They call it a month of literary abandon. It’s kind of like a marathon with words. I’ve done both kinds of marathons. This one is definitely less painful. However, like the physical kind, the marathon called NaNoWriMo is a wonderful mix of professionals getting a head start on their next novel, new authors testing the waters of fiction, and some people just having fun. Everyone is a good reason to participate. But a bit of preparation makes participating easier. This course shows you how to prepare.
Terri Main sold her first piece of writing when she was just 18 years old. Since then, she has written hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, thousands of pieces of marketing materials, more than sixty books, seven novels, video documentaries, and radio drama.
In addition to being an accomplished writer, she is also an experienced online educator. She helped pioneer online learning in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She has taught thousands of students both oral and written communication skills. Many of whom now have careers in the media and freelance writing.
As one student put it, “If you want to get published, you have to take a course from Terri Main.”
An Element of Mystery is available for preorder and will be released as an ebook and print book on September 27, 2022.
Dare you read our latest Sweet, Funny, and Strange® Anthology?
The Bethlehem Writers Group is pleased to present this collection of tales of mystery and intrigue—the latest in its award-winning series of Sweet, Funny, and Strange® anthologies. From classic whodunnits to tales of the unexplained, each of the twenty-three stories contained herein have an element of mystery that will keep you guessing and wanting to read just one more story.
We’re thrilled to have old friends, but new members of BWG, join us this year. Award-winning author Debra H. Goldstein favors us with a mystery set among volunteers at a synagogue entitled “Death in the Hand of the Tongue,” while “Sense Memory,” by the multi-talented Paula Gail Benson, brings a
delightful mix of mystery and the paranormal that helps a young couple find their way to each other.
In addition, we are happy to bring you the winning stories from two of our annual Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award competitions: “Good Cop/Bad Cop” by Trey McDowell (2021 winner) and “The Tabac Man” by Eleanor Ingbretson (2022 winner).
You’ll also find stories from your favorite BWG authors, including Courtney Annicchiarico, Jeff Baird, Peter J Barbour, A. E. Decker, Marianne H. Donley, Ralph Hieb, DT Krippene, Jerry McFadden, Emily P. W. Murphy, Christopher D. Ochs, Dianna Sinovic, Kidd Wadsworth, Paul Weidknecht, and Carol L. Wright.
So get ready to be mystified . . . or intrigued!
An Element of Mystery is available for preorder and will be released as an ebook and print book on September 27, 2022.
I published my very first book, Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please, in July of 2020. While there are obvious downsides to accomplishing this milestone in the middle of a pandemic, in some ways I think the pandemic made it possible for me to focus on making this dream a reality.
I should preface this blog post by saying that I know my experience certainly wasn’t the same experience that everyone had in 2020. My day job was by no means considered “essential work”, and I will always have a deep appreciation for all of the people who were essential throughout the pandemic.
My job on the other hand, slowed down. Like way down. While other parts of my life got more complicated, like distanced learning for my kiddos, writing somehow became less complicated. I found myself with more time to focus on it, and my proverbial writing batteries were still fully charged at the end of the workday.
The pandemic also served as a grim and constant reminder that this life is short. I found myself no longer caring about the reception others might have to my writing and I just bleeping did it.
Fast-forward two years and thankfully my attitude hasn’t wavered much, but I find those writing batteries have a very small charge by the end of the day.
I appreciate this community and I enjoy hearing all your stories on perseverance in writing, rewriting, finding consistency, and keeping those batteries charged. Thank you!
About Jina Bacarr
I discovered early on that I inherited the gift of the gab from my large Irish family when I penned a story about a princess who ran away to Paris with her pet turtle Lulu. I was twelve.
I grew up listening to their wild, outlandish tales and it was those early years of storytelling that led to my love of history and traveling.
I enjoy writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by my side. I adore dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. I’ve always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris. The voices of the past speak to me through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines, and worn satin slippers. I’ve always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.
You can follow Jina on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest
Goodreads
Bookbub
Jina also has a column here on the 11th of every month: Jina’s Book Chat.
A Few of Jina’s Other Books
It began with a small door in an upstairs bedroom of a Cape Cod house in central Pennsylvania. Although Jacque Day Pallone had lived in the house for a number of years, neither she nor her husband had ever opened the door, assuming it led only into a small crawlspace. That got her to thinking what else it might lead to—if imagination were mixed in.
Jacque is one of five members of a small tribe of writers who called themselves The Hive, a spin-off of the Pennsylvania Horror Writers Association. Formed during the early days of the pandemic, the Hive members write primarily dark fiction. They embraced Jacque’s story idea, and Hive mate Cathy Jordan suggested the group use it as an anthology theme. Each Hive member contributed a story, and they called for other writers of dark fiction to submit.
This month, That Darkened Doorstep will be released by Sunbury Press. All of the stories touch on the detail of an unopened door and the consequences that might lie beyond it.
Between the anthology’s covers, you’ll find Jacque’s story, “Seeking a Good Woman,” Cathy’s story, “Lonely Is the Desperate Heart,” and 18 others, including one by Louisa May Alcott, “The Mummy’s Curse.”
The list includes a tale about a camping trailer with a mind of its own; a hard-luck woman who’s unstrung by her mother’s death; a house with a haunted history; a remote mountain lodge with a disturbing past; and a genetic experiment that has life-changing results.
And Jacque’s actual unopened door? She did finally open it—to find not a crawlspace, but an actual room, ten feet deep. The next mystery is why was it built, but that’s for another day.
Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna Sinovic has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and is working on a full-length novel about a young woman in search of her long-lost brother.
Dianna is a member of Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.
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