Wednesday, May 3, 2017

IWSG: May It Be Wonderful

It is May already and time to share our insecurities about our writing with the other members of our group. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this terrific group. If you're not already part of it, sign up to be a IWSG member here.

What to know what's going on with the group? Check out a few of the events and happenings on today's IWSG post.

Big, BIG news! Yesterday, IWSG released its newest anthology, Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life. You can get it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BAM and Kobo. It's already getting lots of great reviews. You'll be hard-pressed to pick a favorite story.
What if Death himself wanted to die? Can deliverance be found on a bloody battlefield? Could the gift of silvering become a prison for those who possessed it? Will an ancient warrior be forever the caretaker of a house of mystery?

I hope you're practicing your Twitter Pitch. #IWSGPit You still have time to get it together. I'm working for a post on suggestions for closer to the July 27th, blastoff. Check out the rules at the IWSG website. Make sure you're following IWSG on Twitter.

If you're not already, you should be following IWSG on Facebook.  Lots happens in that very active group.

This month's question from IWSG: What is the weirdest or coolest thing you ever had to research for your story?
Actually, the most enjoyable research I ever did was for some of my A to Z Challenge themes. I'm currently researching things about bone marrow and immunity deficiencies. I always put a little medical science in my science fiction. That is actually some clue to what my latest series is about. A future where most humans have compromised immune systems.

In a pretty cloudy week, I did receive a contract last week for the first book in that new series. That did slow down my word count as I dealt with cover art questions and a few other real life things.

Do you have a piece of work you're ready to pitch in July? Do you like doing research? Do you have a favorite between Twitter and Facebook?






36 comments:

nashvillecats2 said...

Great post Susan, I shall certainly be on the lookout for the Anthology on line.I'm sure it will be a success.
May for me is a month of birthdays. .....quite expensive time too.
Enjoy the month of May.
Yvonne.

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L. Diane Wolfe said...

Congrats on the contract.

Compromised immune systems sound very plausible considering where were are right now.

Yvonne Ventresca said...

Congrats on the new book! I love the research part of writing, and it sounds like you've researched some interesting things.

Pat Hatt said...

Congrats on the contract indeed!

Seems the super germs are coming and compromised immune systems are a high probability. Especially with all the crap people eat too.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Our second anthology! Congratulations to all twelve authors. And to you for that contract. You are a writing machine.

Susanne Matthews said...

Congrats on the contract and good luck with that book. I did medical research for a couple of my books, some on drugs, another on viruses. That's why I wrote about today.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Yeh on the contract!

I hope after Story A Day that I'll have a few stories revised and ready to submit over the summer. Fingers crossed!

Nicola said...

Congrats on the contract, Susan. Now the hard work begins :) again :) Take care and have a lovely week.

Anonymous said...

I'm fairly new to actually being "in" IWSG, though I've known "about" it for a while, so this pitch in July is something I'll need to "research" more. Heh heh.

Congrats on the contract! Hope you enjoy your new writing direction.

Bish Denham said...

I do enjoy researching. I enjoy it so much it can keep me away from writing, so have to limit myself.

Christine Rains said...

Congratulations! :) I do love doing research. It can totally suck me in.

Arlee Bird said...

I've got nothing to pitch--not even a baseball.

I've done a lot of research for blogging including A to Z. One of my favorite A to Z themes that led me to do more research than usual was my 2016 Manhattan theme. I enjoyed learning so many things I never knew about the city and its history.

Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out

M.J. Fifield said...

I do like doing research. It can be so much fun, and I really do love to learn. (Even if there are many of my former teachers now laughing their you-know-whats off right now.)

I don't that I really have a favorite between Facebook and Twitter. They're both equally as distracting for me. :)

Pat Garcia said...

I like doing research and I enjoyed the research I did for The Child and The Prophet. This year, I didn't participate in A to Z. I have too many things going on and therefore don't know if I will participate in the pitch.
Shalom aleichem,
Pat G

Anonymous said...

Good luck with your writing and congrats on the series. =)

messymimi said...

Hooray for the contract! Research is so interesting, i get lost in it sometimes.

Laura Clipson said...

I love research, I have to be careful that it doesn't turn into a distraction though! I'll start researching one small thing, then get distracted by other things that pop up, then before I know it it's 3 hours later and I'm reading about something totally unrelated to the thing I was researching in the first place!

Erika Beebe said...

Yay for your contract! I bet it's fun to gander at the cover art too. Thank you for the great shout out on the anthology. :)

J E Oneil said...

Medical things can be the coolest and also grossest. And that sounds like an interesting concept you're working on. I can't wait to see the book itself.

cleemckenzie said...

The A to Z does encourage research and I love where that often takes me. Once I start, it's the old rabbit hole and down and down I go.

Maria Zannini said...

I like doing research a little too much. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Not sure my story will be ready to go for July - but I'm hoping! :)
Yay on the contract!!!

dolorah said...

I don't tweet, and rarely hang out on Face Book. I'm sadly behind the media craze. Congrats on your writing successes; perhaps social media is helping.

I'm looking forward to Heero Lost.

Fundy Blue said...

Congratulations on your book contract, Susan! That's awesome! I'm not ready to pitch my memoir yet. I enjoy doing research, although it can be maddening at times when you can't find what you're looking for. I'm a big believer in accuracy. I've never gotten into Twitter. I just don't get it. I do go in and out of Facebook, mostly to keep track of what my extended family is up to. Happy writing in May!

Juneta key said...

Congrats. Depends on what it is and if I do not go chasing rabbits instead sticking with getting what I need.
' Juneta @ Writer's Gambit

Nick Wilford said...

Sounds like an interesting premise to your new series. Having a grounding in real life is so important. Excited for all the Hero Lost authors!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Congratulations on the book contract! That should have brightened your week a lot.

I think I like Twitter better than Facebook, and I think it's because of the short and sweet bursts of information as opposed to some of the rants and speeches I find on Facebook. Facebook eats up more of my time.

Chemist Ken said...

I always like to add a bit of science to my fantasy. Makes it seem more real to me. At least it does when other authors do it in their books. Yay for the new contract.

Toi Thomas said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and congratulations on the contract. Now that I think about it, I think I have done some interesting research for a few blog posts I'v written. Not sure if I'll have anything to pitch in July.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Tyrean Martinson said...

I like research, but it doesn't always end up the way I think it's going to in what I write.
Twitter or facebook - that's a dilemma. Facebook has more of my family on it. Twitter is just more honestly what it is - social media with a heavy emphasis on marketing. Facebook has also been more volatile this last year ... or at least it has been from some of my friends and family members.
Sorry about the deleted comment. I was signed into my family gmail account when I stopped by ...

LD Masterson said...

Great group of authors in that anthology. I'm looking forward to your post on the Twitter pitch. So far doing Twitter pitches have gained me nary a nibble.

Michelle Wallace said...

Congrats on the contract, Susan!!
A favorite between Twitter and Facebook? I'm not sure. I seem to be on Twitter much more than FB.


Tamara Narayan said...

Congrats on the new contract--that's great news. I'm not on either of Twitter or Facebook, but intend to learn Twitter by July.

Liesbet said...

Congratulations with the new contract. Unfortunately, I am long not ready to pitch my project yet. Which also means that I do not have a Twitter account (yet). So, Facebook is my favorite, but I don't really want to be involved in more social media right now. It is taking up enough of my precious time. :-)