Author Toolbox Blog Hop: Books are Tools Too

#AuthorToolboxBlogHop

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story Blog and to the Author Toolbox Blog Hop #AuthorToolboxBlogHop which meets every third Wednesday of the month to share resources and tips for authors. Thanks to Raimey Gallant for hosting this venture. 

Please join us to learn more about the craft of writing and to meet bloggers who are dedicated to helping each other become the best writers possible. Click here for the list of participants and take a break and visit them. 

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Books are Tools Too

I don't usually think of books as tools. However, every tool comes with a page or pamphlet or book of instructions. So I believe books on writing are definitely tools to instruct us on the art of constructing our stories as well to help us learn how to publish and market them.

Today I'm sharing books I've used to learn about writing and writing life stories and memoirs. 

At this time, I'm working on creating a journal for those who wish to learn how to tell their life stories and a memoir which covers the first year we were in the floral business. (I wish I'd had a book of instructions for that giant leap.)

"Our lives are filled with extraordinarily ordinary moments. 

Our souls are illuminated by them.  

Sharing them around the hearths of our hearts, 

we become tellers of sacred tales, artists of our lives."

                                                         ----Dr. Susan Wittig Alberta, Writing from Life

Below is my review of one of the books on the list. I recommend it for writers even if you are not writing a memoir!

BOOK REVIEW: Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach

Writing Life Stories by Bill Roorbach

Writing Life Stories: How to Make Memories into Memoirs, Ideas into Essays, and Life into Literature by Bill Roorbach is eye-opening, thought-provoking, and full of wisdom for burgeoning writers, as well as experienced authors. His literary grade language and insight into what writing really is made me appreciate my choice to become a writer. This book is an inspiring read.

Bill, if I may call him that, brings clarity to the memoir genre. Incorporating rules of fiction writing with non-fiction events is an art. I soaked up every bit of the information he shared. He's a teacher as well as a writer and allows us to explore this marvelous genre through writing our own articles as exercises at the end of the chapter. I wish I were actually sitting in his classroom so I could be in a lively discussion with him and students on all the topics he covers.

My vocabulary grew because of his expertise in the English language. I discovered words like "adumbration" and "enjambment." 

These are quotes by Bill I want to keep in mind such as:

In regards to the writer's voice--"Emotion is the sound of a writer's voice."

In regards to writing--"This is art we're talking about, not a job."

I don't usually do book reviews, but this is more of a love letter to this book. If you are looking for a book on memoir-writing, pick this one up. I actually borrowed the kindle edition through amazon Prime's program. You know it had to be worth reading because I broke down and actually bought the paperback book!

If you have any comments about a book or wish to add to the list, please leave a comment below.

HELPFUL BOOKS ON WRITING

Albert, Susan Wittig.  Writing from Life:  Telling Your Soul’s Story

Baldwin, Christina.  Life’s Companion:  Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest

Corey, Judy. Storysharing:  A Bridge Between Generations

Daniel, Lois.  How to Write Your Own Life Story

Goldberg, Natalie. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Hauser, Susan Carol. You Can Write a Memoir

Heilbrun, Carolyn.  Writing a Woman’s Life

King, Stephen. On Writing

Roorbach, Bill. Writing Life Stories

Strunk, William and E.B.White.  The Elements of Style

Zinsser, William.  Inventing the Truth:  the Art and Craft of Memoir

Author Roseanne Dowell's Writing Tips Book, Show Don't Tell, Giveaway

Show Don't Tell
Available at Amazon

Hello and welcome!

I'm thrilled today to be swapping blogs with my friend and talented author. Roseanne Dowell. Roseanne writes warm and entertaining stories, but I bet you didn't know she also teaches writing classes. She has used her experience in writing and teaching to put together lessons with practical examples in her new release, Show Don't Tell and Other Writing Tips, available in Kindle and print. Roseanne is generously awarding a copy of her book to a lucky commenter. 

And because we are swapping,  I am a guest at Roseanne's blog featuring my book on writing tips, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing. Hop on over to Roseanne's blog to check it out and leave a comment to enter the drawing to win a free digital copy of this book.

Winners of the eBooks will be announced on Thursday.

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Show Don’t Tell by Roseanne Dowell

Did you ever wonder what made you remember the characters in a book? Or what made a story especially memorable. In Part One, you’ll learn to see, hear, smell, feel and taste your story. By combining many elements of writing, my book will help you learn how to write publishable stories. I’ve worked out lessons that will teach you to use the senses, avoid boring dialogue, and write memorable descriptions.  Learn how to put pizzazz in your writing and how to avoid unnecessary words, using action, senses and self-editing. Show Don’t Tell covers it all.

