Friday, July 18, 2014

Book Review: This Little Writer Went to Market


Product Details

By Lynda Lee Schab

Lynda has laid out certain paths fledgling writers would want to follow as they learn the craft of writing. She accomplishes this by giving brief overviews of different markets. She has also included recommended resources a new writer might check out online.
Included in her guidebook are sections pertaining to the Greeting Card industry. Ms. Schab includes web links to different companies. She also included a list of the various times a person would want to send a card.

Lynda gives her readers information on Anthologies that look for stories. She includes a list of websites where one could submit.

She directs her reader to Magazines, Christian, Regional, and Trade magazines. She cautions us that trade magazines are not traditionally sold on newsstands and are very technical. Lynda advises us to write what we know. She then includes a list of topics that in which a writer may have expertise, experience, knowledge, or interest.

Lynda gives information on Writer’s Guidelines. I find this part of her guidebook outstanding. She spells out certain things that new writers need to know before submit to any publishing venue. She includes examples of cover letters and queries. She gives three resources for markets, one of which is a paid subscription.

One section that a lot of younger writers might like is The Internet. She gives her readers an assortment of websites that hire freelance writers. She also cautions that there are some scams out there.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is beginning to write.


Lynda Lee Schab is in an online group to which I belong. I saw that the sight has an area where published writers can ask for people to review their books. I contacted her. All she asked of me was an honest, impartial review.


Graphic: Amazon .com

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Meet Author Lynda Lee Schab


My Photo

Today, we will meet a very busy author, Lynda Lee Schab. I became acquainted with her through her blog www.on-the-write-track.blogspot.com.  She also has a website, www.LyndaSchab.com.  Let’s begin our talk.

QS: Thank you, Lynda, for stopping by and talking with us.

QS: Please tell us about yourself

LS: I got my writing start in greeting cards and have many articles and stories published in magazines and online publications. I work behind the scenes at FaithWriters.com, I regularly review books for FaithfulReader.com, but my passion has always been fiction. Her novels, MIND OVER MADI and MADILY IN LOVE, are available in print and on Kindle. I live in Michigan with my two children.

QS: How long have you been writing?

LS: As my website bio states, I think I carried a pencil with me out of the womb. I remember writing short stories in elementary school and plays for my cousins and me to perform for our family, and I spent countless hours just making up stories in my head. It goes without saying that reading was a huge part of my life as well. Books were a wonderful escape for me and only fueled my writing desire. The first thing I ever got professionally published was a greeting card for Blue Mountain Arts. From there, I went on to write and publish more greeting card copy, magazine articles, web content, short stories, and eventually two full length novels. Now I freelance for a couple of regular clients but have put my fiction on the shelf for a season, due to current life circumstances. But I definitely intend to get back to it one day.

QS: In what genre do you write?

LS: My favorite genre to read is suspense, particularly legal thrillers, but I don’t have the education, experience, or the patience for hours of research to write them myself. I have a half-written fun mystery I hope to return to at some point, and have written short stories in many different genres (including biblical fiction and historical), but my published novels, Mind over Madi and Madily in Love, are lighthearted women’s fiction. They are fun and laced with humor, with a dose of hope and grace. They are published through OakTara and available in print and on Kindle at Amazon.com.

QS: Do you have a ‘day job?’
LS: Right now I work full time in administration for a concrete company and do my freelance work in the evenings and weekends. Unfortunately, my dream of an office overlooking the water where I can write novels all day will have to wait a while. But I’m a dreamer and an optimist, so I’m holding onto the belief that it really will happen one day!
 QS: Have you written before this?
LS: As I mentioned above, I have lots of published work out there, but writing a novel has been something I wanted to do for as long as I can remember. It took many years and a lot more perseverance than I thought I had. Looking back, I can see God’s hand in everything that brought me to that point, from the people I met to the opportunities presented to me. I did write and self-publish an e-book titled, “This Little Writer Went to Market,” based on a workshop I taught at a FaithWriters conference a few years ago. It’s a simple book that offers advice and information on getting started as a freelance writer in various markets – greeting cards, magazines, anthologies, online publications, and more. This Little Writer Went to Market is available in the FaithWriters e-book store and on Amazon.

QS: Do you write a blog? Please give us the address.
LS: I maintained a blog titled On the Write Track for several years, but honestly, I haven’t updated it in a while. Again, I’ve been going through some personal issues that have prevented me from keeping up with it. Like my fiction, I hope to reignite it at some point. There is a lot of good information there, though, so if writers/readers have some time and want to browse, the address is www.on-the-write-track.blogspot.com.

QS: Tell us about your kids.

LS: Oh, I love to brag on my kids! I have a 20-year-old son who is attending community college in the fall. He’s inherited my creative genes, reads obsessively, and is an exceptionally talented writer. He has also directed several personal videos. He would love to go into film-making and it wouldn’t surprise me if he receives an Oscar one day (spoken as both a mother and a fan). My daughter is 17. She is very bright, has a compassionate heart and wonderful insight into people and life, in general. She graduates from high school next year and will go on to earn a degree in childhood education. She wants to be a kindergarten teacher, which I believe is a perfect choice for her.



 QS: Thank you, Lynda for sharing facts about your writing life with us. Readers, you will get to find out about her non-fiction book, "This Little Writer Went to Market"  on Friday.



           

Monday, July 14, 2014

Freedom vs Control


 

“I have the freedom to do anything, but not everything is helpful.
 I have the freedom to do anything, but I won’t be controlled by anything.”
1 Corinthians 6:12 (CEB)

The apostle Paul brings out an important point with these words. He speaks about himself but applies the message to all who belong to God.

We belong to Jesus. When we realize we have this relationship with Him, we hear that we need to obey Him. When we act in obedience to Christ, we glorify (or honor) Him.

As children of God, we should think of the best way to represent Him in our world. There are people around us who have not accepted Jesus but they know what we are to do about things with which we deal. They watch us and, when we slip, they are right there to tell us, “If that’s Christianity, I don’t want it.”

Yes, I could go to the horse race track, I hear it has a lot of neat things there—celebrities appear there, I understand they have good food in their restaurant.  But I know I have an addictive personality. That constrains me from going.  The local horse track tries to do a lot of public relations work in order to draw more people in their doors. But I remember the fact that I have seen lives ruined by their own vices and people hurt because of another person’s addictive behavior.

 I have to exercise restraint when I hear of people going out there to see a show, or to eat a meal. Because God has dealt with me about both my own need to stay away and the fact that others can do this.

  graphic: faithful4him.wordpress.com

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...