Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Renovating Dee Stewart Oops Becky Miller


Becky Miller must be me! Honey, at the beginning of this book she nailed one of my morning daydreams in the carpool line. I want some excitement. But I'm afraid to step off that cliff if you know what I mean.

Renovating Becky Miller

Synopsis: Becky Miller's wild imagination has gotten her way over her head again. Her family has decided to restore a home outside of town. But she can't just tackle that little project. No! She has to try to fix every thing else, but herself and that house.

The cutest thing about this book and the whole story is very cute. But I love the Guide to Home Repair on the back cover. It sums up the story and the God lesson Sharon Hink wants you to get.

We are about to start spring cleaning. I think this book is a great book to read when you're resting. It's also a great book to launch a Renovating Me Club. Something I think I really need to do. My life is in need of deep repair right now.

Y'all pray for me and pick up this book.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Deevotions: Lent

I am building a superblog for Gospelfiction.com. Stay tuned for its relaunch. A part of this relaunch is my new blog-Deevotions. From now until Easter it will feature my own Lent Devotions. Please stop by and use it as a spiritual tool. If you would like to contribute to the 2007 Lent Devotion please leave a comment or email me off loop.

Dee

Friday, February 16, 2007

CWMG: Fillers Pay Big


When a writer asks me how do you get paid writing gigs. The first thing I tell them is that you need to build a relationship with every magazine you love. The best way to do that is to introduce yourself to the editors who handle snippets or fillers.

What are fillers? letters, jokes, tips, anecdotes, prayers, news briefs, statistics and recipes. If you think about when you blog those are fillers you can sale or give to a nonpaying periodical( like your local Christian newspaper, your church newsletter or the local papers.) I've been paid anywhere from $10-$100 for fillers.

Where can I get filler work?

If you take a deeper look at Sally E. Stuart's 2Christian Writers' Market Guide 2007: The Essential Reference Tool for the Christian Writer (Christian Writers' Market Guide), you will find the filler section around page 267. Here she provides a listing of which magazines take fillers. She even breaks it down into what type of fillers each periodical tape.

Let me give you a tip that isn't in her market guide.

Publicists need writers to provide fillers for their clients. They don't have the time to review every book and CD that their clients produce. So they will pay you to read and provide a review. The trick is to make sure they use your byline and pay you for the review. Because sometimes they may submit your review to a major magazine. You can also find Christian publicists in the Christian Writer's Market Guide.


Anecdotes

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Christian Writer's Market Guide

How to use the 2007

Christian Writer's Market Guide

by
Sally Stuart
.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Sally E. Stuart is the author of thirty-four books and has sold more than one thousand articles and columns. Her long-term involvement with the Christian Writers' Market Guide as well as her marketing columns for the Christian Communicator, Oregon Christian Writers, and The Advanced Christian Writer, make her a sought-after speaker and a leading authority on Christian markets and the business of writing. Stuart is the mother of three and grandmother of eight.

ABOUT THE BOOK

For more than twenty years, the Christian Writers’ Market Guide has offered indispensable help to Christian writers. This year, for the first time, this valuable resource comes with a CD-ROM of the full text, so you can search with ease for topics, publishers, and other specific names.

The 2007 edition also includes up-to-date listings of more than 1,200 markets for books, articles, stories, poetry, and greeting cards, including information on forty new book publishers, eighty-three new periodicals, and thirty-four new literary agents. Perfect for writers in every phase, this is the resource to get noticed–and get published.

It contains listings for: 695 periodicals, 228 poetry markets, 355 book publishers, 133 online publications, 29 print-on-demand publishers, 1185 markets for the written word, 321 photography markets, 31 e-book publishers, 122 foriegn markets, 112 literary agents,and 59 newspapers.

It also gives you comprehensive lists of contests, writers groups and conferences, search engines, pay rates and submission guidelines, editorial services and websites.

Christian Writers’ Market Guide is a "must have' for any serious Christian writer that is looking to get published!

