Gloria Teague, Another Reason I Attend Writer's Groups

I love writer's groups. I try not to miss any of them. Currently, I am a member of SCBWI, ACFW, and Tulsa Night Writers.

One reason I love writer's groups is because of the new friendships I form. It's so nice to have other authors to talk to, to critique your work, and encourage you.

I met this sweet gal, Gloria Teague, at Tulsa Night Writers. She's the writer of both fiction and nonfiction; and, currently has two books and two novels out, as well as more than 50 short stories. What an inspiration!

Her newest book, Beyond the Surgeon's Touch: One Miracle Away from Death, is stories based on actual events in emergency rooms that illustrate that miracles can, and do, happen to average people more often than you may realize. I can't wait to read this one!

You can visit Gloria's website at: www.gloriateague.com

The Journal of Universal Rejection

I got this in my e-mail this morning from OWFI and thought some of you might enjoy it. The Journal of Universal Rejection.

Writer's Digest Conference January 2011

Writer's Digest Conference in New York, January 21-23, 2011. Topics include branding, marketing, publishing options, revision, building the perfect plot, blogging, and more. Check out the session descriptions and speakers. There is something for everyone!

Self Publishing Article by David Carnoy

I found this informative article on self-publishing by David Carnoy (editor at CNET): Self-publishing a book: 25 things you need to know. He covers the why and how, as well as caveats of self-publishing. A must-read for anyone considering self-publishing.

Rubin Pfeffer Challenges SCBWI to join the Digital Age

Pfeffer, at SCBWI's Annual Conference last week made some interesting statements about e-books and e-book publishing. Read the article on Publisher's Weekly.

Celebration of Books at OSU Tulsa - Sept. 24-25

The Celebration of Books 2010 Reunion, sponsored by The Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, is an awesome opportunity to learn from writers such as Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees), Michael Cunningham (By Nightfall: A Novel), William Bernhardt (Capitol Offense), S.E. Hinton (The Outsiders), Nancy Pickard (The Scent of Rain and Lightning), Anna Myers (Spy!), Carolyn Hart (Laughed 'Til He Died: A Death on Demand Mystery), and MORE! And it's extremely reasonable in price - only $45.00! I won't miss this one!

Critique Groups

This week, I was invited to be part of a critique group with three other children's book authors: Nelda, Linda and Sandy. What a wonderful, talented bunch of girls. I'm delighted to be part of the group.

I've been looking for a group because, apparently, I need deadlines. I have deadlines with my nonfiction writing; so, I tend to spend all my time writing nonfiction and never get around to writing fiction. Now, with a critique group, I'll have motivation to write that children's book I keep saying I'm going to write. After all, I'll feel kind of silly if I don't have something written next time I go!

Now, I need a fiction novel critique group for motivation to write my mystery!

Make your own iPad Book!

Love this video about Book Signings!

I haven't done one yet, and this definitely does not look like fun!

The future of books - interactivity!

I was amazed at Alice on the iPad (see my Alice review), but Jack and the Beanstalk proves that interactive books are only going to get better. Here’s why:

While Alice has exquisite graphics and fun animations, Jack and the Beanstalk has cute, kid-friendly graphics and LOTS of animations, PLUS music, interactions on every page, and games such as a memory game, a shape-matching game, bubble popping, and finger painting.

  

The interactions on Jack and the Beanstalk are things that kids will love to do like touch the screen to light the street lamp or start the fireworks, find hidden “easter” eggs that sing and wiggle, touch characters to make them talk or dance, and swipe to reveal hidden creatures in a lake and then count them.

You can turn “Narration Audio” off to read the story out loud yourself, but you may get tired of reading! Jack and the Beanstalk is a “book” that kids will want to “read” over and over again, not only to hear the fun story, but also to search for the hidden surprises.

And when you’re finished reading, you can go to the Ayars Website (www.ayarsanimation.com) and download the Jack and the Beanstalk coloring book for kids to color.

Jack and the Beanstalk works on the iPhone (3.2 or later) and iPod Touch, too. 

So, fellow authors and publishers, how can we take advantage of this new technology? Have YOU considered an app for that?