Wednesday, December 4, 2019

Insecure Writer's Support Group and Anthology Contest Winners!

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.


The awesome co-hosts today are Tonja Drecker, Beverly Stowe McClure, Nicki Elson, Fundy Blue, and Tyrean Martinson!

December 4 question - Let's play a game. Imagine. Role-play. How would you describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream? Or if you are already there, what does it look and feel like? Tell the rest of us. What would you change or improve?

Please note – since the next first Wednesday falls on New Year’s Day, we will be posting for the IWSG on the following Wednesday, January 8!



Announcing the winners of the IWSG Anthology Contest!

Coming May 5, 2020 -
Voyagers: The Third Ghost
Middle grade historical/adventure

Featuring these stories and authors:
The Third Ghost – Yvonne Ventresca
Winter Days - Katharina Kolata
Feathered Fire – Roland Clarke
The Ghosts of Pompeii – Sherry Ellis
Dare Double Dare – Louise MacBeath Barbour
The Blind Ship – Bish Denham
A World of Trouble – Rebecca M. Douglass
The Orchard - Beth Anderson Schuck
Return to Cahokia – L.T. Ward
Simon Grey and the Yamamba - Charles Kowalski

We’d like to thank our amazing judges:

Elizabeth S. Craig, author and honorary judge
Elizabeth is the bestselling cozy mystery author of the Southern Quilting mysteries, the Myrtle Clover Cozy Mysteries, the Village Library Mysteries, and Memphis Barbeque mysteries for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and independently. Follow her on Twitter where she shares writing links @elizabethscraig or at her blog where she offers tips for writers. She lives in Matthews, North Carolina with her husband and is the mother of two.

Dianne K. Salerni, author
Dianne K. Salerni is the author of the The Eighth Day fantasy series and historical novels, The Caged Graves and We Hear the Dead. The Roosevelt Ghosts, featuring young cousins Eleanor and Alice Roosevelt and a vengeful ghost, will be released in 2020 by Holiday House.

Lynda Dietz, editor
Lynda has been fascinated with the written word since her earliest years of reading the back of the cereal box at the breakfast table. She’s now a copyeditor who works with authors in a variety of genres, both in fiction and nonfiction. She’s had a blog for over six years, and shares writing tips from an editor’s point of view with a healthy dose of snark and silliness. She’s also an unapologetic—but always encouraging—grammar thug.

S.A. Larsen, author
S.A. Larsen is the international award-winning author of the middle grade fantasy-adventure MOTLEY EDUCATION and the young adult contemporary-fantasy romance MARKED BEAUTY. When she’s not chasing her characters around a graveyard or antagonizing them with young love, she can be found in Maine with her husband and four children. Visit her cyber home at S.A. Larsen Books.

Rachna Chhabria, author
Rachna Chhabria's imagination has taken her all over the world and introduced her to all kinds of creatures. She is the author of Festival Stories Through The Year, Lazy Worm Goes on a Journey, The Lion Who Wanted to Sing and Bunny in Search of a Name. A columnist with Deccan Chronicle and The Asian Age, her stories have appeared in Young World, Open Sesame, Tele Kids and Deccan Herald Student Edition newspaper, as well as in several school textbooks. She also taught creative writing in a college for many years. As a child she loved listening to stories, now she loves writing them.


Lindsay Davis Auld, agent - Writers House
Lindsay first started at Writers House in the West Coast office, where she apprenticed with Steven Malk and has had the opportunity to work with some of the very best authors and artists in the industry. She is actively building her list, and is seeking picture book, middle grade, and young adult manuscripts. She has always been passionate about children's and young adult literature, and, as an agent, she is eager to help bring fresh voices, characters and stories to a new generation of readers.


Tonja Drecker, author
Tonja Drecker is a writer, blogger, children’s book reviewer and freelance translator. After spending years in Germany exploring forgotten castles, she currently resides in the Ozarks with her family of six. When she’s not tending her chickens and cows, she’s discovering new adventures, nibbling chocolate and sipping a cup of tea.

David Powers King, author
David's works include WOVEN, THE UNDEAD ROAD, and FULL DARK: AN ANTHOLOGY. He currently resides in the Mountain West with his wife and 4 children.



And a big thanks to everyone who entered! There were some great stories.


Our previous IWSG anthologies -
Masquerade: Oddly Suited
Tick Tock: A Stitch in Crime
Hero Lost: The Mysteries of Death and Life
Parallels: Felix Was Here


Nominations for best writing website are now open at The Write Life!
Please go nominate the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.



The WEP Challenge for December – Footprints.

And the theme came from our very own IWSG Admin, Tyrean Martinson!

Footprints in the sand...Footprints in the snow...and they don't have to be human - alien, monster, unknown creatures...all up for grabs.


The IWSG Instagram prompts and announcements for December:




The next #IWSGPit will be in January 15, 2020, 8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time.
Don’t miss it!

Did you know the IWSG has a Goodreads Book Club? Why the heck not?
If you’re on Goodreads, join this group to learn and grow as a writer.




How would you answer the question today? Participating in #IWSGPit in January? And are you ready for Voyagers: The Third Ghost?

15 comments:

Pat Hatt said...

Big congrats to the winners!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations to the ten winners!

Cathrina Constantine said...

A huge congratulations to all the awesome Winners!!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Congrats to all the winners! And thanks so much to the judges.

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Alwasy something going on with the IWSG!

Heather M. Gardner said...

The IWSG members have so much talent!
Congrats to the winners and to all that entered!

Heather

Lynda Dietz said...

Congratulations to all the winners! It's fun to see names with the titles. What a great bunch of stories.

Yolanda Renée said...

CONGRATULATIONS! To all the winners. Such an awesome list, can't wait to read the stories!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

Congrats to all the winners. I wish I had something ready for the Twitter pitch.

Lisa said...

Congratulations to all the winners! Can't wait to read the anthology. Also, the question this month was fun! Thanks for all you all do at IWSG for all of us. Merry Christmas and everything else!

Karen Baldwin said...

Kudos to the winners, and a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and New Year to all!!

Sandra Cox said...

Nice to get to know the judges.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

Congratulations to all the winners.
I'd say that I'm as close to "living the dream" as I've ever been. I keep writing, but I'm also running a therapy practice. I really enjoy that. I suppose I'd see some real money for my writing, ideally. But I don't want to do that full-time - too isolating.

I hope all's moving forward in good ways, Alex.

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

It's encouraging to see the Anthology continue. Congratulations to the 10 winners. Looking forward to reading the new one.

Michelle Wallace said...

Yet another anthology to add to the growing collection.
Congrats to the authors!