Tag: #5amwritersclub

Writers’ Summer Camp with 13 Strangers

Lori Twining 4 Comments
Lori Twining ~ Camp Zeke

Several decades ago, before I even had a steady boyfriend, I had this weird habit of flipping through bridal magazines, dreaming about the perfect wedding, the over-the-top Royal Princess taffeta ballgown, the jovial bridal party, and spending the most romantic honeymoon hiking through the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania. 

That never happened for me. 

I mean, I did have a wedding–in fact, I had TWO beautiful weddings to two different people, with incredible velvet and satin dresses, and cool-but-not-that-funny bridal parties, but I never experienced the thrill of hiking through the Poconos Mountains… until this past weekend. A part of my old daydream finally did come true, slightly skewed from the original fantasy. 

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7 Tips on “Putting Yourself Out There” at Writing Conferences

Lori Twining 4 Comments
#5amwritersclub at Thrillerfest ~ Christine Clemetson, Ralph Walker & Lori Twining

In June, I had the opportunity to attend the Thrillerfest Conference in New York City for the first time in three years. At this point in the pandemic game, I don’t have to tell you that booking the hotel and airfare were scary enough, but traveling via plane and subway with thousands of other people rubbing up against your ribs would be a nightmare. So, I will skip the conversation about risking my health and tell you that it was time to be brave. With three vaccinations in my arm and over a dozen N95 masks in my book bag, I knew I would be well protected while traveling to the U.S. conference for a week.

I, like most writers, am considered an introvert. So, attending a writing conference to start conversations with strangers face-to-face is not only intimidating but also terrifying. So, to appear like the extrovert that I wanted to be, I decided to take it easy, relax and be stress-free. I only concentrated on one goal for the conference: To make new friends and connect again with my old ones.

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Finding Your Family – Comparable Titles

Donna Judy Curtin Leave a comment
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

The dreaded ‘comp’ or comparative title is every querying novelist’s nemesis. You spend years writing and perfecting your novel—a book only you could have written, a story unlike any other—and then you’re asked to list the similar books.

What? Are they crazy? Of course, there is nothing exactly like your novel—that’s why you wrote it.

The trouble is—this is the business of books. If you want an agent to promote your work, if you dream of the day a publisher will commit to printing your pages and you can’t wait to see your glossy hard cover baby mingling on the shelves of your favourite bookstore, then you need to help everyone to position your book. Read more

Accountability Partners: Are They Beneficial?

Lori Twining 2 Comments
Accountability Partners: Colleen Winter & Lori Twining

I have a simple goal: I want a writing career.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as quitting my day job and writing the damn novel. Other things factor into a writing career, besides having money to pay the bills. In 2021, as a writer, it is essential to have a social media presence, network with others, be searchable on Google, be knowledgeable and experienced with the craft of writing, have an agent, have a publisher, and the list goes on and on. It is endless.

Is a writing career something I can do alone?

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Conquering Your Writing Goals with a Strategic Plan

Lori Twining 4 Comments
Photo by Lori Twining

Let’s face it, 2020 was tough on some of us, if not all of us. 

I know that my writing plan for last year was sailing smoothly from January to February, and then, by mid-March, it skidded into a crazy tailspin, halting at our first lockdown. From March 17th through to the end of December, it felt like running over a bed of sharp nails—known as a contagious pandemic—which flattened all four tires in a matter of seconds. It left me feeling extremely anxious about my family, my friends, my health, my wellness, my job, and my writing career (what there is of it at this point). As of December 26th, we landed back into another 28-day lockdown that may hang-on much longer than we want it to.

So, what do we do? How do we plan for a possible 365-day lockdown in 2021? I know that I don’t want to repeat the mess I waded through in 2020, that’s for sure.

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