#4 WEP GET TOGETHER - JUNE 2024 - An Opportunity to Share!

 Hi WEPpers and friends!

Already time for our fourth Get Together. And boy is life flashing by! Hit us with your news, writerly or personal. 

It's June, the year's almost half over and life hasn't quit throwing drama our way. We, the WEP admins have all dealt with changes, from health issues to family health issues, and major moves. So much so that blogging has taken a back seat to everything else. So if you don't get a personal report below, just know it's due to major life issues.

No changes have been made to the post, like adding a Linky to share personal posts. We may do that in the future, but for now please remember the Chat Box on the side and the comments section to add your links so others can follow.

Our paths are never easy, but we still wanted to touch base, so let us know what you're doing! We love hearing from you.

Photo by Maddi Bazzocco on Unsplash

~*~

Here's what the WEP team has been up to:

Hello, hello, this is Nila with you...

       Gosh! I’ve been away the longest time I ever have since I started blogging - a whole entire month!

The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. ~ Bertrand Russell.

Half this year's nearly over, and well, the blurry vision issues are still ongoing. Life has generously handed me sundry other lemons as well to make lemonade with 😊… Hopefully, my wits are growing sharper, and hopefully, the inner vision crisps up in direct proportion to the fuzziness of the outer one.  

While I've waited for things to get better,  I have -  participated in my own version of the A-Z challenge in April. I've also written a dozen plus poems, collated some of my linked flashes into the final form short story and written down ideas for two more. I've tidied up my blog a bit. So...not a complete waste of time.  

I've got to admit though, WEP prompts and my own schedule of posting at the blog kept me disciplined and regular, I miss that.  Regular writing is also a way of sharpening the wits, a much pleasanter one comparatively. Hope  I can get back to that regularity soon.

Meanwhile, I'm wishing you magical things revealing themselves near you. Keep writing and keep in touch!

Photo by Mika Baumeister on Unsplash

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Hello everyone! Renee here.

Hey, here's hoping your June is the beginning of new adventures. I'm looking forward to the changes coming into my life with a little trepidation.  But isn't that the way with change? You never know what the future holds, but here's to the unknown and the opportunities that come with change. 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

I love positive thoughts, so here are a few for you:

"Every day the clock resets. Your wins don't matter. Your failures don't matter. Don't stress on what was, fight for what could be." -Sean Higgins

 "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new" -Socrates

 "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." -Barack Obama

"When you're finished changing, you're finished." -Benjamin Franklin

***

The one thing I'm most proud of these last few months is the editing I do for others. Please hit me up if you need help, especially with adding conflict, red herrings, etc.

Click here for a Developmental Edit

All prices are negotiable!!!!

~*~

Hi all! Renee reporting for Denise . 

Denise wanted me to let you know she's been helping to care for her son Clarke. He's been in intensive care for 8 weeks, and she hasn't opened a laptop in that time. There just isn't time for anything else...

Please keep her and Clarke in your prayers.

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

~*~

And again, Renee reporting for Jemi...

Jemi is dealing with a personal loss. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.

Photo by Sandra Grünewald on Unsplash

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Hello everyone! Sonia here.

Relocating isn't such an adventure, or is it! Well, it feels wonderful to be adding my bit to the WEP get-together, because I've been away from blogging for two long months. I've moved to a new city and state and taking my time to settle down. But I hope to 'break this break' and restart soon. 

Meanwhile, I managed to take out time to edit an old flash fiction and it's out there now, looking for a home. In the month of March, I submitted a short story for a Writing Grant, the results of which are expected by the middle of this month. I can certainly do with lots of good wishes!

Some of our members have been facing a difficult time and I wish them lots of strength as they deal with it. As they say, this too shall pass. 

While I was away from writing, I took out time to walk around the new city and indulge in a little photography. So, here's something from my camera roll. 

Until we meet again, wishing you all well, and happy writing!
 

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Hello everyone! Olga here.

I recently designed a cover for a story by one of our most loyal members. Not sure I should reveal it for her here before she publishes her story, but I'll definitely do it afterward, with a link to Amazon. It was very satisfactory to work on her cover with her.

Let me know if you're interested in cover design. I'd love to work with you!

Photo by Edho Pratama on Unsplash

~*~

That's it for most of the team this month. Looking forward to your posts. 

Renee for the team...

See you in August!

#3 WEP GET TOGETHER - APRIL 2024 - IT'S THE A - Z CHALLENGE!

 Hi WEPpers and friends!

Already time for out third Get Together. Life is flashing by! Hit us with your news, writerly or personal. We'd love to hear from you.

And from now on, we're moving to bi-monthly posts. See you in June!