In Part Two, you’ll learn how to self edit. Editing is, by far, the most difficult part of writing. Okay, one of the most difficult. Editing is where we have to cut precious words, sentences, or maybe even whole paragraphs.  How do we even go about editing? Most of us know to look for punctuation, that’s the easy part. After all we’ve all learned about commas, periods, question marks and exclamation marks in school, didn’t we?

You’ll learn how to create and describe characters, places, and things, keeping your POV consistent, proper dialogues, common mistakes, and how to prepare a manuscript.

How many times has something funny or unusual happened and your friends said you should write a story about it. Should you? What if your friend got stuck on the roof? Would his experience make a good story? How about kooky events, scary dreams? Ever hear a portion of conversation and wonder what it was all about? There are many places and ways to come up with ideas for good stories. Follow these lessons and you’ll enter a land of make believe so real, you’ll think it happened to you. From Uncle Joe getting stuck on the roof, to newspaper articles and even the classified ads, In Part Three – Turning Your Ideas into Fiction, you’ll learn the perfect way. . If you’re wondering where authors get their ideas, you’ll find out in this book. Have you ever wondered how much fact to put into fiction?

Show, Don’t Tell is available from Amazon

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About Roseanne

She is an avid reader. Roseanne writes various types of romance - paranormal, contemporary, and mystery. She has several books available at Amazon as well as over 40 articles and short stories published in magazines such as Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer as well as several online publications. Besides teaching writing courses for Long Story School of Writing, she also taught two writing courses for the Encore Program at Cuyahoga Community College.

Author Roseanne Dowell

Roseanne lives in Northeast Ohio where she enjoys life as a wife, mother of six, grandmother of fourteen and great grandmother of two.  When she’s not writing or enjoying her family, Roseanne spends her time with embroidery and quilting, especially combining the two. She also enjoys blogging, tweeting, facebooking and posting on various writers groups. 

Visit Roseanne Dowell at 
her author website  
her blog 

her Facebook page 

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Leave a comment to enter to win the drawing for Roseanne's book. Do you have a writing tip to share with us? A book on writing you depend on for great information? A writing website you read every week?

Thank you for stopping by. Get notices about new blog posts on the J.Q. Rose blog by adding your email address to the box in the upper right hand sidebar.

Write on!

Spring Garden, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing Book Launch, Free PDF copy

Tulips in my back yard are abundant this spring. So far, no deer have chosen the blooms for their evening meals.

Also in the back yard, Gardener Ted (catch a glimpse of him behind the white fence) has roto-tilled the ground a couple of times. He worked up this section on the left and mounded up the dirt. Before planting the melons and squash plants, he placed black plastic over the rows to heat up the soil. Today the soil is only 52 degrees F.
Yesterday he planted some fun new veggies...purple cabbage, purple cauliflower, broccoflower (a combination of broccoli with cauliflower). He's tries new things every year.

Rhubarb, a spring crop here in Michigan. My DH loves it. Me? Not so much. How about you?


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Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing:
Tips on the Writing Process, Publishing, and Marketing

Writing Tips eBook with tips from fifteen authors!
Available NOW at Amazon.com

Book Launch Week is finally here! Beginning May 3-May 9, the fifteen authors who contributed to the eBook will be spreading the word about this jam-packed full of valuable tips guide through tweets, blogs, and social media.

Authors who have graciously contributed to this project are:

Conda Douglas	http://condascreativecenter.blogspot.com/
C. Hope Clark	http://www.chopeclark.com
Gail Roughton	http://gailroughton.blogspot.com
Heather Fraser Brainerd	http://drivingblindproductions.wordpress.com/books
Heather Haven	http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/
Helena Fairfax	http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00DRBYLO0
J.Q. Rose	http://www.JQRose.com
Joan Curtis	http://joancurtis.com/
Joselyn Vaughn	https://joselynvaughn.wordpress.com/
Kathy MacIntosh	www.KathyMcIntosh.com
Marsha West	www.marsharwest.com
Melissa Maygrove	www.melissamaygrove.com
Miss Mae	http://www.themissmaesite.com/
Roseanne Dowell	http://amzn.to/tnqgR2
Sara-Jayne Townsend	http://sarajaynetownsend.weebly.com

Please visit their sites this week and learn more about them and their books.

  ***If you would like a free PDF copy of the 40 page book, please contact me at jqrose02 at gmail dot com. We would appreciate if it you wrote a review and/or recommended the eBook to your friends. Deadline for receiving this freebie is Thursday, May 7 at 12:30 a,m.

