Impromptu Story Writing

Stan Stevens will be leading us with this intriguing idea.

Impromptu story writing is what our meeting will be about.  Glass bowls filled with “story sparks” will launch this activity.  Each time you pick a spark, you’ll have five minutes to create a short description or narrative.  Be sure to bring a writing pad and a few sharp pencils.  You may be surprised at what is written on your pad.  Maybe even the beginning of  A New York Times best seller.  It’s all about having fun with words and ideas. 

Mark your calendars: Saturday January 20, 10 a.m., Blue Room (upstairs, Visalia Library on Oak St.)

Sounds like a great time for all writers.

Marketing Your Books

If you missed our November meeting, you missed a most helpful one. Judith Boling gave ua a wonderful presentation on book marketing.

Her first piece of advice was to spend most of your time writing.

All writers should have 2 biographies--one written in first person, one if 3rd. It should be rewritten as needed. For your purpose as a writer, it should be about your writing life.

Write an engaging blurb about your book.

Have a strong and engaging book cover.

You should have a website and/or a blog, or both.

For you blog, add new posts consistently.

You should have a good photograph of you for promo purposes.

On Facebook, also have an author page.

Focus on your target audience.

And another member sent this link about Search Engine Optimization for 2018.

https://backlinko.com/seo-this-year#chapter4


There will no meeting in December.

Marketing Your Books--Judith Boling

Nov. 18th, 10 a.m., in the Blue Room of the Visalia Library on Oak Street.

We’ll be talking about marketing. For writers, marketing your own books is one of the hardest things to do.

Judith Boling has been studying the subject and will present what she has learned. 

If you have marketing strategies that have worked for you, com share.

No meeting in December.

What the Library has to Offer Writers in October and November

Tulare-Kings Writers October meeting will be held Saturday, November 21, at 10 A.M. in the Blue Room of the Visalia Library, 200 W. Oak Avenue, in Visalia. Our speaker will be Rebecca Kemp, Librarian II who will update us on what the library has to offer writers in October and November. 

Tulare-Kings Writers at Taste of the Arts

Instead of a regular meeting, members of Tulare-Kings Writers, had a booth at the Taste of the Arts Festival in Visalia.

President Gloria Getman reported that the day was perfect.

Krista Lynn Shared Much Valuable Information

If you missed the last meeting, you truly missed out.

Krista Lynn shared many valuable tips about editing and much, much more.

She talked about self-publishing and how many people are going that route because many publishers are not editing or promoting. If you must do both, you might as well publish yourself.

Ways to punch up your writing:

List your characters, make sure the names aren't too similar.

Think about the setting, what is it like? You need to know where your characters are.

And your character, what kind of things do they do, do they talk a certain way, are they successful?

Go back through the manuscript and add things about the characters.

Characters must be up against conflict--have problems reaching their goals.

What does the character look like? What does he/she really want?

Pull out little characteristics--be consistent with mannerisms.

Self-edit.

Use power words.

Get rid of work like, it, that, just--and any word you use too often.

Read your manuscript out loud.

Instead of said, us something the character does instead for a dialogue tag.

Not too much back story.

She share much, much more.

Head on over to her webpage:

www.kristallynn.com

www.kristallynndesigns.com

Krista Lynn and our fearless leader, Gloria Getman.

Krista Lynn, Our Next Speaker, Saturday, September 16

The meeting is at 10 a.m., upstairs in the Blue Room of the big Library on Oak St., in Visalia.

Krista has a lot to offer us as writers. She'll be talking about editing our own work, her own writing, and her graphics business.

She will also answer any question we might have on those subjects.

 www.kristallynndesigns.com

It’s no mystery why Krista Lynn writes about the high desert ofwww.kristallynn.com Arizona. She grew up on a gold mine about 60 miles north of Phoenix. The closest neighbor was 6 miles or so down the Agua Fria River, or another 20 miles by dirt road. 

The magic and spirit of a rugged, isolated landscape where mysteries are carried on the wind, and whispered in your sleep are the multi-colored threads woven into her series.

Before embarking on the writer’s path, Krista taught physical geography and GIS courses at CSUF and Fresno City College a GIS program to assist agricultural research. She lives in California with her husband and a menagerie of dogs, goats and one spoiled horse while continuing to write the Canyon Trilogy and an anthology of cozy mysteries.

Blood Stones: The Haunting of Sunset Canyon   

Within Sunset Canyon, deep in the Arizona desert, the love a young woman feels for her mysterious lover grows deeper every year, though her heart stopped beating over a century ago - stilled by the one she loves. What magic could cause this? What ancient Indian witchcraft could hold her and make her part of The Haunting of Sunset Canyon?

When Darcy Peel left Dry Creek, Arizona, to go to graduate school, she thought she had left for good. She never thought she would come back to the small high-desert community nestled in the shadow of Prospector’s Mountain or that she’d have to go into the legendary red rock gorge known in Indian lore as the “Canyon that Sees the Sun.” But, now she is compelled to return and find her sister who is lost in the canyon—like her father and brother before her. 

Research documents and a little leather-covered book that her sister sent before she disappeared, offer clues and brings back memories and dreams of a young woman trapped in the canyon. On the trail to the truth, Darcy meets Alan Brandt, a young deputy with ties to her family’s past and possessing hidden abilities that link him to stories of ghost warriors. Can she trust him to help find her sister as he promises? Or is she being trapped by the mountain’s magic - seduced by her attraction to a man with an uncanny connection to the deadly legends?

Buy Links:

Amazon    

 

Reviews:

“Wow! That’s exactly what I thought when I finished reading the wonderful book by debut author Krista Lynn, Blood Stones: The Haunting of Sunset Canyon, Volume One. This story line is one that will keep readers engrossed from the first page all the way through to the very last!”
           Tracy A. Fisher for Readers’ Favorite

“Blood Stones: The Haunting of Sunset Canyon, Volume 1 is well-written, finely plotted, and a joy to read. I’m looking forward to the next book in this supernatural series. Blood Stones is most highly recommended.”
          Jack Magnus for Readers’ Favorite

“Krista Lynn's story of love, lies and mystical happenings in the high desert of Arizona is a journey to more than the mines beyond Phoenix. It's a journey inside Native American folklore, legends and beliefs. The advantage to a longer novel, like Blood Stones is that you really get to know the characters well and if it's written with talent by the time you finish the book, you miss the characters who've kept you company for the last 10 days. Such is the case with Blood Stones and I'm looking forward to the next novel in this fascinating series. Well done, Ms. Lynn.”                                                                    Kim Hornsby for “Kimmy’s Korner” book reviews.