Tag: member spotlight

Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

Hi there everyone. Guess what. I’m co-hosting today. Yay! Or Wish me luck, whichever you prefer. Be sure to stop by and say hi to my fellow co-hosts today: T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler!

Optional Monthly Question: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why?

I tried traditional publishing but just couldn’t deal with the negotiating aspect of the process. I do, however, believe that if I’d had a better publisher the process would not have felt so restrictive. Many of my traditionally published friends have great relationships with their publishers. I’m a self-publisher at heart, but that doesn’t mean I’m against traditional publishing or won’t ever try it. In fact, I plan on submitting to the IWSG contest. Even if I don’t make the cut, I’ll be proud of myself for making the effort to actually submit my work.

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Last month, I started the habit of mentioning the member spotlight from the IWSG newsletter, so imagine my surprise when it turned out to be me this time around. Thank you IWSG. I’m so honored and grateful to be part of this community.

Be sure to stop by the IWSG blog today because we are announcing the judges for the IWSG Anthology Contest. I, for one, am very excited about this, especially since I think I might actually enter this one. In fact, I’m seeking at least two more beta-readers for the story I’ve been working on. It’s a YA historical-fantasy romance based on the Golden or White Stag mythology. If you’d like to beta read this short story, please visit my contact page and tell me why? (I’m asking for feedback by September 15th.)

Another honor that blew me away last month was that I won the Encouragement Award for the first WEP-IWSG Challenge. The winner and runner-up stories were amazing, and all the other stories offered good-quality entertainment. The next Write…Edit…Publish Challenge will be in October; theme- Déjà vu or Voodoo! I’m so ready for this. Check out my August story by clicking the image below.

Over at A Small Gang of Authors, I’ve taken on the role of co-manager. We issued our first-ever group magazine, which I think turned out great. Kudos to Erika M. Szabo for putting that together… Today, I’m finishing my blog series on words and their meanings in the English language. Oh, and we’re hosting our first-ever micro flash-fiction contest. Click the image below to learn more.

The IWSG Book Club book for August/September is: The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr. I guess I need to head to the library for this one. Haven’t picked it up yet, but I’m eager to. Memoirs have really begun to fascinate me lately.

I’ve put together a reader’s scavenger hunt, from September 7-9, and would love it if you’d give it a try. This is a real scavenger hunt. I’m using Rafflecopter to record the results, but this is not an online like and follow campaign. Its 50+ fun and bookish tasks for book lovers to complete and share online, such as taking selfies in front of their favorite bookstore or reading an excerpt from their current read, etc… The prize is a $50 gift card of choice plus $50 worth of bookish swag. Open to U.S. and Canada.

The whole point of this scavenger hunt is to make readers aware of my Lit Carnivale dream and have fun. That’s it.

Even though I can’t win, I’ll be posting my own task entries into the challenge, simply because I think it’ll be fun. Will you join me?

Now, on to the personal updates.

Well now, that was quite a bit, so I’ll keep this short.

Most teachers in the U.S. have headed back to school by now, and I’m not with them. This is the first year, in ten years, I won’t be working in a school. I think I’ll be okay, though. With my new job, I still get to work with the kids I love.

I have been writing up a storm. I just finished a piece I’m reluctant to release because it’s controversial and may make some people mad. Not sure what to do. I’m really proud of it, but not ready to face all the cyber-bullies.

I’m struggling a bit with my illustration, but I’m still doing it, so that’s something.

I just barely made it back to YouTube with this VIDEO, but it’s not quite BookTube worthy. The Carnie Loves Books Challenge should fix that this weekend.

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What’s your publishing path?

Are you entering the IWSG Anthology Contest?

Wanna beta-read my story?

Wanna try my scavenger hunt?

Any advice on publishing controversial topics?

The writing life comes with highs and lows. I’m blessed to be having a bunch of highs right now. I want to encourage you to stick with it and wait for your highs to come. They are on the way.

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s other co-hosts:
T. Powell Coltrin,
M.J. Fifield, and
Tara Tyler R !

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #54).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords