'The Christmas Violin' structured like a concerto in three movements

I finished my WIP, “The Christmas Violin.” The story is told in three movements, like a violin concerto. In Movement 1, we meet a young woman, a young man and an old woman. None of the characters are named in Movement 1. It begins in the cemetery with the young woman playing, and the old woman and the young man listening.

In Movement 2, we learn that the young woman is Willow Channing, the young man is Peter James St. John. But we never learn the name of the old woman. 

The story unfolds via passages, starting with Peter, then Willow and finally the old woman. It alternates in this order throughout Movement 2, incorporating the characters’ back stories and building an understanding of and empathy for their individual journeys and the obstacles they must overcome.   

Movement 3 contains two characters, Willow and Peter, and they are no longer separate vignettes but have become one.

YouTube channel is up and running

My YouTube Channel is back. Here's where you'll find the audio of the beginnings of all of my work. From "The Moment Keeper" to "Freaky Frank" to "Ella's Rain." Enjoy!

NewHive page for Yearbook Series

You know that I'm always looking at ways to promote my work. I used NewHive to do an expression (that's what NewHive calls them) featuring my Yearbook Series.  Check it out and let me know what you think. NewHive is a really cool tool to use and it's very intuitive. I also created these expressions using NewHive:
Central Market York
Remember series
Gettysburg 150
Author page

Here's link for NewHive Yearbook Series.

Listen to the first movement of WIP, 'The Christmas Violin'

This is the first movement of my WIP, "The Christmas Violin." It was my first time using SoundCloud.

Twitter Fiction Festival: elements of writing and what I learned

Writing a novel via Twitter is challenging, especially if you use the medium in the way users do. That means incorporating hashtags and @ signs and twitpics into your tweets. It means your protagonist telling the story as it is happening. We call this live tweeting.  

Well, I love challenges and this was one that I couldn’t wait to take on. I had been thinking about it for awhile but the Twitter Fiction Festival gave me the push I needed.

My idea was simple. I wanted to tweet a middle-grade novel aimed at kids 8 to 12, and I wanted to tweet it as if it were occurring in real time. I chose a novel that was plot driven because I thought it would hold the attention of tech-savvy kids who prefer video games over books. 

Twitter Fiction Festival: Brain Invaders by the numbers

Here’s an interesting look at my entry in the Twitter Fiction Festival by the numbers. Read compilation of my tweets.

869: the number of tweets posted during the festival from the @Brain_Invaders account

96+: the number of hours of continuous tweets

4: the number of days over which the story unfolded

5: the number of minutes between each tweet

29: the number of followers of @Brain_Invaders on Twitter at the time of this post

45: the number of likes on Facebook at the time of this post

To read about the social media platforms I used during the festival, go here.

Twitter Fiction Festival call for entries

So who's entering the Twitter Fiction Festival? 

From its blog post: At the end of November, we’ll host a five-day Twitter Fiction Festival — a virtual storytelling celebration held entirely on Twitter. The Twitter Fiction Festival (#twitterfiction) will feature creative experiments in storytelling from authors around the world.

Follow this link to enter. And good luck if you decide to try. Submissions due by Nov. 15. Selected authors and festival agenda will be posted on Nov. 19. 

Highlights 2010 Fiction Contest

You can enter the Highlights 2010 Fiction Contest starting Jan. 1. Three prizes of $1,000 or tuition for the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop at Chautauqua. Looking for fiction based on a true story from your family. All entries must be postmarked between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, 2010.
Check link for details.
http://www.highlights.com/highlights-fiction-contest