Writing Course – What I Learned

 

Take a chance on yourself and your writing!

Holly Lisle has limited registration on her writing-career-survival course, HOW TO THINK SIDEWAYS. The course will only be taking new students until Thursday, March 5th, at 11:59PM USA Eastern Time. After that, no new students will be able to join for a year.

How To Thinkl Sideways - using both sides of your brain while writing!
How To Think Sideways – using both sides of your brain while writing!

I stared writing my first novel in 2009. After a year, it was finished — and as long as two-thirds of Lord of the Rings! I revised for a year and shaved a few thousand words off it, then decided to take Holly Lisle’s novel revision course. Her methodology was great, and helped me to knock about 60,000 further words off my novel.

But while I was on her forums I heard students discussing her HOW TO THINK SIDEWAYS course, and raving about it. Knowing Holly was a teacher with remarkable insight, and because I’d enjoyed her other course so much, I was keen to see how she developed her novels.

I joined How To Think Sideways in 2012.

This writing course wasn’t what I expected. I thought I’d just learn how to plot better and create a cohesive story.  Instead, I used art, diagrams, visualisation, sweet-spot-maps and many other right-brained techniques to develop the themes in my new work before I even started plotting.

I also learned how to query and submit my work to publishers, and how to set up a platform as an author or indie publisher – with step-by-step guides to help me through all the aspects of platform building.

My left-brain was also challenged to analyse many aspects of writing that hadn’t occurred to me. And then there was my favourite type of activity – setting off Muse Bombs – sure sources of inspiration that gave oomph to my writing.

Holly was great at explaining her procedures and giving me new tools to work with. She provides worksheets, videos and chat sessions and continues to add to her courses as she develops new resources. (Once I bought the writing course, more material was added, which has been great.) And Holly has been great at cheering for my successes!

I’m Holly’s affiliate because this course helped me in ways I didn’t expect — as well as providing the basic building blocks of crafting an interesting novel, it provided tools to analyse myself psychologically and determine the most effective way to move my work forward.

While doing one of her ‘quick ten-minute’ exercises,  I came up with a new idea for a novel — I’ve since written that novel! Of course Holly also discusses good story beginnings, building characters, dealing with soft middles and how to create endings that sell your next novel. There’s so much content in this course, and Holly outlines it all here.

How To Think Sideways is worth your time. But if you don’t agree, Holly has a GREAT money-back guarantee — you’re not risking anything by taking the course.

Look-HTTS-HollyLisleGo take a look. You’ll be glad you did.

But hurry. If you miss this, it’s a long wait until next time.

(Remember the course closes on Thursday, March 5th, at 11:59PM USA Eastern Time. After that, you’ll have to wait a year to join.)

Lost in the Museum Hits the Headlines!

Te Papa stories
Tim Jones and Eileen Mueller are Lost In The Museum, or outside it! Photo by Ross Giblin, used with permission of Fairfax Media NZ – 629542114.

Lost in The Museum was featured in the Dominion Post last weekend, on the Capital Day page. Both Tim Jones and I had fun in the glaring sun with the fresh Wellington wind creating new hairstyles and making our eyes water! What a photo! Brilliant!

The Cook Strait News also ran an article last Monday. I know that Dannevirke News mentioned Lost In The Museum with Lyn McConchie featured as their local author and that other newspapers are also keen on this quirky collection which is is set in our national iconic museum, Te Papa Tongarewa — NZ’s home of national treasures.

Behind Lost In The Museum is a great team who has put in long hours, selecting stories, editing them, formatting, proof-reading and typesetting.  I’d personally like to thank Alicia Ponder and Lorraine Williams for accepting my stories and providing great editing feedback, to Mary MacCallum for her editorial input and keen eye, and to everyone who helped in the book production.

Our cover artist, Geoff Popham, did a brilliant cover. Everyone comments on it! We look forward to working with such a talented young artist again. William Carden-Horton added richness to the anthology with his offbeat illustrations.

Thanks to all the authors. It’s an honor to have my work in an anthology with yours!

Check out the articles! Or this review on Beattie’s Blog. Lost In The Museum can be purchased from NZ bookstores, or from Amazon.

Lost In The Museum DomPost
Lost In The Museum in the Dominion Post
Cook Strait News features Lost In The Museum
Cook Strait News features Lost In The Museum

 

 

Lost In The Museum – Review

Copies of Lost in The Museum are zipping off the shelves.

Lost In The Musuem
Lost In The Museum by Phoenix Writers, quirky YA fantasy stories in Te Papa, NZ’s national museum.

Beattie’s Blog, the cornerstone blog of the New Zealand literary world, has just posted a great review of Lost In The Museum by Lee Murray! Pop over and see it!

Lost In The Museum is available from all good bookstores. Retrospace in Auckland and The Children’s Bookshop in Kilbirnie, Wellington are two of my favourite stores that stock Lost In The Musuem!

Join in the fun and read some great work from Wellington authors, new and famous! Enjoy these mad capers, zipping around Te Papa!

Ebook

Just in case you’re not one to lug around paper books, the ebook will be out next Monday, 9 June 2014!

A huge thank you to Phoenix Science Fiction Society and Wellington Creative Communities for their support.

Back Cover Blurb

Get lost in the museum where past, present and future collide.

What does Weta’s giant mechanical baby do after hours? Who is altering the time space continuum? Where or when has James gone? And what secrets is Tui Merriweather hiding?

Dive into mayhem at a well-known Wellington waterfront destination. Going to the museum will never be the same again.

Authors:  Tim Jones, Tracie McBride, Lyn McConchie, Glynne MacLean, Phillip Mann, Rob Campbell, Lillian Hetet, Jenny Hammond, John Homes, Eileen Mueller, Jeena Murphy, A.J. Ponder, Vic Scott, Jean Stevens, Lorraine Williams

Lost In The Museum – Launch at Conclave II

The Lost in the Museum book launch

2pm, Saturday, 26 April at Surrey Hotel, Auckland

at Conclave II, the New Zealand National Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention


Join Conclave II Guest of Honour, Lynn McConchie, & authors Alicia Ponder & Eileen Mueller


Get lost in the museum where past, present and future collide.

What does Weta’s giant mechanical baby do after hours? Who is altering the time space continuum? Where or when has James gone? And what secrets is Tui Merriweather hiding?

Dive into mayhem at a well-known Wellington waterfront destination. Going to the museum will never be the same again.

Authors:  Tim Jones, Tracie McBride, Lyn McConchie, Glynne MacLean, Phillip Mann, Rob Campbell, Lillian Hetet, Jenny Hammond, John Homes, Eileen Mueller, Jeena Murphy, A.J. Ponder, Vic Scott, Jean Stevens, Lorraine Williams

Lost In The Museum
Lost in The Museum – cover art by Geoff Popham, stories by Phoenix Writers.

Copies of Lost In The Museum in all good bookstores soon.

 

Lost in the Museum – Cover Art.

Lost in the Museum is coming soon!

Lost in the Museum concept art
Lost in the Museum concept art

Last year I joined Phoenix Writers (the Wellington-based arm of Phoenix Science Fiction Society) just as they were closing submissions for this collection of crazy capers in Te Papa – NZ’s national museum. My stories squeaked in before the deadline and were accepted. Over the past two months, I’ve spent some time helping this book come to life.

Geoff Popham has created beautiful artwork for the cover (this is not the final version, but close.)  He is one talented graphic designer and illustrator. We’re lucky to have him for Lost in The Museum.

Stay tuned for launch details and a sneak preview of the final cover art!