Absolute Write Newsletter
A View from A South African Writer
February 20, 2008

In this issue:

· Moira Richards talks to Margie Orford, the author of Like Clockwork

· Noelle Sterne's "The Starbucks Chronicles"

· Dawn Allcot's "Living Creatively"

    ... and more.

Writing And Publishing

The Short Stuff

(Especially For Moms!)

With Christina Katz,

author of Writer Mama

Finally, a writing workshop that fits into the busy lives of moms! The focus of Christina Katz's class is on getting you into print sooner, rather than later, and without pulling all-nighters or paying a fortune in babysitter fees. Starts April 16! Click here.

Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps

With Susan Gunelius

Do you want to transition your writing career to include copywriting in your list of services? This course will teach you the fundamentals of writing compelling marketing and advertising copy that will exceed your clients’ expectations. You'll learn not to be intimidated or overwhelmed by copywriting, but rather to be inspired and confident each time you tackle a new copywriting project. Starts April 1! Click here!

Welcome Absolute Writers!

We saw sun in the Pacific Northwest this week. I hope you'll excuse my euphoria - I'd forgotten what it looked like.

Coyote Wild is up for February, with some great stories.

I'm continually both humbled and amazed at the fortitude of writers. It takes a great deal of courage to put your work out into the world for strangers to accept or (more often, perhaps) reject. It's also perhaps the most effective way to measure our own skill and effectiveness, as wordsmiths.

So here's a question for you all: Are you submitting what you write? I'll admit I don't submit nearly as much as I should. I suffer from that it's-almost-there-but-not-quite syndrome, and remain convinced that whatever piece I'm working on - fiction or non - needs "just one more rewrite". . . ad infinitum.

We've all undertaken a difficult thing. Writing isn't the most natural way for us to communicate with each other, for all its stunning effectiveness, when executed with skill and grace.

So here's a challenge for those of us who need one: Pick something your working on and send it out to a paying market, sometime in the next seven days. I'll do the same. Write in, if you'd like, and we'll compare notes about the process.

Have a great week, AWers. Write hard. Write true. Send it out. Then write on.

Best,
MacAllister

--

MacAllister Stone

Editor in Chief

Kelly froze. Her hands glistened in the moonlight. There was blood everywhere, more blood than she'd ever seen in her life.

This week, writers want to know about:

* Experts needed on traveling with a toddler

* Age difference in relationship-- woman older than the man

* Specialized Alzheimer's nursing homes

* Body disposal after legal execution

* Fantasy army structure

* Labor-saving devices

* Stitches

* Australian cops

and more.

To answer a question or ask one of your own, visit: http://absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=66

Never posted at the forums before? Start here:

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34886

Like Clockwork by Margie Orford
A Review/Interview by Moira Richards

Dr. Clare Hart is a thirty-something investigative reporter with a doctorate in criminal psychology and currently immersed in her research work for a documentary about the trafficking of women through Africa. She is also a specialist in the tracking of murderers and rapists, and the South African Police Service sometimes hires her profiling expertise.

When the body of a pretty teenager is found, sadistically murdered and displayed grotesquely on the beachfront, Captain Rediwaan Faizal asks her assistance to find the killer. When the body of a second young woman is found a few days later in almost the same spot, Clare and Rediwaan know for sure that Cape Town has a serial murderer on the loose and that it will just be a matter of time before he kills again.

Like Clockwork is a crime thriller that also takes the reader into the lucratively misogynist parts of South Africa's most beautiful city-- the city (rather ironically) that is affectionately known as the country's "Mother City."

Hi Margie-- I spent an entire Saturday reading Like Clockwork and found it an unputdownable and thoroughly enjoyable whodunnit. The novel received similar reviews in the South African press, but I think too, that there is a lot more to it than the fast-paced serial-crime story...

Read more:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/margie_orford.htm

Visit the Absolute Write E-Bookstore!

• Sell The Fun Stuff: Writers' And Artists' Market Guidelines For Greeting Cards, Posters... by Jenna Glatzer

• The Instruction Writer's Guide by Marilyn Haight

• The Complete Guide to Writing & Selling Magazine Articles by Peggy Fielding and Dan Case

"Fifteen Tips on Interviewing an Expert for a Story"
By Arun Sinha
 
A good interview with a source does wonders for your story. It puts flesh on the bones, it makes a dry subject come alive, it adds sizzle to the steak.
 
All interviews carry an element of uncertainty because the interviewee can always go off the script. Still, writers control much of the exchange. Those who know what to do before, during, and after the interview stand a better chance of securing salutary results. Below are some tips gleaned from my years of interviewing corporate executives and subject-matter experts for copywriting projects.