Seeing it's April, all long-term bloggers know it's time for the A - Z Challenge, currently captioned by our very own JLenni Dorner. I've asked JLenni to give us the rundown on the 2024 challenge. Here's what he sent me:

The ONLY way to officially sign-up for the 2024 April Blogging from A to Z Challenge is by filling out the Google form on the website from now until April 7. More information is available on the site.

The point of the #AtoZChallenge is both to test yourself to create 26 posts using and inspired by the letter of the day on Mondays thru Saturdays in April, as well as to "hop" to as many other blogs in the challenge and leave comments on the A to Z posts found there. This grows our blogging community and creates connections.

If you're looking to increase your blog traffic, grow the blogging community, and maybe learn something or enjoy a fun story, please consider joining us.

The A to Z team is focusing the http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com blog on blogging positivity and blogging your best life/blog.

~*~

Now moving onto what the WEP team have been up to:

Hello, writers! This is Nila with you.

Just logging in here cheers me up. Gosh, I can't believe a quarter of 2024 is already over! - can you? March is cusp season - always a good time to take stock. 

The good bits first -  I've already spent 3 weeks of these 12 weeks travelling. Including  places I've never been to before, both in and out of India. So that takes care of 'go someplace new, learn something new' - my non-resolution for every new year for decades now. 

Migratory birds at a river island in the Ganges at Kanpur.

An important industrial city in North India. First settlement

here goes back to the 13th century. Alexander MacRoberts 

set up the first textile mill here in late 19th century. Kanpur

was also a major centre in the 1857 Indian Uprising and the 

place of the infamous 'Cawnpore Massacre.'

Now for the bad and the ugly - I came back from Lucknow early this month and caught some ghastly virus which gleefully attached itself to the operated eye and scared the bejeezus out of me. Long story short, it was a serious setback so I'm still running round to the eye surgeons' and dealing with a tsunami of eyedrops and blurry vision and limited screen time. No end in sight, pardon another bad pun. 

Not sure if I will be able to make the A-Z this year, though I can't imagine not doing it either. Maybe I'll do a shadow version like I did in 2022,  flying blind and joining in as and when able.

Therefore, all that I blithely said about returning in March with supersharp vision and a different, deeper perspective, well...hah! the gods heard and they fell off their celestial seats laughing. I should have known better...Maybe the inner eye is a tad keener, who knows? certainly not me - but for sure the outer has a long way to go still. Patience has never been my strong suite and it seems to be at a particularly low ebb right now. 

However, as the proverb goes - a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. One step at a time. One day at a time. I'll get there, unlikely sooner, so...later. 

Meanwhile, you guys keep well, keep writing and keep in touch! 

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Hello everyone! Renee here.

Happy Spring / Fall, everyone. Here we’re seeing more of the sun, fewer gray days and all those lovely flowers are wonderful. The pollen, though, I could live without, but it’s part of the process, isn’t it? So, if you see me out and about, I’ll be wearing a face mask. I’ve found it does wonders for keeping the sneezes away, and I’m all for that. Tax season is almost over, too, and I’m thrilled, except that I haven’t done my own yet. This is odd, as I normally have it done by the end of February. Talk about not being on the ball this year.

I’ve done little to no writing this month, which greatly bothers me, but I hope to make up for that in the months after the tax season.

To end my short post, I’ll leave you with this quote: 

“Believe in yourself, and your dreams will dance towards you!”

Photo by Frames For Your Heart on Unsplash

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Hi all! Denise here. My month ...:

Well, yippee, we are finally having some autumn weather after a very rough, hot summer which never seemed to end. But it's raining non-stop, so we're all looking forward to bright, sunny weather again!

One thing I haven't mentioned, is that I'm going all out brushing up on my French via Duolingo since last July. It's fun. Takes time though.

Of course the cooler weather helps with writing and I've grabbed every chance I can to print out my complete ms of Angelique's Paris Cookery School (102,000+ words) and self-edit, try to cut etc. Will be ready for Renee soon. (UPDATE - down to 101, 300+)

As my ms nears completion, my mind is on marketing. Due to family situations, I've completely neglected marketing, and any published writer knows without a large fan base, any book relies on marketing to be noticed amongst Amazon's 23 million books available to buy. 

Marketing changes all the time. I'm ready to give up on Amazon marketing for everything except for those free days as it changes constantly and is so confusing. I follow a lot of excellent Facebook marketing groups and I'm writing down ideas as they come to light. That way, I'm up to the minute. My plan is to market from release date. See how that goes. I'm such a plod when it comes to writing speed, it may be months yet.

I just bought a book on Social Media marketing, which is where the action is these days:

Let's face it, if writing is your business you need all the help you can get!