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1400071259

Sally's website is: http://www.stuartmarket.com/

Tomorrow we will take a deeper look at this book, and see how you can find yourself a writing opportunity before easter.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

More dates for Tyler Perry's "What's Done in The Dark"
Charleston, SC Charleston Conv. Center Feb. 13. 2007
Columbia, SC Township Auditorium Feb. 15. 2007
Syracuse, NY Landmark Theatre Feb. 20. 2007
Hartford, CT The Bushnell-Mortensen Hall Feb. 23. 2007
Nashville, TN TPAC-Andrew Jackson Hall Mar. 01. 2007
Milwaukee, WI Milwaukee Theatre Mar. 09. 2007
Minneapolis, MN Orpheum Theatre Mar. 16. 2007
Dallas, TX Music Hall At Fair Park Mar. 22. 2007
Houston, TX Jones Hall Apr. 05. 2007
Orlando, FL Orange County Convention Center Apr. 13. 2007
Miami, FL James L. Knight Center Apr. 17. 2007
Richmond, VA Landmark Theatre Apr. 24. 2007
Hampton, VA Hampton Coliseum Apr. 28. 2007

Monday, February 12, 2007

Dee's 2007 Lent Devotion Info

Ok. It's the Second Monday of the month, so of course, I'm talking at The Master's Artist this morning. We are discussing my plans for this year's Lent and giving you details about my upcoming Lent Devotion, which will be featured here. If you would like to participate in the 2007 Lent Devotion for Artist, contact me or leave me a comment. Now go over to TMA to read about Lent, Candy and the dead people in the Golden Corral buffet line here.

Quick question: will you be participating in Lent this year?

Dee

Friday, February 09, 2007

Happy Belated Birthday to Me

Filename: j0408862.jpg Keywords: birthday cakes, birthdays, cakes ... File Size: 84 KBThanks to all of you who wore red last Friday in my honor. I really appreciated it. I have a lot to post, but little time. Stop by The MAster's Artist blog on Monday, as I talk about Lent and a fast for writers. Pray for Selah. She has X-Rays this afternoon. Keep writing.

As a birthday gift to meu, leave me an excerpt of your WIPs. Email them or trackback them..

Dee


Thursday, February 08, 2007

Drake's Debut

I often here horror stories about great writers who don't get the media attention they deserve. But in the past few months Portland phenom, Monika Drake's name has been drizzling down to Atlanta. She has finally published her novel, Clown Girl: A Novel(hold your mouse over this title to see something cool.) And from what I've read so far she deserves all the praise. But I wonder...are most authors willing to put the time in like she has done, willing to work their own community before they want to go national? Maybe it's me. I don't feel like enough ATLaliens know about my writing. I haven't done any readings this year. I think I need to plug into town, host a spring reader series. Just thinking....Here's an excerpt. Note Clown Girl isn't Christian Fiction, so don't clown with me in the comments about it. Kay?


Chapter 1.

The Clown Falls Down; or, Sniffles Stumbles

An excerpt from the novel by MONICA DRAKE

Balloon Tying for Christ was the cheapest balloon manual I could find. The day I bought it, it was hidden on the lowest rung of a dusty spinner rack down at Callan's Novelties, snuggled alongside shopworn how-to guides: Travel Europe by Clown Circuit!, Rubber Vomit Skits for Beginners, and Latex: The Beauty of Cuts, Bruises, Scars, and Contusions.

Want to tie the Virgin Mary? Start with a light blue balloon. For Jesus, use Easter green. There are tips on tying a crucifix, a lamb, even a Sacred Heart in two sizes, big or small. Ooo la la! These tricks are simple but smart. The grand finale is the pietÀ, Mary with a grown Jesus sprawled across her lap in a four-balloon extravaganza like a tangled link of sausages, or a Japanese bondage trick. The pietÀ or bondage, sacred and profane; in balloon art the two are that close together, one thin twist.

Taking Your Novel Short

Filename: j0430049.wmf Keywords: books, girls, people ... File Size: 7 KB

Collin kicked too hard. The force of his leg’s strong thrust pushed his head right into a very large rock. Stars bounced in front of his eyes for about two seconds until he saw his blood slither through the water like a red ribbon. A heavy pain crashed into his skull’s base. If he didn't move soon, he would drown down here.


Before he could pray for himself he saw a woman coming toward him. She wasn’t swimming, more like floating. A wide round light moved behind her. And her hair was the color of the water and the stars over Bria. But her face…he had seen before. It was the woman of his dreams. She reached out her arms and caught him. If his mother weren’t dead, he would have sworn she smelled and held him just like her. He looked up into her eyes. They glowed. He couldn’t speak, but he could feel his mind asking her.


“Are you the woman in my dreams?”


She smiled. “No. I’m your angel and I have a word for you.”


Then he fell asleep or surrendered his soul. He was in too much bliss to know whether he was living or dead. But he heard her message loud and clear.
- an excerpt from The Garden of Leah

My novel rewrites itself. We're in the third draft and I'm feeling a greater flow with this version. However, I plan to enter a few short story contests and submit a short story to a Christian magazine between now and the end of March. How can I do that without killing Collin's flow?

Use your novel to build short stories.

