Nina’s latest book Angel of Chaos (Dragon Moon Press) was selected as a finalist for the Foreword MagazineBook of the YearAward for 2010 in the Science Fiction category.
Representing more than 350 publishers, the finalists were selected from 1400 entries in 56 categories. Finalists were determined by a jury of judges consisting of editors and reviewers of ForeWord Reviews, booksellers, librarians, and other industry professionals.
First, second, and third place winners will be awarded in each category. A $1,500 cash prize will also be awarded to Best Fiction and Best Nonfiction as determined by the editors of ForeWord Reviews. Finalists were announced in their weekly email newsletter, ForeWord This Week, in March 2010.
Winners in each category and overall fiction and nonfiction prize winners will be announced at Book Expo America and on the Foreword website.
Are you looking to get published? What’s stopping you?
Join me for a FREE Webinar through Writer’s Digest University on how to improve your writing and succeed in getting published.
I join journalist and editor Vernon Oikle on “Toolkit Talks“, a conversation in which we share great tips on how to get published. We answer some commonly asked questions provided by Writer’s Digest Magazine editors; questions faced by writers getting started as well as those finding their career stagnating. Learn some of the secrets writers use to jumpstart and keep their career in upward motion. Get the answers you need to get published.
What’s the difference between a writer who publishes and one who isn’t publishing? It’s often not talent or storytelling ability; it’s more often attitude, organization and drive. For instance, do you suffer from any of the following?
You have cool ides but have trouble getting started
You’ve been writing forever but can’t finish
Time & schedules are getting in the way
You’re lost in a sea of plot & characters
You’re scared of getting rejected & being ridiculed
You’re scared of living a dream
Join my free webinar where I answer frequently asked questions that came straight from Writer’s Digest! Questions that will help you get published:
What resources and tools do you recommend for writers?
Which do you think aren’t worth the time?
How do I make sure I maintain the right level of objectivity when I’m writing about things I’m passionate about?
How do you balance plot and characters in your story?
What are the elements of a strong hero? What are the elements of a strong villain?
How do I know if my story moves too slowly or too quickly? How do I fix it?
How do you weave in theme within a story?
How do you choose the right point of view for your story?
Should I outline before I begin writing a story?
Where should I begin when I’m revising?
How do you promote your work?
How do you know when your story is ready to submit?
How do you know which markets are best for your work?
Register for my free webinar to view this on-demand webinar and you may have access to additional materials and be eligible for additional perks.
For those of you waiting to purchase my DVD set of “The Writer’s Toolkit“, a 3-set DVD collection based on “The Writers Toolkit” workshops, your wait is soon over! These three major workshops cover ”How to Get Started and Finish”, “Craft of Writing” and “Marketing” your writing. The DVDs will be available shortly for purchase on the Passionate Writer. Here’s what students of “The Writer’s Toolkit” said:
“I felt inspired to look at my writing again…I found my ideas unlocked, problem areas exposed and strengths endorsed.”–Jane Morrell
“Nina was very relaxed, informal, very knowledgeable and interesting…She gave a lively presentation and gave lots of examples to relate to.”—Lauren Seaton
“Nina encouraged me to actually start my novel. She is very good, easy to understand.”—Patricia Slauenwhite
“Nina was engaging and inspiring… I was able to use specifics that were discussed to immediately improve my writing.”—Susie Buck
“I found what I had been searching for a long time.”—Candice Croft
“What you’ve done for me, Nina, is you’ve just opened up a whole new world. You’ve shown me how to put soul into my books … You’ve transformed me from what I considered an oddball to somebody special and for that it’s worth a fortune.”–Hectorine Roy
“The Fiction Writer is at the top of the required reading list for my students. With its engagingly direct, conversational style and easily accessible format, it is a veritable cornucopia of hands-on help for aspiring writers of any age…the quintessential book for the soon-to-be published.”—Susan H. McLemore, Director of Glynn Academy Language Arts Department
Nina’s fiction writing guide, “The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now!” is currently on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca (in Canada) and Amazon.uk (in England). Go see it there and give it a review and/or tick off tags to help others find this very useful writing guide.
Nina drew from her many years experience in writing and publishing and includes personal examples of queries and synopses that worked, actual rejection letters and hilarious but educational stories about her publishing misadventures.
Nina borrowed from the wisdom of many experts in writing and publishing, notably Robert J. Sawyer, Elizabeth Lyon, Jack Bickham, Sol Stein, Janet Fitch, Tobias Bucknell, Ansen Dibell, Margot Finke, Marg Gilks, Crawford Killian, Ralph Keyes, Victor Frankl, among others. She mixes their erudite advice with her own educational experiences to produce a guidebook that fills a rare niche: a guidebook that seriously educates but is entertaining and fun to read.