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Books on Writing for Writers,

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series
Writing Tips

Hello and welcome. So glad to see you here today. I have good news and bad news. The bad news is this is the last blog post in our series, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing. But the good news is that I have compiled all the excellent writing tips and advice into an e-book that will be available this spring. In addition to the tips here, authors share even more insight in writing as a career, publishing, and marketing books inside the ebook. 

Subscribe by email to the J.Q. Rose blog so you can receive updates on the progress and new posts on the blog.

The good news too is how excited I am to have introduced you to new authors and re-acquainted you with others. Along with the writing tips, we also found great romance and mystery stories. In case you missed one of the blog posts in the series, here are the authors who participated. 

***applause***

OCTOBER
2	Roseanne Dowell
9	Miss Mae
16	Heather Fraser Brainerd
23	Marva Dasef
30	Gail Roughton
NOVEMBER
6	Joselyn Vaughn
13	Melissa Maygrove
20	Conda Douglas
27	THANKSGIVING NO GUEST
DECEMBER
4	Marsha R West
11	Kathy McIntosh
18	IWSG BOOK
25	CHRISTMAS NO GUEST
JANUARY
1	NEW YEAR'S DAY NO GUEST
8	Sara Jayne Townsend
15	Joan Curtis
22	Helena Fairfax
29	J.Q. Rose
FEBRUARY
5	Heather Haven
12	C. Hope Clark
19	Resources for Writers

Pile of books courtesy of Stuart Miles
Freedigitalphotos.net

I asked the authors what books they have found helpful in their writing process. I have listed them below.

Mystery author C. Hope Clark said, "Stephen King's On Writing, then the rest comes from reading what you'd love to be able to write. We read too many how-to books on writing instead of reading the good stuff and emulating good writing. We learn more from seeing it put into practice than from lesson plans."

Author Joan Curtis suggests Hooked: Writer Fiction that Grabs Readers and Never Lets them Go by Les Edgerton

The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

by Noah Lukeman 

Author Marsha West advises--There are many, but two that I have are post noted, highlighted, and dog eared (yes, I have the paperbacks) and are great helps with editing. I’m embarrassed to say a couple of judges from the first contest I entered suggested I get these. They also suggested I get one on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict. (I really knew nothing about the craft of writing fiction, especially genre fiction.) Here are the first two:

 Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King

The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White

Author Sara-Jayne Townsend said--In my view the best book about writing is Stephen King’s On Writing.  He has a very approachable, accessible style and this book is pretty much him sitting down the reader and saying, 'this is what works for me.  Maybe it will work for you too.'

J.Q. Rose says--Here is a list of books on writing that I have used and still use:

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Author: Anne Lamott
Publisher: Knopf

Chicago Manual of Style

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing

Author: The Editors of Writer’s Digest

Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books

How to be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play

Author: Barbara Baig

The Elements of Style

Author: William Strunk  and E.B.White. 

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Author: Stephen King
Publisher: Scribner

On Writing Well

Author: William Zinsser

Reading Like a Writer

Author: Francine Prose
Publisher: HarperCollins

Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times

Editor: John Darnton

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (I found this especially inspiring when I questioned my calling to be a writer.)

Author: Natalie Goldberg
Publisher: Shambhala

I hope you find these books helpful in your writing projects.
What is one of your favorite books for writing?  Leave a comment below. Thank you!

Back to School, Time for Learning

Back to school time, learning time. I don't know if it's because I come from a line of school teachers and I was one at one time, but there is something that just makes me want to crack open a new book and find the scissors to create bulletin boards in the fall.

I teach a creative writing class, so today I have a list of writing books that I think are helpful to new and seasoned writers alike. Perhaps one of these will get your Muse whirling and your fingers a clacking away on your keyboard to create a new piece of writing. Go for it.

If you have a suggestion to add to this list, please share. Thanks!

BIBLIOGRAPHY- CREATIVE WRITING

 Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Author: Anne Lamott

Chicago Manual of Style

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing

Author: The Editors of Writer’s Digest

Publisher: Writer’s Digest Books

How to be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play

Author: Barbara Baig

The Elements of Style

Author: William Strunk and E.B.White.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Author: Stephen King

Publisher: Scribner

On Writing Well

Author: William Zinsser

Reading Like a Writer

Author: Francine Prose

Publisher: HarperCollins

Writers on Writing: Collected Essays from The New York Times

Editor: John Darnton

Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within

Author: Natalie Goldberg

Publisher: Shambhala