WriteOnCon 2011 is taking place on Tuesday, August 16 – Thursday, August 18

You can read all about it here:  http://writeoncon.com/about/what-is-writeoncon/

The main point is that its an online conference to support writers.  It focusses mainly on kidlit, however, the information would benefit all. 

I've never been before.  I found the website due to a link to a competition where Ginger Clark of Curtis Brown is offering to do a free critique. 

There are lots of other competition being run too, with the most recent being a chance to recieve a critique on your query letter. 

Through WeBook I've made some good online writing friends.  A lot of them have tried making their own Book Trailers and it inspired me to give it a go. 

One friend in particular, Mike Arsuaga has written Subspecies.  It was published in May 2011 by MuseIthotpublishing.com.  His wife Cynthia Arsuaga put together a book trailer for his website  http://mikearsuaga.weebly.com/.  After expressing my compliments on her work, she has been really encouraging and supportive, offering advice such as where to find free music.  She also produced a demo to show me what my Trailer could look like.

ACWillard is another friend I've made through WeBook and has  written The Extra Ordinary Series.  The trailer produced if for the first book Evolutions  http://acwillard.com/ 

I know I won't be able to use my first draft of the Trailer (except for personal use to show my friends) because of the copyrighted song which is a shame.  So, I checked out the website Cynthia recommended to me  http://ccmixter.org/view/media/home to find something free for use.  There I found Below (Frozen in time mix) by His Boy Elroy http://www.hisboyelroymusic.com/.  The tune is perfect for the trailer and I'm really pleased with the second version... I'd even go as far as to say it's better. 

The link to my trailer  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSNM3zZ8IBo

I created a little video in Widnows Media Player for fun.  I want to share it on here but I'm worried about copyright permissions.

I finished the first draft of Drift in December 2009.  Then Ellie Goulding released her song Starry Eyed.  The song has always felt like it was written for the story - the whole story not just a part of it. 

I used the song as the backing track for the trailer.  She is HUGE and I don't want to get in trouble for using it.  Someone said I should ask, so I sent an email to her record label and if they'll let me use it then I'll upload it here.

As I've been trying to take a break from Drift, it was a very good creative distraction.  Plus, I've really enjoyed making it. 

I'm very excited.  I've been asked to take part in the Modelgateway Charity Fashion Show.  The offical blurb is below but I thought I'd share my rehearsal pictures with you. 









I'm planned to be wearing lingerie on the night.  My nerves about that could have its own blog but I'm only young once and this is for charity so really this is the perfect opportunity to do this, if I am ever am.  The charity is a realy good one:  http://www.beatbloodcancers.org/ 

I know, once its over I will be so proud of myself. 

I'm quite pleased with how the demo pictures came out, considering I was concerntrating on getting my walk right and not my posing.  It was crazy how hard I found it to remember where to wait and for how long and not to walk too fast.  I  was so frutstrated with myself I was ready to climb the walls in my stilletos.  It was important to act cool and remember the names of all the stunning gorgeous men and women surrounding me - who'll also be in the show. 

Everyone was really sweet and supportive.  They were helpful and encouraging, getting me to practice my walk and routine despite the number of times I crashed into them.  I've been practicing at home ever since and I'm determind to nail this. 

The Blurb

Want to know what the big fuss is about the ModelGateway.net Charity Fashion Show is? Well here it is:

The MG CFS comes around every 2 years and the last one was so packed that an online petition was started to have us do it yearly! (We can't, its just too much work and it usually means the staff have to work over Xmas, oh we are Scrooges!).

This year we will be featuring a range of brands from both national and regional outlets with both sexy women and hunky men walking the Catwalk in even hotter clothes (and also in some cases - not much at all), in order to help you work out what you should get loved ones, brothers, sisters, boyfriends, girlfriends or most importantly YOURSELF for Xmas!

Tickets are £10 which is what you would usually pay for a Saturday night out in Liquid or any other premium club in the area. Your money will go toward the target for the night which is to raise money for a very special charity Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, who are helping to battle theses blood cancers as well as providing support to families of sufferers during this difficult illness.

We all know someone who has been lost to this illness and we may know someone who has survived it, but we still need to find the cure and you attending the night is an excellent Xmas present to give back to those that need our help at this time of year.

The night will have a range of top quality entertainment from the likes of Brotherhood, Benji 4Pence and others and is hosted by the regions very own Crystal Main of Strictly Come Dancing who will be hosting the evening.

We will also be offering the chance for the best dressed to have their photograph professionally taken by our MG Photographic Staff on the night which will serve as a record of your contribution and will also allow you to use the image on your Facebook Page.

Over £2000 of prizes will be given away on the night through our lottery live event, including a years free membership to Fitness First and a years free entry to Liquid and Envy Ipswich for the lucky winner plus many many more items from our clothing providers.

So ask yourself two questions, what better things are going on this coming Wednesday 15th December and what am I doing to help others this Xmas?

Once you have realised that you cannot miss this event feel free to harass a model for your tickets or you can buy them online at www.modelgateway.net/CFS right now!!! But hurry, to ensure delivery in time you will need to purchase the tickets by this Friday.

