Tu Publishing

Who is Tu Publishing? Tu Publishing is a new publishing company with the goal of publishing multicultural fantasy and science fiction for children and young adults. The founder, Stacy Whitman, believes that if we increase the number of children’s books with multicultural characters and settings, we can influence the multicultural world of tomorrow.
The word “tu” means “you” in many languages. It is the mission of Tu publishing by reaching out through the many cultures of the world to then reach the “you” in each reader. If you are interested in learning more about Tu publishing, check out their excellent website at http://www.tupublishing.com/mission/.

On Critiquing

Have you ever felt the frustration of having someone read your story for you, expecting a thorough critique and getting, I really liked it, it was really good. When you are asked to critique a story for someone there are certain things that you should be watching for.
Characterization – Do the characters have depth? Are they believable? Do they have understandable motives?
Dialogue – Does the dialogue sound real? Does the conversation flow smoothly? Could you imagine people you know talking that way?
Setting – Details are important. If the scene is about a tropical island, you have to be able to see, smell, hear, taste, touch, what the character does. If the the scene is in the lap of luxury it will be a whole new set of images. Your reader has to be able to place themselves in the location of the character that they are reading about and be able to feel like they identify with him.
Point of View – What is your point of view. In first person your character is limited to his own thoughts and opinions. In third person, the narrator can tell the opinions of other characters. It is important that POV stays consistent throughout a story or the reader can get confused.
Development – Is the development of the story logical? Do the changes progress in a way that makes sense or are they so random that the reader gets lost?
Pacing – How quickly does the reader get pulled into the story? Is there action right away, or is it qradual? Is the story based more on character development or action scenes?
Text – Are there lines that are too long or too short? Are there enough paragraph breaks? Are there places with too much description and not enough action to keep the reader engaged? Is it too wordy, or are all the words put to good use? Are there unnecessary adverbs such as “In fact”? Is it written in active or passive voice?
Mechanics – Watch for problems with sentence structure, verb agreement and aspects of basic style. Check for misplaced modifiers, mixed metaphors and dangling participles. (For me this means go back to University)
A walk in the park, right. I believe it is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it. You will come to recognize things that are out of place as if they were a button missing on a favorite sweater. Okay, they might not be that obvious, but you get the picture.
So go ahead and critique. Be honest, but don’t be brutally honest. Remember how you would like to have your own work critiqued. As a bonus your editing skills will get better each time you critique another writer’s work.

A Great Website If You Write For Children's Magazines

If you want to write for children’s magazines, there is a website that has oodles of information. It is called Kid Magazine Writers and can be found at KidMagWriters.com. There is now a link on my blog. This site lists kid’s magazines alphabetically and when you click on them you can learn more about the magazine and usually find submission guidelines or at least contact information.
Under Market Info, you will find a special in-depth report on one of the magazines on their site. A section called Inside Markets lists new kids magazines, and the Dead Zone lists magazines that are no longer functioning.
The Working Day section has a section called Fresh Ideas that is an inspirational writer boost. There is a Technique section with headings like That’s a Fact, Storytellers, Meter Readers (poetry trivia) and Word Wizard.
There is also an archive section where magazine there are two headings: Editors speak and Special Report. You can hear what the editor from a particular magazine has to say or look at an html of a special article.
The Writer’s Digest has deemed Kid Mag Writers as one of the 101 best websites for writers. It’s higher than that on my list. It makes finding magazines that fit what I like to write a much simpler task.

Writing A Novel Made Easy

You go to all these writing classes and you think, gee, wouldn’t it be great if all this information was condensed into one little book. People, your wish has come true. The brilliant Weston Elliot, with sage advice from her wise side kick, Michelle Jefferies, has put together THE COMPLETE NOVEL WRITING WORKBOOK.
In a nutshell, this workbook is designed to help you write your novel. It begins with a section for world building, or the place where your story takes place. Pages are designated to helping you define your setting. For example, the first page, labeled ‘Your World’ is devoted to helping you define the names of places in your novel. The next page, Topography, helps you define landmarks, weather, and boundaries. . etc. There are pages for Sociology, Government/Military, Religion, Magic, Agriculture, Architecture, Language, Calendar, Technology, History, Education, Fashion and Commerce. Each of these pages asks its own questions to help you narrow down and define your answers. There is even a section for mapping, complete with grid lined pages and a legend with suggested icons of what a tree, river, and farmland area would look like, etc. This layout has been well thought through. All you have to do is fill it in. And there’s more . . .
The next section is devoted to character sketches. A page on point of view helps you define who will be telling your story. Turn the page and the stage is open to you to fill in your entire cast of characters. Several pages are devoted to main characters, then secondary characters, and finally incidental characters. Each of these pages gets you to delve into details that will help you to profile who your character is. What is your characters age, gender, weakness, fear, strength, talent, etc. All this information helps you to build characters that are vivid and full of detail. It helps you know who you are writing about.
In the last section you will be writing out the conflict and resolution of your story. Basically, you will be planning the plot. The importance of a timeline is stressed and a timeline table is provided. Chapter planning is explained and chapter outlines are provided for you to fill in. Thirty chapter outlines are provided, each with their own set of details.
This workbook makes writing a novel a ‘no brainer’ you just sit down and fill in the details. All the mapping out has been done for you ahead of time. Way to go, girls. I’m hooked, or should I say spoiled. Writing a novel will never be the same again.
To get your own copy of THE COMPLETE NOVEL WRITING WORKBOOK look under Blogs I Like to Visit and find Weston Elliot. You can purchase the book directly from her blog using PayPal, or you can contact her.

