INSIDE: Did I win Camp NaNoWriMo? StoryADay Challenge Exciting news! In case you missed it April Reads |
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Hey friends! I hope you're all doing well and staying safe during this difficult time. Remember, you're not alone. If you ever need to chat, please connect with me on social media or reply to this email. Sometimes it helps to talk with someone. Please know my heart and prayers go out to everyone. Stay safe! <3 |
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Camp NaNoWriMo In March I announced I would work on my YA Fantasy (Project Mages) during Camp NanoWriMo in April, but then an editor I hired to go over the first fifty pages of my YA Contemporary Fantasy, Rhythm of the Stars sent me her feedback earlier than I expected. So I decided to first work on those revisions so I could submit it to #RevPit this month. |
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What is #RevPit? According to their website #RevPit is a community on Twitter and they have…”An annual contest wherein querying authors can win feedback and edits on their full manuscripts from professional editors, ensuring their works are polished and ready for agent inboxes.” |
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Fast Read Through After doing the revisions the editor suggested, I put my full manuscript on my Kindle so I could do a fast read through and check for line edits. If you have not tried this method, I highly recommend it. I caught so much more than I do while editing on my PC. |
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Author Brittany Wang has a video on her Youtube channel that shows you how to put your manuscript on your Kindle. Brittany makes it super easy to do. If you haven't seen it yet, check it out HERE. While doing my revisions, I used Trello to help me keep track and to fix the timeline since the editor suggested I move a few scenes up to earlier chapters. |
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Once I finished the revisions and edits, I concentrated on my query and polishing the first five pages to submit to #RevPit. Some of my wonderful writer friends helped me and I feel like my query is the strongest it's ever been. So I just want to give them a big shoutout. Katerina Dennison, Brittany Wang, Katie Wilson, Bridie Blake, and Meghan Wiley! Thanks so much for all your help! You all rock! I'm so grateful to have you as friends. <3 <3 <3 |
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#RevPit editors will announce their choices on May 5th, so fingers crossed! Although one editor said that if she did not choose someone and felt they were ready to query, she would tell them directly. So if I'm not chosen, at least I may get some feedback. :) <3 If you're interested in becoming a part of the #RevPit community or doing the #RevPit contest next year, check out their website by clicking the button below. |
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Project Mages I tried to work on my YA Fantasy as a second Camp NaNoWriMo project; however, it's been difficult to concentrate for several reasons. I'm sure many of you are feeling the same way right now with everything going on. For me, my kids are home and homeschooling takes up some of my time now. But I'm grateful we're all healthy and I hope you are too. <3 |
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Did I win Camp NanoWriMo? Technically, I did not win Camp NaNoWriMo since I didn't accomplish my goal, but I'm happy with the progress I made this month because I worked on developing a certain character and the subplot in Project Mages. If you did Camp NaNoWriMo, how did it go for you? Did you accomplish your goal? Respond to this email to let me know. |
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The character grid above is a Characters Values Grid I have in my Character Development sheet. In the sheet, I explain how I use the grid and how you can too. If you haven’t gotten it yet go to the Members’ page, then click on Writers’ Resources. The password for the Members’ Page is at the end of this newsletter. |
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StoryADay Challenge Have you heard of this challenge? I just found out about it from a writer friend and have decided to do it. The challenge is to write a short story every day in May. I doubt I will have time to do it every day so my goal is to write one short story each week. If you're interested in joining the challenge, go to the StoryADay website by clicking on the button below. Please let me know if you join the challenge so I can cheer you on! | | |
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I'm super excited to announce that I've started working on new a project just for my newsletter subscribers! I will share more about it with you soon! For now, I can only say I hope to share an exclusive writing project here in my newsletter just for you to read. :) <3 Respond to this email to tell me how excited you are about this. To see all of my projects, check out the Books page on my website. | | |
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In case you didn't see it last month, I redid the Members' page on my website, and added some new goodies for readers and writers to it! You can access the Character Development sheet, book mapping template (it's a plotting tool), and more writer resources on the Members' page. Plus, I have some fun goodies for readers too. Today I uploaded the updated first chapter of my YA Contemporary Fantasy Rhythm of the Stars. Please let me know if you like the updated chapter and the Dream cast for Rhythm of the Stars. If you were a beta reader for me, I'm really interested to hear what you think of the Dream Cast. The password for the Members' Page is at the end of this newsletter. | | |
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April Bookshelf In April, I read the All Souls trilogy. If you like witches, vampires or lots of history, you'll enjoy this series. You can also check out the TV show A Discovery of Witches on the BBC channel. It's based on the books. I read several other books this month. If you liked A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass you may like Wicked Lovely. Have you read any of these books or are they on your TBR list? Reply to this email and let me know. |
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The past two months I've been listening to more audiobooks to save money. I use Audible and like how I can trade a book in when I'm done with it and get a new audiobook. |
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To see my other reads, you can go to my Goodreads by clicking on the button below. |
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Until next time... Keep reading...writing... and dreaming. :) Always, J.J. |
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By Subscribing to my Newsletter, You are a Member! Take advantage of all the free goodies and insider knowledge by entering the password "littlestar" on my Members Page: | | |
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