Oh How I Miss You Blogfest and Character Building at the IWSG

I’m over at The Insecure Writer’s Support Group site, outlining how to build a character through the handout I use for my characterization sessions.

Oh How I Miss You Blogfest

Hosted by Andrew Leon, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and Matthew MacNish.

The bloggers you miss and the ones you would miss.
List one to three bloggers you really miss.
List one to three bloggers you would really miss if they stopped blogging.
And then go let them know!

The three bloggers I really miss:

Julie Luek - she announced that she wouldn’t be blogging anymore at her main blog, A Thought Grows, but she hasn’t posted at her other BLOG since this past summer. She was a woman of faith and had such a great attitude. Miss you, Julie.

Ella - Her blog, Ella’s Edge, has been quiet this year, with only an occasional post. She’s recently posted a few poems, so I hope she is back. Ella is so creative and crafty. I love seeing what she’s created for us every time she posts. Miss you, Ella.

Gary - He blogs at Klahanie, but those posts have been few and far between lately. He recently moved and I’m sure he’s struggling with the changes. I miss seeing Penny, his cute little dog, every week. She is a Superstar, and so is Gary. Miss you, Gary -we are here for you.

The three I would miss:

Karen Walker - We met through a blogging class many years ago and connected right away. She moved to Albuquerque, NM just months before I moved away, so we just missed meeting in real life. She is a wonderful writer and her posts at Followign the Whispers are so honest and transparent. She recently had a medical procedure done and I hope it won’t interfere with her blogging, because I would miss her dearly.

Jo - She blogs at Jo on Food and Travels, and she’s someone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in real life. She lived in N. Carolina for many years before moving to Canada, so we know a lot of the same locations. She always posts a recipe and I’m always trying to figure out a way to make it vegan. She’s posted daily for so long and it would be so empty if she quit.

Sheena-kay - Her blog is Queen Sheena, and when you visit, you’re always greeted by this wonderful smile. She lives in Jamaica, so it’s interesting to hear about the world through the eyes of someone living in another country. She’s also a writer and I look forward to her upcoming books. I’ve enjoyed getting to know her and hope Sheena-kay continues to blog for a long time.

Who would you name that you miss or would miss?

Doing a Characterization Session and Realms Faire Winner

Thanks to every one who participated in the Realms Faire and the Dragon Hunt last week. The winner of a $20 Amazon card and a copy of How to Promote and Publish Your Book Now is...

Dolorah at Book Lover

Congratulations!

Thank you to all of the entrants and to the nine people who posted dragons for me - Christine Rains, Cherie Reich, Stephen Tremp, Susan Gourley, Melanie Schulz, Medeia Sharif, Alex J. Cavanaugh, Jo on Food and Travels, and Mish Writer in Transit.


Characterization

Kathy McKendry’s daughter Jess was invited to speak at her brother’s elementary school about writing and her book, From the Ashes. Kathy asked for suggestions, and I mentioned the characterization sessions I do for schools.

Last week, Kathy posted:
“From your comments, we decided it was best to involve the kids as much as possible in the talk. Jess decided her main topic would be character development and she would walk the kids through creating their own characters. She made a worksheet for them where they could fill in character traits like hair color, skin color, birthplace, etc.”

She was happy to report that it was a big success!

I’ve always taught that characters are the heart of any good story. It’s the foundation. And doing those sessions in schools is a lot of fun. I cover four basic areas:

Background - race, upbringing, parents and siblings, and economic status

Personality - type, strengths, weaknesses, interests, and goals

Physical attributes - weight, height, hair color, etc.

Misc. - age, friends, children, and other important details

What other attributes are important to a good, solid character?

The Realms Faire - Dragon Hunt!!

The Realms Faire is here - hosted by M. Pax!

This week, I am hosting the Dragon Hunt. 

Thread is falling on Pern and we need dragonriders! Find the hidden dragon on each of the participating sites, note the name of the dragon, and then email me your answers. (wolferock AT earthlink DOT net) A name will be drawn from the correct entries and the winner receives a copy of How to Publish and Promote Your Book Now and a $20.00 Amazon gift card. (Email me by Saturday, Nov. 15 - winner announced Monday, Nov. 17.)