We are delighted to report that The Fiction Writer and natural cat supplements
its associated course materials have been adopted by schools, colleges and universities throughout North America. Here’s what writing instructors, published authors and writing students had to say about The Fiction Writer so far:
“I’m very impressed…Nina shares the hard-won knowledge she’s accumulated…I’m thoroughly enjoying the book!”—Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo and Nebula award-winning author of Wake.
“Nina is…lively and knowledgeable…approachable, relevant and humorous.”—Pamela Richardson, Professor at University of British Columbia
“Although aimed at the writing student, this is a handy book for the emerging or mature writer as well…a great resource to refresh one’s mind on every aspect of the writing process…I am keeping this book at my desk as I plunge into the writing of my next chapter.”—Shane Joseph, author of After the Flood
“Thanks, Nina! My songs, stories, and screenplays…can all benefit.”—Colin Wiebe, musician/writer
“We use this book weekly in my Writer's Workshop class, and it gives us all the right tips to write like a professional author. It is written with a direct, clear style that enhances our understanding and helps us to truly grasp the concepts presented. The chapters are brief and concise, and really help us write both fiction and nonfiction. We have learned how to properly use dialogue, create characters, and find our "muse." I would highly recommend this book for anyone hoping to enhance their writing.”—Mark J. Bujold, writing student
“Great writing lessons! They are practical and simple for any budding writer.”—Graham Seager, writer
“Nina Munteanu’s The Fiction Writer is the book I wish I had 15 years ago. Writers young and old can find ways to improve their work, with the book’s fun, easy to read format.”—Theresa Vinson, bookseller
“Nina Munteanu’s book, The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now is a terrific resource in my professional library. I started reading it almost as soon as I got home after purchasing it. Nina shares tips and techniques from many great writers and I loved soaking all that up. I highly recommend it.”— Zoe M. Hicks, author of The Women’s Estate Planning Guide and Dream Catcher, the Power of Faith
“The Fiction Writer improves with each read. it reminds me of those ‘For Dummies’ books, back when they first were great – except without the ‘you are a dummy’ humor, which I greatly appreciate”—David Merchant, Instructor at Louisiana Tech University
The Fiction Writer packs twenty-six chapters of relevant, well-researched and easy to read instruction that encompasses virtually all the topics one needs to get published: beginnings and endings; characterization; dialogue; exposition; setting; plot; scene; metaphor & language; grammar; voice and point of view; research; query letters; rejection letters; synopses and outlines; showing vs. telling; writer’s block; attitude, inspiration and passion in writing.
Nina’s too busy to post (she’s writing 90 articles for her publisher…LOL!) so she asked me if I could post for her. I said, “ok, dude. I can write as good as the rest of them!” On an aside, I should tell you that I’ve been Nina’s ghost writer for years, (since I was rescued from a truck stop in Michigan, that is…) and that her publisher corrects her spelling all the time… In fact, everyone corrects her spelling all the time. But enough about her. This post is about ME…
Oh, and about my neat adventure in Georgia…
Stoked by some cool times at the World Science Fiction Convention in Montreal, Nina and I hopped on a plane at Trudeau International Airport and flew to sunny Georgia because we felt like it. Well, we actually stopped in Jacksonville and drove to St. Simon’s Island on the southern Georgian coast. The drive was boring for me (Nina forgot me in her briefcase!) We drove to Sea Palms Resort, a golfer’s mecca on St. Simon’s Island, to deliver a lecture on “The Hero’s Journey” at a local con there, Scribblers Writers’ Retreat. While Nina slaved on her lecture and handouts, I slipped out of the confining briefcase and wandered the grounds. I remember thinking that they could use the touch of David McLay Kidd, the golf course minimalist that Nina—er I wrote about on The Alien Next Door.
My adventure took a natural pet supplements
hairpin turn for the better when I came underfoot of Mildred Wilcox, a beautiful and elegant southern lady, local art expert and art gallery owner of The Left Bank. Being a lady of impeccable taste, she picked me up and invited me to her house on St. Simon’s where she offered me orange julep and we traded stories about French Impressionism, Paris in the springtime, Georgian marshes, live Oaks and why there are no cats on St. Simon’s Island… She was teasing me, I’m sure!