And the time has come to go to my cover artist who illustrated my Paris Dreams cover. I'm going to hire her for new covers for my paranormal series (which were created by Fiverr) and for my two new novels. I enjoy this aspect of self-publishing even though it takes so many run-throughs to get it right. 

I'm hoping for something more like this ABOVE for my vampire series, although I'm going with different colored roses. I thought readers would be interested in the Renaissance/medieval theme so that is what my covers represent, but even though I have had millions of 'impressions' on Amazon ads, no click throughs on covers like this which I liked:

 

Ah, self-publishing means try, try, try again until you hit it!

Any luck with marketing?

Any suggestions?

~*~

Hi everyone! Jemi here 😊

It's almost spring here in Northern Ontario! We were down to no snow in February/early March, but then winter returned. We'll see if April can get things smoothed out.

In book news, the No Fail Heroes series is almost here. Book #1, No Good Deed, releases on April 16th. If you like small-town romances with suspense, this one might be for you. The dog Piper rescues is on of my favourite characters ever. Oreo is a total charmer. Barnes and Noble selected No Good Deed as a Top Indie Favorite!

With a surname like his, Troy Phail has learned to do whatever it takes to succeed, but growing his town is out of his experience. He hires an urban planner for two weeks to help him. The sweet and sexy planner turns out to be brilliant—and exactly the kind of woman Troy has dreamed about. When danger from her past threatens, Troy will do anything to keep her safe. Failure is not an option.

If you'd like to read the prequel to the series, sign up for my newsletter to read No Chance In Hell. Happy April, everyone!

~*~

Hello everyone! Sonia here.

It's summer time in Delhi and the mercury is rising. I am busy packing the house, because I am moving to a new Indian state and city. It will be much warmer than Delhi and am I ready to brave it out! But I'm looking forward to the move. The city of Jodhpur is quieter and slow compared to the capital, and I think it might work for my writing.

On the writing front, I have few submission-ready poems and a short story, that I've been slowly working on over the last two months and I am going to squeeze some time into my busy schedule to submit them. I am glad that I could discipline myself to write a little on most days in March, and hope it continues to be like this for the rest of the year. 

If you'd like to listen to me recite a poem, I have one on the blog by Edgar A. Guest titled, It Couldn't Be Done. I'm sure you'll come back inspired. Here's a picture from last month, a stubborn story of resilience that finds a mention in this post.

Enjoy the sunny April days, until we meet next time. 

~*~

Hello everyone! Olga here.

No news here. I haven't even been writing anything, except one article for my newspaper. 

As to the A - Z post, Not sure. I can't come up with anything from the letters JLenni gave us. Plus the theme of blogging. If anyone comes up with anything, I might be able to expand. Otherwise, I'll pass. 

UPDATE: Have had an aha moment. Inspiration hit! Will do the A - Z post JLenni asked for.

Can't wait to read your news in the post, ladies.

~*~

That's it for most of the team this month. Looking forward to your posts. 

Denise for:

See you in June!

#2 - WEP Get Together - March 2024

 

Hello fellow WEPpers and friends!

Welcome to the second WEP Get Together! Starting in April, we go bi-monthly. 

The WEP team decided to keep in touch with each other and any of you who wish to meet each month and chat about our lives, or ask for help in publishing or anything, really. We learn from each other.

The options for participation are - 

- create a blog post with the lovely badge we use above and send us the link in comments.

- put the link in our C-Box which is found in the sidebar,

- write us a story in comments.

We don't want this post to be rigid. No specific topics. The topic is up to each of us. Share what's burning in your heart at the moment. It may not be writing related at all! That's totally fine. There's no word limit, but let's try to keep it down.

The writing world changes constantly and is not without its challenges. 

For example, 

- have you discovered something about your writing/publishing journey that you'd like to share? Please tell us! 

- have you found a way around a problem that others may be facing?

- have you found a fabulous editor who gets you?

- or share an interesting factoid - have you been nominated for the Nobel Peace prize???

- have you found a beta reader who made all the difference to your manuscript? 

Don't forget to access the 'How-to' posts which will remain in the sidebar. 

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Nila’s roundup of events:

Hi folks! Nila here, logging in from Lucknow.

Glad and relieved to report that the eye op went well, the right eye is done. I'd thought the other one would be done at a two week gap, -so that the whole tiresome process would be over by end Feb. The surgery gods must have been rolling on their respective heavenly floors laughing at my cluelessness.  The left one will be scheduled after I get back, meanwhile I'm struggling with temporary eyeglasses in various denominations. Writing or reading smoothly is still an elusive dream!

Jama Masjid in Old Delhi. Built 1650s.
By the same chap who built the Taj Mahal.

