present as the action takes place. With a compelling narrator and interesting plot it’s easy for the reader to feel they have a stake in the story. 1^st person reads like a journal or a personal letter. The reader sees, hears and knows what the narrator sees, hears and knows. There’s no distance between us—all the more reason to craft a compelling narrator. The narrator speaks directly to us. Well done, 1^st person is more exciting, more emotionally engaging and more satisfying than the viral YouTubes of laughing babies and crazy critters caught on camera. No wonder we love it.

Remove Filter Words

There is one cardinal sin when writing 1^st person – filter words. They put a dampening distance between the reader and the action. Because we see, hear, smell, feel and know what the narrator does there is no room for distancing the reader.

For example:

“I even thought of doing something gossipy…”

Filter words removed:

“I considered something gossipy…”

I could hear…I thought…I felt…I saw…chop away the filter words and close the distance. Good first person narrative is always from behind the character’s eyes.

Having put these thoughts down I think I’m going to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky). I love a good first person story. Do you?

~Jenny

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What is Story? By Kidd Wadsworth

June 18, 2019 by Kidd Wadsworth in category Infused with Meaning by Kidd Wadsworth tagged as external conflict, internal conflict, Lisa Cron, Story Genius, The Wizard of Oz, writing

My writing career was going nowhere. I’d imagined hundreds of thousands of dollars of income, fame, and something far more elusive, critical acceptance. My average annual income was hovering at $42.11; rejection letters carpeted the floor. Why? What was I doing wrong? I would have fixed it…if I’d known what “it” was.

Enter Story Genius by Lisa Cron, a book recommended by one of my writing buds—and the pieces fell into place. Cron’s hypothesis: All great stories have both an internal conflict and an external conflict. Because people procrastinate, because not a one of us wants to face our inner demons, great stories use an overwhelming external conflict to force the protagonist to grapple with his or her internal conflict.

Consider Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. She was a discontented teenager looking for the way home. So crucial is Dorothy’s internal state to the story, that Dorothy’s fears are characters. She’s afraid to make tough decisions (the scarecrow); she fears she’s a coward (the lion), she doesn’t know how to love the people she cares about most (the tinman). I’ve always found the tinman incredibly moving. As a young woman becomes an adult, her body changes, and thus how she interacts with her family also changes. Physical demonstrations of affection can become awkward and stiff. Dorothy feels rusty, unable to move. She longs to be a child again, when affection was simple, when she could easily throw her arms around the people she loves.

The external conflict in the story forces Dorothy and her friends to face their fears. When Dorothy is kidnapped by the flying monkeys and taken into the lair of the Wicked Witch, the scarecrow hatches the rescue plan. Hmmm…smart and decisive. The cowardly lion is willing to fight the palace guards to save her. At the end of the story, when she must leave, the tinman weeps. Dorothy who, at the beginning, was willing to listen to munchkins (who told her to follow a stupid yellow brick road to find a wizard) learns that her future is in her own feet. Remember, the wizard did not get her home. She missed the balloon. Instead, she got home by clicking her heels together. Her actions, not those of a charlatan wizard, determined her future.

Thus, we see Cron’s classic pattern:

External Conflict → Compels the protagonist to face → Internal Conflict

The Wicked Witch of the West → forced Dorothy to face→ her fears about her own future

Before I put a single word on the paper, I ask myself: What is my character’s greatest fear? Then I craft an external event so powerful that my protagonist is forced to face that fear. I leave her no room to dither or escape. Finally, when she wrestles with her fear, when she grows, when she becomes more than she ever dreamed she could be, then I know, I’ve got a great story.

~Kidd

Welcome

A Slice of Orange would like to welcome Kidd Wadsworth. Her column, Infused with Meaning, will post here on the 18th of each month. We are thrilled to have her writing for us. We hope you enjoy her posts as much as we do. Welcome, Kidd!

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