Fresh Ink! Get Your Fresh Ink! A Contest for Children!

Fresh Ink Fiction Contest - Texas Book Festival

"But the old woman shook her head and said, 'Oh, you dear children, who brought you here? Just come in and stay with me. No harm will come to you.'" 

For young aspiring authors, the Texas Book Festival and the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement (DDCE) hosts the Annual Fresh Ink Fiction Contest. Young means whippersnappers (although I still don't know what that means), or rather, that you must be in middle school or high school to submit your book to the contest.

From what I read, this contest runs a different theme or subject every year. This year, they chose the theme, "What Really Happened."

I would personally like to know "What Really Happened," and, fortunately, I will be able to find the winning stories published on the Texas Book Festival website.

The last day for submission is on May 18th! So get over there and submit!


~ Michael C. Sahd

P.S. Bonus points if you know where the top quote comes from!

Tips From The King

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors because he writes about the characters instead of the story. The story just happens to the characters. In this video, Stephen King gives a few pointers.

If writing guides your passions, then Stephen King's book, On Writing, will provide you with excellent tips.

On Writing, by Stephen King

I read On Writing, and I feel that it helped me quite a bit. I posted links if you are interested. Sometimes hearing from someone successful can provide us with a little motivation. Which author motivates you to write? Let me know in the comments below.

~ Michael C. Sahd

Goodreads -- A Book Lover's Social Media Platform

Goodreads

In case you haven't heard, readers have their very own social media platform. The website I'm referring to is called GoodReads, and it contains a plethora of tools for a reader. Most importantly, it keeps a list of books for you. You can list every book that you've read, plan to read, or are currently in the process of reading. You can also link your Amazon account to GoodReads so that it can keep track of your Kindle books as you read them.

Like a social media site, you can have a profile to tell other people about yourself. You can make new friends or connect with old ones, join groups, and participate in discussions. You can also see what your friends are currently reading and what they have previously read, as well as their ratings and reviews for different books.

Some other nice features include setting a goal for how many books you wish to read for the year, and the ability to search for new books that you may enjoy. Sometimes, authors offer ARC copies of their book to GoodReads users before the book is actually released. Keep your eyes peeled for those, and you can read the latest and the greatest before they're even available to the public!

If you'd like, you can send me a friend request at my GoodReads account. I hope to see you there!

~ Michael C. Sahd

The Liars' Asylum by Jacob M. Appel Book Review

The Liars' Asylum by Jacob M. Appel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Liars’ Asylum offers a brief glimpse into the characters’ lives, often leaving the reader with many questions unanswered. I assume that this is the purpose of the writer, encouraging the reader to think about the stories and their potential endings long after the story itself is over; however, I believe that some of them could easily be expanded into a longer work. On the other hand, perhaps some, if not all, of the stories are exactly what they appear -- a moment in time, just one sample of one character’s life, but which changes the course of his or her life forever.

Jacob M. Appel’s writing is consistently clear and interesting. Each story flows seamlessly until its end, which sometimes comes with little warning. Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who is looking for short, entertaining stories to read.

***I received a review copy of this book; however, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

View all my reviews

~ Michael C. Sahd

It's That Day Again....

I hear that today is supposed to be Motivation Monday. Bleh! Mondays are rarely motivational. However, my Monday has D&D evenings, so I am psyched about that.

Promoting my book is going exceptionally well. I have gained, from the day of publishing, 650+ Twitter followers.

My wonderful wife, aside from squeezing my stuff into her piles of things to be edited, has also been acting as an agent for me -- advertising, signing me up for interviews, and getting my book highlighted on big name blogs.

This week looks to be another busy one.

I had two coworkers read my book this past weekend, and they really want me to write more. One of them sent me a text with a string of links connecting to some books she thought I would like based on my writing. I hope to look into them at some point.

I have also won a huge number of books to read and review on LibraryThing. I'm currently reading one called The Everett Exorcism. So far, it is turning out to be a promising read. I'll let you know how it goes.

What is your Monday motivation? Read any good books lately?