Also meanwhile, officialdom decided they needed to see us physically for various odd requirements, so we've had to zoom up to Delhi. Not that I'm complaining, Delhi is one of my favouritest cities in India - I've spent my some of my growing up years there.  I visited some old haunts, some of the famous monuments and caught up with friends and family there. I've now landed up in Lucknow, also a historic city - known for its refinement, chikankari embroidery, a major school of Urdu poetry and amazing kebabs - a foodie paradise. 

Son-e-Lumiere at the British Residency in Lucknow. Built
1780-1800. Main site of the Siege of Lucknow in 1857. 

My February has just whizzed past. Hoping March will be a little less hectic, but that's just wishful thinking. More eye op coming up and attendant houha. 

Hope everyone is doing well. Stay well, keep writing and keep in touch! 

Hi all! Denise here. This is my month in a nutshell:

UPDATE on last month.

The heatwave has lost its grip somewhat. Quite bearable to be honest. Still cyclones hovering, but no more vicious damage as of now.

Which has made the writing less of a challenge.

I've spent most of the month editing Angelique's Paris Cookery School so I can catch the superfluous bits before sending to our very own Development Editor, Renee. 

A quick mock up cover from Canva so this space is not empty and sad without an image.

AI in writing is on my mind thanks to the IWSG question of the month. I use it as I suck at blurbs. Here is an AI-generated first paragraph of a blurb for my novel:

In the enchanting city of Paris, where the aroma of freshly baked croissants fills the air, Angelique Ravello has decided to revive her beloved cookery school after a devastating loss. Determined to start anew and heal her wounded heart, Angelique has sworn off men, focusing solely on her culinary passion.

Other than study posts from the gazillion Facebook writing/editing groups I'm a member of, that's about it for me.

Congratulations to those of you who have powered on and published and promoted books.

Don't forget to share with us!

I have posted for the IWSG HERE....for Wednesday 6th ... The optional question is: Have you "played" with AI to write those nasty synopses, or do you refuse to go that route? How do you feel about AI's impact on creative writing?

Now that's a controversial topic ...

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Hi everyone! Jemi here😊

We've moved through 1st winter, false spring, 2nd winter, 2nd false spring, and are currently on 3rd winter... all typical for Northern Ontario!

In writing news, I've filled plot holes and corralled the commas in No Good Deed. With Yolanda Renée's help, I'm now doing the same with No Going Back (book 2 in the No Fail Heroes series). Renée's comments are SO helpful!

Hope everyone is doing well and can't wait to read your updates!

______________________

Hey everyone! Renee here 👋

Update on last month's news regarding Conundrum: I did not place in the top three, but I'm still a runner-up. And I'm still celebrating.

Since our last post. I've been working and not writing. In fact, the only thing I wrote was a poem for Sue @ Elephant's Child called An Angel. I'm sharing it here.

Photo by Nico Frey on Unsplash

AN ANGEL

I know an angel

of earthly fame

many seek her confidence

life is tough

living can become rough

this angel understands

many lose hope

but her light's bright

her words pure

this angel

with a heart so true

offers love and advice

recognized truth

means sorrow

disappears

promise returns

her magic works

happy folks

all recognize

her blessing

God's messenger of love

the restorer

of damaged souls

this holy vessel of perfection

but she knows sorrow

and immense pain

more profound than most

suffering despite

her heavenly calling

her beauty shines from within

and still

she gives all

despite her grief

this spiritual being

a guardian angel

of hope.

***

Yolanda Renée Stout © 2024

I send my thanks to Jemi again, for letting me be part of her team on No Going Back, book 2 of her No Fail Hero series. Jemi is an amazing writer! Anyone interested in a Developmental Edit just follow the link! 

Anyone interested in Jemi's books follow the LINK!

As always, I'm sending hugs and positive vibes to our writing community. Please let us know how you're all doing!

*****~~~~*****

Hello everyone! Sonia here.

We are slowly slipping into spring in Delhi, but it continues to play hide and seek with winter refusing to give way any time soon. In writing news, I finished the first draft of a short story for a writing grant and am now going to start with the edits. I've also submitted a poem for an annual anthology that features Indian poets. This is a special submission for me. My poems have been rejected for the last three years but I refuse to give up. Fingers crossed for 2024!  

This is picture from the World Book Fair at New Delhi. Fancy, isn't it?

I have a new post on the blog about book fairs (I visited World Book Fair at Delhi in February). It highlights how and why they aren't quite a reader's paradise and the things that didn't work for me. It's called NEW DELHI BOOK FAIR- A LONG & TIRING SWIM.  How was your writing month? I look forward to the 'catching-up' this March!

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Tbat's it for most of the team this month. Looking forward to your posts. 

Denise and Sonia for ...