Find the dragons:

Christine Rains

Cherie Reich

Stephen Tremp

Susan Gourley

Melanie Schulz

Medeia Sharif

Alex J. Cavanaugh

Jo on Food and Travels

Mish Writer in Transit

And there are many more games to be had this week:

Facebook

Twitter Hashtag - #grogz

2014 Events:

 

VelociRaffle

 

 

The Joust, hosted by M. Pax

Cheer up to 3x daily for the knights. Win prizes daily.

 

 

Soak-a-bloke and Drench-a-wench, hosted by Christine Rains

The rules of this event are simple:

  1. The dunkee is chosen by committee.
  2. I post a link to the dunkee's blog and you click on it.
  3. You leave a comment, soaking the person in blog love.
  4. You're entered into a drawing for a chance to win ...
 

Stockade Brigade, hosted by Mary Waibel

 

Who is on trial for wizardry this year?

 

Dueling Bards, hosted by Cass Web

 

Wordsmiths battle it out in this fun and interactive game. Prizes awarded daily.

 

Riddle Me This, hosted by Cherie Reich

 

Description: Come one, come all! Guess the creature and win. Is it a dragon? A phoenix? Read the riddle and decide what creature I'm talking about. Every correct guess posted in the comments section of Cherie Reich's blog (http://cheriereich.blogspot.com) each day during Realms Faire will enter you in for a chance to win a prize pack.

 

Phasers, hosted by Untethered Realms

A simple word game on Untethered Realms. Ie, if the posted word of the day is Phasers, you might type in 'stun' in the comments. The next commenter then goes off 'stun', perhaps by typing 'gun', and so on. Prizes daily.

 

Dragon Hunt, hosted by L. Diane Wolfe

Thread is falling on Pern and we need dragonriders! Find the hidden dragon on each of the participating sites.

Wisdom of the Creative Realms, hosted by Nicki Elson

Our 2013 Joust champion, Lady Elson, seeks wisdom from the creative realms to deepen the thoughts at her Not-so-deep Thoughts blog. Throughout the Faire, she asks subjects to share bit of wisdom they’ve gleaned from the creative arts. Each day features a different media---books, movies, music & Jester’s Choice. Beauteous prizes to be had.

 

Thank you!

The Insecure Writer's Support Group and Fat Gary

It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.
 
Many are knee-deep in NaNoWriMo this month. Every year, I’ve thought about participating, and every year, I am way too busy in October to prepare. Even with my current writing project, I have not outlined the final story in enough depth to write it. It’s not like I couldn’t write 50,000 words in one month. I wrote 205,000 in less than 6 months once, so 50,000 in one month is something I could accomplish.

To encourage those of you who have taken the plunge, or maybe you’re just writing on your own, here are some writing quotes:

Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.

Mark Twain

The road to hell is paved with adverbs.

Stephen King

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I would not brood, I would type a little faster.

Isaac Asimov

Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

Anton Chekhov

Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.

Louis L’Amour

You can make anything by writing.

C. S. Lewis

And one more Things That Scare Fat Gary photo...

The Loch Ness Monster!

Who’s Your Hero, Foodie Blog Hop, and the Realms Faire is Coming!

Who’s Your Hero Bloghop, hosted by J.L. Campbell

My hero is my husband.

He’s my safety net and reality check. (Because without him, I’d do some really stupid stuff.)

He’s my protector and Knight in Shining Armor.

He’s the man of my dreams and my greatest supporter.

He’s a true man of God and a constant in my life.

He loves me despite my weird obsessions, like roller coasters and Despicable Me minions. (And he paints a mean minion pumpkin.)

I love my hero!

Foodie Blog Hop, hosted by H. R. Sinclair

Zombie Vomit

Or as we call it in our house, Vombie Zomit. (Yes, I mixed up the words once. I’m good at that.)

It’s a Cool Whip recipe that we mutated:

The major difference is vanilla cookies instead of chocolate and vegan cream cheese. And of course, you can decorate any way you like!

Coming Next Week

Wednesday is The Insecure Writer’s Support Group post day.

Monday kicks off the Realms Faire, hosted by M. Pax. I am doing the Dragon Hunt this year - stop by to find out how you can win some cool prizes by finding the dragons.