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| You are receiving this email from The Writer's Chatroom because you signed up for our announcement list. To ensure that you continue to receive emails from us, add audrey@writerschatroom.com to your address book today. Unsubscribe instructions are at the bottom of the email. |  TWC SPOTLIGHT | | A Monthly e-Newsletter June 2007 Visit the archives at http://archives.zinester.com/58237 | | Letter from the Editor Are you ready for
summer? I sure am! Summer is my time of year. I wanted to bring you an article with tips on keeping your writing going this summer, while the kids are off school. I spent hours searching (and reading), but couldn't find a good article that focused on the topic. I finally gave up and wrote you one myself. Hope you like it. Linda has put The Renegade Writer's blog under the spotlight this month, and it shines bright! You won't go wrong listening to those women. Take your career in hand, and read on. A couple months ago, I met Brian Keene at a book signing. He was really funny and interesting, but I had never read him before. I picked up two of his books.
Once I read them, I invited him to be a guest. My reviews of his books are below, and Brian will be our guest this Sunday, June 10. His writing will give you chills but, in person, he'll make you laugh aloud. Lots of good stuff for you this month. So scroll down and get to it! Keep writing, and enjoy your summer. Audrey PS: I want to apologize for your Spotlight being late. Between health problems and technological problems, I did my best. But here we are, better late than never! | | Visit our forum. Meet our members. Keep the discussions going after chat. Learn where the hottest markets are for your genre. Find a critique or writing partner. Get inspiration, education, and social interaction at the same place: http://writerschatroom.com/forum/index.php | | ARTICLE Writing With Children It's summer! Sun, fun, picnics, trips…and the kids are home. For three months. All day, every day. Did the writer part of your stomach just fall to the floor? Did your brain just scream "I won't be able to write for THREE MONTHS!?" Calm down. It is possible to write with ankle-biters swarming over you. It just takes thought and organization. How you work this depends on the age of your children. Teenagers are easier, of course. Give them money and drop them at the mall, and you have the day to yourself. Or convince them to get a summer job! Seriously, how many teenagers really want to spend time with their parents? If
your teenagers insist on hanging around the house, put them to work. They love the phone, so let them be responsible for answering it and taking messages. Most teenagers will enjoy telling Grandma "Mom's writing now, so she won't talk to anybody." Then they can keep each other busy by complaining about how this "hobby" of yours is ruining everyone's life. Keeps them both out of your hair. Younger children take more creativity. Day Camps are great, if you have one. Play dates work too. Anything that puts the kids in a safe place, where you don't have to watch them, will give you writing time. And use that time for writing! You can clean house and do laundry when they are home. Don't waste those precious minutes alone. When
they are home, you will have to write around them. A laptop is a blessing, because you can carry it with you. Take them to the park and write on a bench while they are running, screaming and getting dirty. Or take the time to fill water balloons, then sit in front of the window writing while they soak each other in the back yard. Don't sit on the porch. One of them will be sure to hit you with a water bomb, and laptops don't consider that fun. If you don't have a laptop, break out the old pen and paper. They may be old fashioned, but they work anywhere. The park, the back yard, at baseball practice, even at the pool. Keep a notebook on the kitchen counter, and you can jot down your thoughts while making lunch. Do your younger children just want
you to be around? Sit in the family room with your notebook while they play. As long as you look up and speak to them occasionally, they will go about their business and let you go about yours. TV can be the great writing enabler. Feed them, park them in front of the screen with a favorite show or video, and you can give yourself 30 to 120 minutes of uninterrupted writing time. Summer is a good time to instill a love of reading in your older children. You make regular trips to the library anyway, don't you? Take the kids along. Help them pick out books that interest them. Each day, set a time where they will sit and read while you write. Stay in the same room so you are available to help with unfamiliar words. There are many more moments
available for writing than you thought there were. You just have to look for them, and jump when you see them. No matter how big your writing project is, you have to write it one word at a time. A word here and there could add up to the Great American Novel. Bio: Audrey Shaffer is a business consultant, accountant, website designer and business writer, along with heading up The Writer's Chatroom. www.audreyshaffer.com has her business information and some examples of her writing. She is all over the web. Book reviews at http://audreyshaffer.blogspot.com . Her blog is at http://audreysays.blogspot.com,
and she can even be found at http://www.myspace.com/audreyshaffer . | 
Get Paid to Write Book Reviews Sick
of editors thinking a free book is ample pay for your book review? Hope Clark offers the serious book reviewer 70+ publications that pay for book reviews. Never look at book reviews the same again after you read this guide on submitting quality book reviews and book review pitches to editors. | | June Chat Guests June 3 - Self-Pub Spotlight on Sandra Tooley (Lee Driver) www.sdtooley.com June