Chuck Palahniuk and Claudia Burney have hipped me to this new thing. Instead of frying my writer's brain. Why don't I maximize this story? Hmm...after a little thought I find this to be a great idea. Let me tell you a few reasons why?

1. You can build buzz for the novel.

Introducing your main characters in short stories for magazines, can build more buzz for your upcoming book.

2. You can test your characters against your demographics.

Want to know if your character resonates with your core audience? Put them in a short story and get the story published in a magazine your audience reads. Readers will give you feedback. They will follow you to your site. You could use them to form a special focus group.

3. Use a short story to build a local focus group.

I do this all the time with my local reading events. Write a macro fiction piece or do a dramatization with your character at an open mic or one of my great reader series events. Wait for feedback from fellow authors and people, who usually aren't readers, but love a good story.

4. Make a slideshow short of your story and put it on CCM or Myspace.

I haven't did this yet. But I can't wait to set this up. Take your story and make it a graphic novel and upload it to MySpace or YouTube or CCM or whatever. See what happens.

5. Turn your short story into a blog.

Make your character real and see how many people flock to see what happens next to her.

6. Earn some money to hire a publicist for your novel.

The Daily Sacrament contest has a $250.00 kitty attached to it. Instead of blowing that money on new shoes, more books, or going to the Women in Faith Conference, use it to hire a publicist or throw a swanky book release/Mother's Day Brunch.

7. Get into your character's world better.

By the time you write a short story about Collin, you should be able to talk him up to any person, editor, agent, newscaster, librarian in town. Use this as an opportunity to understand your novel better.

8. Submit your story to your church newsletter in installments.

Serialize this short story for your church congregation. It's a great way to let your church family know about your gift.

9. Make it a book signing gift or teaser.

You're sitting in a bookstore hoping to sell your novel? Build buzz for your booksigning by leaving bound copies of your short story on the counter two weeks before your book signing for customers to pick up. Also leave them at libraries, consignment shops, your local Kinkos(where you should get this done) and grocery stores.

10. Submit to Online Magazines.

You build readers, who love short fiction. They may come over to the darkside and read your novel. You could become nominated for best short fiction of the year and gain a wider audience.

Another Bonus Why.

Use the short story to buikd a focus group.

While I am completing this novel, I have about twenty hungry teenageers awaiting my next installment of a Christian teen scream that I have been writing. Claudia really encouraged me to take this story further. I plan to put my teen scream online this summer just in time for the girls' vacation.

Do you have any other reasons why taking your novel short is a good idea? Anyone entering a short story contest this year? Anyone would like to share one? Trackback it here.

Dee

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Honor Me in Red



On Saturday, February 3rd I celebrate my 34th birthday. Those of you who know me know that this day is more than special to me, because seven years ago my doctors gave me two years to live. I was diagnosed with post partum heartfailure (peripartum cardiomyopathy.) Back then my heart function was 5% a normal heart. Today it is 40-45%. I thank God for blessing me with this chronic disease. It has helped me slow down, enjoy my daughter, Selah, and write more. No longer an architect, and not yet a published novelist I am a writer. And I'm thankful. In honor of God and all the women who live with heart disease, who have passed with the disease(I've had two younger cousins pass from the same disease, as well as my grandmother(daddy's mom,) please wear red today. Or purchase a wear red pin this month and wear it.

If you live in Atlanta, hit me up. I'm planning a wear red day event, chocolate tasting party.

Love y'all. Keep writing and loving.

Dee

Colorblinding Christianity



Time has an interesting article about the Obama brouhaha that has went on this week. Honestly, I don't see this event as newsworthy. I think it is a ploy to divide African-American voters. But I am interested in the question--"What does it mean to be Black?" Outside of having fifth generation West African ancestry, great grandparents who lived through Jim Crowism, grandparents march to Selma, and parents intergrate the last white school. What does it mean to be Black now? Is it definable for anyone to write about now? Is this ethnic enclave safe to read now?

This month Christian Fiction will look at books written by both white and black authors, who all have themes relating to bridging the racial gap in worship. If you want to be a part of this reading discussion. Here is the book list. You do not have to read them all or any. Discussion starts one week from today:

1. Athol Dickson's River Rising
2. Sharon Ewell Foster's Abraham's Well
3. Tracey Bateman's Freedom of the Soul
4. Marilynn Griffith's Tangerine
5. Claudia Burney's Murder, Mayhem and a Fine Mana
6. Louise M. Gouge's Then Came Faith
7. Annie Jones' The Sisterhood Of The Queen Mamas (Steeple Hill Cafe)
8. Mary Demuth's Wishing on Dandelions
9. Herman Melville's Billy Bud
10. Dee Stewart's Straddling the Fence

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