Still need swaying? Well enjoy going out as much next year when the VAT rise kicks in. ;) Best get your party on now!!!

Well, I love scrapbooking so for fun I created a digital scrapbook of Drift on my favourite website Mixbook:  www.mixbook.com

It wasn't as easy as making a personal scrapbook because I didn't have Fern's photo albumn (becuase she is a fictional character) so I had to search the web for free pictures. 

Finding the right 'free' picture wasn't easy either as I didn't want to take away from the reader how they may have imagined the scenes or characters I've written about.  Therefore, I tried really hard to find universal pictures that illustrated the point I was making without giving away too much. 

I also don't want to give away the plot of the story... as I'd like it to be like a visual blurb.  Now I've got a few pictures I'm happy with, I'm thinking about trying to make a trailer next as this is somethign a lot of other authors have done and it looks like fun.

For my 29th Birthday I went away with my fiance Rob.  We stayed at Centre Parc's Elevedon hotel and watched the fireworks.

I've decided to give NaNoWriMo a try this year.  All I have to do is write 50,000 words in 30 days.  I've done it before but this time.... I get a certificate at the end which brings a whole new level to my geekyness.

My mind has already started buzzing with ideas but I'm holding back as I don't want to run out of words - word count stars on 1 November 2010.  I've also decided I'm going to aim to write 2,000 words a day which would mean I achieve by 25 November 2010. 

This isn't going to be easy though!  I work full time and I'm going away for my birthday in November but I'm not going to let real life hinder me.  Next month, I'm going to like my imagination rule.  I've done it before, back in January when I caught the writing bug, doing around 3,000 words a night.  Might as well end the year as I started it.

Guess this means no more online gaming and I'll have to take a break from keeping fit in the freezing cold pool.  If I'm going to be successful, I'll need to get obsessed again but this time I'll be better prepared and remember to tell Rob I love him before I disappear into my own little world for a whole month.
 

I'm really looking forward to it - itching to start now.  I promise to take some breaks for real life so the cats don't forget who I am and to ensure I don't start foaming a novel at the mouth.  Plus work is mandatory so I'll still see people 9 to 5.

If your nuts about writing, you can join too at: http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Just 50,000 words in 30 days!

I've signed up as Redfae 

I found the most fabulous Twitter today.  They're called @agentgame and 'claim' to be the assistant to a literary agent.  I say 'claim' because they are anonymous but to be honest reading their tweets I do believe them. 

Its an enlightening read to see all the 'whys' for the 'Do Nots' that we are constantly told about.  Her (assuming its a her - just how I picture this assistant) tweets are classic complaints she probably experiences on a daily basis in response to the queries from potential authors that can't even query right.

I added most of 'her' tweets to my favourites and followed her, so I can giggle in future when I take a break from writing.  Its also refreshing to see I am not the only one that has made mistakes querying like attaching chapters to an agent that only wants a synopsis. 

She complains about someone writing to the wrong agent and I remember one agent I queried and spelt their name wrong - was resulted in a no.  Another query, I spelt 'October' wrong.  I spent ages reading and checking it was perfect clicked send and there is was like a neon light 'Ocotober'.  I thought "well that ones a no reprentation' but they actually came back to me asking for a full manuscript - sadly they decided despite loving it that they didn't want to represent my story.

Still, I hear a lot of big writers recieve a number of nos before becoming a best seller so I guess perseverance and faith that I will make it is what will make me a published writer. 

Maybe, one day my story will be on the anonymous agent's assistants desk and there'll be a positive tweet on @agentgame about someone getting it right and that writert will be me.  I love my imagination.

I have created an account on Mail Chimp so I can keep in touch with groups of interested people more easily.  More details can be found on my newletter page where you can sign up and be the first to hear any exciting news about my upcoming novels:  http://redfae.weebly.com/newsletter.html

This is a really good opportunity to get your manuscript looked at by a publisher. I only just found this! 

The Blog by Heather Howland 
I found the details about these two competition on Health Howland's blog.  You can read more at:  http://www.heatherhowland.com/site/2010/09/two-big-publishers-open-to-general-ya-subs/#comment-228 

Penguin Publishing
Full details can be found on http://www.penguin.co.uk/static/cs/uk/0/aboutus/index.html#question11

Usually their company policy is to not accept unsolicited manuscripts or synopses. However, for a limited three-month period from the beginning of August until the end of October 2010, they are inviting submissions to be sent in electronically to the following address: [email protected].

They don't want you to send in your manuscript but you should send them your covering note (Query letter) and synopsis in the body of the email - NO ATTACHMENTS!

Dorchester Publishing
Full details can be found on http://romanticreading.net/2010/09/12/what-im-looking-for-in-ya/
Editor Leah Hultenschmidt is looking for YA manuscripts and wants them fast.  She's looking for manuscrips with a word count of 60,000-90,000. It can be any setting and genre so long as its aimed at older teens and  has a strong crossover potential to the adult market.

She wants you to email her word documents as individual attachements for your send a synopsis and manuscript.  She wants the manuscript because if you synopsis is good she wants to read the manuscript right away - no waiting.

Good luck to everyone that goes for this.  I'm gonna do a final proof of my manuscript before sending in my manuscript and work on my synopsis.