Read more:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/fifteen_tips.htm

"Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location"

By Sam Roberts, New York Times (Feb. 19, 2008)

http://tinyurl.com/2pog3l

"How Writing Changed the World"

By Heather Whipps, LiveScience (Feb. 11, 2008)

http://www.livescience.com/history/080211-hs-writing.html

Absolute Markets Premium.

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Magazines, book publishers,  international calls for freelance writers plus exclusive interviews with editors and publishers you won't find anywhere else all in one newsletter and delivered to your inbox every other week. Subscribe for less than $0.58 per issue!

http://www.absolutemarkets.com

Finding My Table, "The Starbucks Chronicles"

By Noelle Sterne

At the mall Starbucks for my usual Friday writing session, waiting to give my latt? order, by now almost able to reel it off without stumbling, I glanced over to where I always sat. My favorite spot-- no, my spot-- the sole table behind a bearing post at one end of the atrium. The table was always there, waiting for me.

But now I stared, disbelieving. It wasn't there! Panic rose in my throat, but like a soothing aunt I told myself, Someone probably pushed it to one side. It's just hidden behind the post.

Not wanting to lose my place on line, I craned toward the post. No table.

I surveyed the area. Every other table was full. I didn't know whether to curse all the timewasters guzzling their grandes and talking about nothing, or cry. Of course, I could go home, get pulled into client work again, and end the day watching a stupid TV movie and eating too much popcorn to fill the hole of not writing.

Read more:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/Sterne/finding_my_table.htm

Word Play, "Living Creatively"

By Dawn Allcot

As a child, I spent hours playing Scrabble, Word Yahtzee, and Boggle with my mother. Thinking back, all this child's play was merely a precursor to my adult life as a professional writer. I still love playing with words and letters, rearranging them to change their meanings, create a better flow, and entertain and inform my readers.

Not all of my word play is work, either. I still sit in front of the computer for hours, manipulating words on the screen at www.magneticpoetry.com or challenging people across the country at Yahoo's online version of Scrabble, Literati.

It's rare that I finish a game and don't feel like writing. Often, the odd combinations of words crossing each other on the Literati board will spark a story idea or a poetic line.

Read more:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/Allcot/word_play.htm

The Great Absolute Write Flash Fiction Challenge

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/calendar.php?do=getinfo&day=2008-1-13&e=324&c=1

Query me. Quick! Freelance Contest

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91316

The Oh look! It's Suddenly Fiction Challenge

http://absolutewrite.com/forums/calendar.php?do=getinfo&e=336&day=2008-2-27&c=1

Veil of Fire By Marlo Schalesky

Review by Heather Hunt

Veil of Fire by Marlo Schalesky is a fictionalized account of the devastating 1894 Minnesota fire that burned 400 square miles and killed 413 people in four hours. It takes place in the real town of Hinckley and uses the real legend of the hermit in the hills that appeared as the town began to rebuild. Since the identity of this mysterious figure was never established, the legends continue to this day.

Read more:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/veil_of_fire.htm

Shop Amazon, support AW!

Our new Absolute Write Amazon store means you can shop Amazon's books, DVDs, electronics, software, toys, and games with us and then check out through Amazon.com to securely complete your transaction! Click here to get started!

Invest in Your Writing!!

Absolute Write has affiliated with the Writers SuperCentres of America to create the Absolute Software Store.  Please check us out to find the best prices on any type of writing software.

- Write better stories, books or articles
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Visit the software store.

Make Your Website Work Harder for You!

Laura Wright's Developing a Web Presence for "Local" Writers and Optimize Your Web Presence are designed to help you get the most out of your website and blog! No experience? No problem! Classes start every Monday!

Click here for details and registration:

Developing a Web Presence for "Local" Writers

Optimize Your Web Presence

We're always looking for new interviews, articles, essays, and humor for this newsletter. We pay $0.02 per published word ($10 minimum) or a 1-year subscription to the Absolute Markets Premium Edition ($15 value, see  www.absolutemarkets.com for a free sample). We're happy to consider reprints, and we ask only for nonexclusive electronic rights. Got some advice for your fellow writers? Check out our guidelines here:  Writers' guidelines

Discussion of the Week

Travel Writers Wanted!

There's great demand for an elite corps of highly skilled, professional travel writers...a pool of travel writing specialists that can be relied on to write vivid, lively and interesting articles.

If you ever dreamed about the romantic life of a travel writer, here's a very unusual opportunity to actually live it!
http://www.absolutewrite.com/dt/t/travelawn.php

Inexpensive Exposure for Your Writing

Writers and Services for Writers: If you have a website, we'll set up your company or book information in the Absolute Write Writers Directory. The listing is just $10 and you'll be showcased in the category of your choice.
http://www.absolutewrite.com/site/writers_directory.htm

E-books For Writers!

Check out the Absolute Write E-book store at:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/ebookstore/index.htm

All titles are recommended by Absolute Write!

Please pass this newsletter along to all of your writing pals!

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