10 - Horror author Brian Keene http://www.briankeene.com/ (Scroll down for reviews of two of his books) June 17 - Author Cyndy Salzmann www.cyndysalzmann.com June 24 - C. Hope Clark www.fundsforwriter.com and www.theshywriter.com July 1 - Robert W. Walker www.robertwwalkerbooks.com For bios and more information, visit our
schedule page. All chats start at 7 pm EST. | The weekly chats at The Writer's Chatroom are wonderful! Each night I attend a chat, I learn something new. The support and encouragement during the "general chats" keeps me motivated and excited about writing. The weekly "guest" chats are informative, educational and fun! I leave each chat saying "I can do it, I know
I can. Patty Hopkins | Blog Spotlight The Renegade Writer www.renegadewriter.com So many firsts at TWC these days! My assignment this month was to shine the spotlight
on a writing professional’s blog. In this case the “pro” turns out to be two pros, Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell. Hang on to your … uh-huh, you know. Warning: If you’re easily offended, don’t have the heart to put your heart and soul into your writing business, or are in search of excuses for not writing or not being published, quit reading right now and stay away from this blog. Where else but at the blog of the Renegade Writer would you expect to find advice categories like: Agents, Ass, Book Authoring, Book News, and Cool Tools, amongst those more commonly offered? A recent post, inspired by Erik Sherman’s blog on “ignoring being ignored”, had Diana giving advice on how to keep going when those query responses are slow to come in: “#1
piece of advice: Stop staring into the mailbox. The answer is not there.” Other advice: “If you sent one kick-ass package out to a custom publisher, what’s stopping you from sending out another package to a different publisher? You don’t know of any? Well, get off your ass and start researching.” If you’ve run out of ideas on what to write, or whom to query: Diana offers, “Use your kick-ass writing skills on eBay, Half.com, or Craigslist. Sell books you haven’t read, or the mountain bike gathering dust in your basement. Selling your stuff can keep you busy for hours — and it brings in cash!” If you’re looking for sympathy, or excuses, you won’t find any here. But, if you want motivational advice you can use right now, there’s plenty offered and it’s liberally sprinkled
with humor. Check out the blog of the Renegade Writer at www.renegadewriter.com today. And tell them we sent you. Oh … and don’t forget to leave your comments—complete with your website and blog addies … You do have those, right? If their blog leaves you wanting more (or if you know real value when you see it), purchase their latest book. It’s a good investment. Bio: Linda J. Hutchinson is a freelance writer and moderator at TWC. She sometimes suffers dual personality disorder and writes fiction as J’linn Kramer. Not possessing the guts
to climb aboard her son’s Hawg, she’s planning a charity Poker Run for his singles biker group (and attempting to get Ms. Audrey to make the four-hour drive to attend. There are no tunnels, Audrey. I promise! Uh-huh.). www.lindajhutchinson.com, www.myspace.com/lindajhutchinson, http://reviewhutch.blogspot.com | Book Review  Terminal Brian Keene Copyright 2005 by Brian Keene Published by Bantam Dell Thriller What would you do if you only had a month to live? Tommy O'Brien decided to rob a bank. Tommy loves his wife and son. Their lives are rough, but they have hope for a better future. A doctor's visit takes that dream away from Tommy forever. Determined to provide for his family, Tommy and his friends hatch their plans. No one will ever connected them to the robbery, and Tommy can leave this world knowing that his family is taken care of. But Tommy's plans never work
out the way he wants. One of the hostages is a child with a supernatural power. A touch of his hand changes everything, and Tommy's life spirals into another direction. This is a bittersweet story. Tommy is a good man, who just wants the best for his loved ones. The harder he tries to make things right, the more they go wrong. I think everyone will be able to identify with Tommy. If you've ever been in desperate straits, you will understand how your mind can sometimes come up with outlandish schemes. Tommy does all the wrong things for the right reasons. Read it.++++++++++++++++++++++  The Conqueror Worms Brian Keene Copyright 2005 by Brian Keene A Leisure Book Published by Dorchester Publishing Co Inc. Horror Teddy Garnett is writing his story down for the future…if there is a future. The chances are looking slim. One day it started raining, and didn't stop. The seas rose. Entire cities disappeared under water. But the rain kept coming. Teddy
spins his tale from a mountain in West Virginia. He's seen a lot in his 80-some years, so he decides to sit out the storm at home, instead of evacuating with the National Guard. By Rainy Day 41, he questions his decision. There seems to be nobody left in the world but himself, his friend Carl, and Crazy Earl. And the worms. On Day 42, the city folks drop out of the sky. Kevin and Sarah have their own story to tell, once things calm down a bit. But the rain doesn't stop. Brian signed this book "Audrey, read this on a rainy day." I did. I don't recommend it. The sound of rain gave me the creeps for weeks. Read this book, but read it on a bright, sunny day. Don't worry. Next time it rains, you will
remember the book clearly. Bio: If Audrey Shaffer didn't read so much, she would have more time to write. She feels that the best inspiration for writing is living it up, but she still has no intention of getting on a Harley. Take that, Linda! | If you'd like to suggest a guest, topics for a theme chat, offer yourself as a chat guest, or give feedback about a chat you've attended, contact Audrey Shaffer at: audrey@writerschatroom.com On the Products page you will find some great recommendations. Please use our links to buy, and help support the chatroom! | | We look forward to chatting with you! Audrey Shaffer Linda Hutchinson Renee Barnes |
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