Stories For Children Magazine

“Mommy I’m bored.” You’ve never heard that before, right. Hey its summer, that phrase goes with the season. If you need a creative outlet for your kids, here’s a great place to go, storiesforchildrenmagazine.org. Stories for Children Magazine not only has fun articles and poems for kids ages 3–12, it often has puzzles, coloring pages, mazes and other fun activities.
Not only does this awesome magazine write for kids, some of it is written by kids. Yes, they print stories submitted by young authors. What a great opportunity for your child to get their story published. They also publish the artwork of young illustrators. How cool is that?
This magazine is known for its fun contests that challenge both adults and kids to dig into their creative reserves and come up with something spectacular. Right now SFC has a contest called Amazing But True Nonfiction for adults and a Stanley Bookman Spooky Sounds contest for kids. For more details and contest entry information go to storiesforchildrenmagazine.org and click on contests, or just click on the link on my blog under links for children's writers and go directly to their site.

Crazy Eights

I've been tagged. This time it's crazy eights. The rules are: Name who tagged you - Heather got me. Fill in the eights, and tag eight others.
Here are the eights.

Eight things I look forward to:
1. New books.
2. Vacations.
3. Naps.
4. Getting published.
5. Learning how to use my Wacom.
6. Going on a mission with my honey/hubby.
7. Learning another language.
8. Having grandkids (much later on)

Eight things I did yesterday:
1. Laundry...duh.
2. Ate oatmeal.
3. Unclogged bathtub.
4. Trimmed dingle-berries. (Don't ask)
5. Attended a funeral conducted by my hubby/Bishop.
6. Baptisms at SLC Temple with youth in our ward
7. Ate green spaghetti at a Peruvian restaurant.
8. Helped teenager with Spanish homework.

Eight things I wish I could do.
1. Fly.
2. Instantly go from one place to another.
3. Eat loads of cocoanut cream pie and not gain an ounce.
4. Read all day.
5. Write all day.
6. Paint all day.
7. Have a day that is longer than all day.
8. Have a marvelous cook, who also does the dishes.

Eight Shows I watch
1. Medium
2. Criminal Minds
3. CSI
4. NCIS
5. Ghost Whisperer
6. Numbers
7. Designed to Sell
8. House Hunters

The eight people I will tag are - Tina, Lori, Doug, Valerie, Kellie, Melissa, Randy, and Holly. Good luck.

Why I Write - Epiphany Poem

Where has my little toddler gone?
I open the pantry door.
And there I see a chocolate face,
And pudding all over the floor.

A twinkle in his bright blue eyes,
The innonce of childhood.
He smiles at me through chocolate lips,
Looks up and says,"Mmmm, dood!"

I share the story with a friend,
She laughs and dries her eyes.
"They grow so fast, these little ones."
Then she gives me some good advice.

Be sure to write it down,
These are things you will want to share.
If you capture the image it won't get lost
And moments like these are rare.

Traveling through a mountain pass
I marvel at nature's scene.
A photo couldn't capture it all
But my notebook will tell where I've been.

My pencil is a paintbrush
With each word a vibrant hue.
To write is to paint a picture
Of all that is in my view.

On our way we stop for lunch,
I pause to write what I've seen.
A woman with silver bangles
And a caftan of neon lime green.

Her red hair is wrapped in a matching scarf,
Silver sandals wrap her feet.
She's a walking story that I must catch,
A character complete.

My husband watches my pencil fly
And he askes with eyebrows raised.
"You write about family and places we've been,
But why put that gal in a phrase?"

Suddenly the light comes on
And it couldn't be much brighter.
"I need to write this down," I say,
"Because I am a writer."