The deadline approacheth...

It's almost here. The deadline for submissions to There Is No End, the first anthology by SCRIBE, the Riverbend Writers Group, is this Saturday, April 30th at midnight. Many of you have already submitted, but there's still (a little) time! Make sure your submission is under 2500 words; longer pieces will be rejected. Email your piece in Word format to Mike Robertson via the usual email address. If you can't send a digital file, make sure your printed pieces are to me by Saturday.
We'll have a SCRIBE meeting this Saturday, too, where we'll talk about the next step in the publication process and maybe celebrate the close of submissions. We'll look at some possible cover designs, too. Join us at 10:00am this Saturday, April 30th.

Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award

I entered my novel, This Is Where I Came In, in Amazon's annual Breakthrough Novel Award competition several weeks ago. They accepted five thousand entries and then started the winnowing process. Today (Feb. 24) they picked the top one thousand, eliminating 4,000 hopefuls. I'm happy to say that I made the cut! The next step will further narrow the field to 500; that result will be announced on March 22nd. While I don't hold much hope for winning the contest, I've found that entering such competitions does some beneficial things for a writer. It forces you to come up with a brief summary of your book, something that is much harder than it seems. If you only have 300 words to hook someone's attention and make them want to read your story, what do you say? How much plot do you give away? You begin to realize how difficult it is to write the blurb for a book cover, those few words which often make the difference between a sale and a rejection. Honing a pitch is crucial if you ever intend to try to get a literary agent or get an editor to read your stuff. You must learn to briefly tell what your book is about, why it's worth reading, why it's different from other books, who the audience is, etc. It's a lot to sum up in 300 words. Try it.
Meanwhile, I'll be trying not to think about March 22nd.

YOU could be published...in the SCRIBE anthology

Sometimes we all need a little push to get us going in the right direction. This is particularly true for writers; it's way too easy to put off writing until "tomorrow" which likely never comes. So here's your push: Later this year, SCRIBE will publish There Is No End, an anthology of writings by the members of Scribe, the Riverbend Writers Group. We are now accepting submissions for this project; in fact I've already received a couple. If you submit a piece which is accepted, it will be printed in the anthology and you will be part of the book launch party where selected authors will read from their work and all included authors will be invited to sign copies of the book.
Submissions for the anthology may be short stories, memoirs, poems, short plays, anecdotes, essays, etc. Your submission should relate in some way to one of the following themes: Grace. Hope. Faith. Love. Don’t think of this as a “devotional” book; themes should be subtle and need not be “religious” in nature. Not all submissions will be printed. Submissions will be edited and in some cases, given back to authors for further fine-tuning. Do your very best work!
Proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to Riverbend’s building fund.

Submission guidelines:
• Submissions must be in electronic format, in a Microsoft Word document or compatible format.
• Submissions must be no longer than 2,500 words. No exceptions.
• Submissions should relate in some way to the subject of grace, faith, hope or love.
• Deadline for submissions is midnight Saturday, April 30, 2011.
• Email submissions to Mike Robertson, or submit your work on a CD or flash drive.

If you have any questions, please email me. You now have a reason to write. I can't wait to read what you come up with.

Guest author at this week's SCRIBE

I hope that one of your resolutions is to WRITE more this year. We'll start this fresh year with another great meeting of SCRIBE, the Riverbend writers group, this Saturday, January 8th, at 10:00am in Quad 4. Our special guest author will be Sylvia Dickey Smith. Sylvia has had a fascinating life and has resisted being pigeonholed as a writer. She's written a mystery series, a historical novel, and even a Cajun cookbook! Come hear what Sylvia has to share with us, ask your questions, pick up one of her books. In addition to her website, Sylvia has a blog called Writing Strong Women which is full of good information.
Make a special effort to be here for this (and ALL) our meetings this year; there's nothing more inspiring than spending time with other writers and hearing their stories, struggles and strategies.

SCRIBE meeting on December 11th, 2010

This Saturday, December 11th, will be the final SCRIBE meeting for 2010. What a great year it's been! I hope you can join us at 10:00am in Quad 4, when our guest author will be PJ Pierce. PJ will have copies of her book, "Let Me Tell You What I've Learned: Texas Wisewomen Speak," a collection of her interviews with some of the most notable women in the Lone Star State, including Barbara Jordan, Liz Carpenter, Jody Conradt, Linda Ellerbee, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Ann Richards and others. PJ is currently working on two projects: a biography of Liz Carpenter and a biography of Barbara Jacket, Olympic Track & Field coach. PJ has been a high school teacher and a public relations person. She is a wife and mother, an avid long-distance bicyclist, a master swimmer, and she has hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim. Come and hear what she has to share with you this Saturday.

SCRIBE meets on November 13th

All writers and those who would like to be writers are encouraged to attend the regular meeting of SCRIBE this Saturday, November 13th. Our guest author/speaker will be Dr. David Ciambrone. David is a retired scientist, professor, U.S. Treasury commissioner, and award-winning, best-selling author. Dave writes "Ask Uncle Dave," a helpful hints and science newspaper column for the Williamson County Sun. He has published 10 books: six mysteries, three management books, and a non-fiction reference book on poisons. Dave was a professor at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona and is president of the San Gabriel Writer's League. He is also a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and the Writers' League of Texas. Dave is a professor and dean in the Georgetown Library's Writers' College and a speaker at writer's conferences around the country. He lives in Georgetown with his wife, Kathy.
Our meeting begins at 10:00am in Quad 4. We'll save you a seat.

Write something down...quick!

This Saturday, October 23rd, join us for SCRIBE meeting at 10:00am in Quad 4. This is the critique/workshop meeting, so we encourage you to bring something you've written or something you're currently working on and share it with your small group to get valuable feedback. We won't be having the critique meetings in November or December, because they would conflict with Thanksgiving and Christmas. So this is your last chance in 2010 to hear your fellow writers respond to your creative output.
We will, of course, have our other meetings in November and December. On November 13th, our guest will be author David Ciambrone, and on December 11th, we will welcome P.J. Pierce.
There's always a good reason to attend SCRIBE. I'd love to see you there!