While Nina did a reading and signings at Hattie’s Books, a quaint independent bookstore in Brunswick, GA that carries both Darwin’s Paradox and The Fiction Writer, I hid in her briefcase. Marcia Stutz, the bookstore owner lets the store’s feisty terrier mascot, Mister Wiggles, run around freely without a leash! Imagine that! I didn’t like him. Even though everyone else did.
The next day, Nina did at least a dozen one-on-one consultations in the lobby of the hotel. The sessions were filmed by Rizzuti Productions and Starfire World Syndicate. She reminded me of Ellen DeGeneres; she was having way too much fun in front of the camera! I was amazed; she did the whole thing without a single break, even though she must have had a dozen coffees. I bet you’ll see a blooper reel on YouTube shortly. I saw a few choice bloopers! That’s what happens when you don’t take any breaks, Nina! But a few victim—er clients walked away from her advice with genuine smiles on their faces, not just dazed grins of confused euphoria… “What did she say?” I heard them whispering to each other in the hallway by the espresso machine where Nina would have preferred to be. “Did she really want me to spell ‘the’ for her?...”
Talking about bloopers… Despite fully embracing new tools, Nina isn’t particularly adept technologically. So, when she decided to give a fancy Power Point lecture using interactive interface and a Wacom Bamboo Tablet, I sniggered and asked her why she didn’t just use a whiteboard and colored felts like she always did. She insisted (rather petulantly, I might add) and what could go wrong did—computer and projector refused to talk, the tablet had a hissy fit with lines scrambling everywhere and the screen decided to cave into a black hole. So, after much hand waving (which never works; she isn’t a Jedi yet…) Nina resorted to her twenty-year teaching experience using a whiteboard and colored felts. Of course, the lecture went well and the audience appreciated her instruction, if not her bad jokes. But I took the opportunity to say “I told you so,” anyway. One must take them as they come. Where I’m from in southern France—No! I wasn’t born in Michigan! I was just rescued from there—there is a saying: quel sera, sera…
I may be posting for her again… I don’t think she’ll get those 90 articles done as quickly as she thought.
Several weeks ago, Toulouse and nupro dog vitamins
I got onto a jet plane and travelled to Montreal, Quebec (my old digs when I went to university). We went there to participate in the World Science Fiction Convention.
These guys put me in a pile of cool panels on top of doing my regular readings and signings. I participated in science/ecology, writing and SF panels with rock stars like Tom Doherty, Julie Czerneda, and new faces like Bruce Rockwood, David B. Coe, Peter Cohen, John Kessel, Jason Tuell, Kristin Norwood, Bob Sojka, Mike Gallaher, Michael Sestak and many others.
The panels were lively, contentious in some cases, erudite and fun. But I measure the success of a con through its surprises as well as by how many old friends I visit with and new friends I make. This one was a resounding success because I met so many wonderful people and encountered many thrilling surprises. The list is too long to give here but I'll include some unexpected highlights.
The rockin' Tor party (held at a penthouse suite in the Delta Hotel): where the bathroom had been converted into a wine and beer celar...
meeting L.E. Modesitt and his wife at the rockin' Tor Party
sharing an awesome world-building panel with Julie Czerneda
the rockin' Tor party (where rumor has it that the bathroom was raided by strange ladies intent on having a shower)
seeing Cory Doctorow in a tux (for the Hugo Awards)
the rockin' Tor party (where someone who shall remain nameless jumped on the bed and didn't spill a drop of his drink!)
being "abducted" by a group of Romanian writers who took me to an "Old Montreal" cafe to interrogate me using devious means like roasted wild duck and local cider (they were successful, btw)
the rockin' Tor party (well, I won't go there--you'll have to attend the next con to find out for yourself!)
Nina’s latest book Angel of Chaos (Dragon Moon Press) was selected as a finalist for the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award for 2010 in the Science Fiction category.
“The Fiction Writer is at the top of the required reading list for my students. With its engagingly direct, conversational style and easily accessible format, it is a veritable cornucopia of hands-on help for aspiring writers of any age…the quintessential book for the soon-to-be published.”—Susan H. McLemore, Director of Glynn Academy Language Arts Department
Nina’s too busy to post (she’s writing 90 articles for her publisher…LOL!) so she asked me if I could post for her. I said, “ok, dude. I can write as good as the rest of them!” On an aside, I should tell you that I’ve been Nina’s ghost writer for years, (since I was rescued from a truck stop in Michigan, that is…) and that her publisher corrects her spelling all the time… In fact, everyone corrects her spelling all the time. But enough about her. This post is about ME…
