IWSG: June 2026 Version

 Welcome to the first Wednesday blogging group, IWSG. Thank you to our founder, Alex J. Cavanaugh, and all the IWSG admins. Find the list of participating blogs here and prepare to share all your insecurities and advice with the rest of us.

First apologies for missing last month. I was buried under Pennwriters Conference Work. On the good side, we had an amazing, wonderful conference with nearly 200 in attendance. Our Keynote speakers inspired and dazzled and at the same time were so approachable and generous with their time. Chuck Wendig is as entertaining in person as he is on his blog, Terrible Minds. Visit it if you have a chance. He has some strong opinions on AI. If you love horror and thrillers, you will really enjoy his book. Maria V. Snyder, one of Pennwriters own, has had a long career in both traditional and more recently, self-publishing. I have many of her fantasy novels on my shelves. Pennwriters' president, Dan Arndt, gifted me and my friend and coordinator partner, Leslie Tobin Smeltz, with the gift of handmade wizards. We were very grateful.

This month's optional question: Do most of your story ideas come from one place (the news, dreams, etc.) or do they hit from all over the place?

I've never had a story idea from a dream. I can't even tell you where they come from. I only know that I have more ideas than I have time to write. I wish I could write faster but I'll keep plodding along.

I am submitting my most recent novel to a publisher I pitched to at the conference. Here's hoping. I'm busy on book #2 of that series.

I found Greenland 2 disappointing. I didn't see the Mandolorian and Grogu in the theater, but I plan to see it sometime. I have some series recommendations from my children, but I haven't gotten into any of them. I did hear Enola Holmes 3 is coming July 1st. The creator of the series, Nancy Springer, is a long-time Pennwriter and I consider her a friend.

In the meantime, I caught up on my crocheting and am back to a walking/jogging routine. The finally warmer weather inspires me. I have a new jigsaw puzzle spread out on my puzzle table. Life is good.

Where do your story ideas come from? What projects are keeping you busy?

IWSG: July 2026

 

Hello writerly friends. The year is half over already! Yikes. I want to thank the founder of IWSG, Alex J. Cavanaugh and all the admins who make this group the best place to share and work through your insecurities. Find the entire list here.

This month's optional question:

Is there a genre you haven't tried writing in yet that you really want to try? If so, do you plan on trying it?

Excellent question. I really, really intend to dabble in poetry. I have a book and so many scraps of paper. But it never seems like I have to time to really put my mind to it. I will. Someday, I will.

My writing time now is all going toward the second draft of my current WIP. The name of the series and the books revealed themselves also. Not sure about the series name.

I've been good on my exercising. 10,000 steps on most days except when it rains, which unfortunately, is pretty often. I don't mind the heat dome, but rain keeps me inside. 

I'm also promoting the Chocolatetown Bookfest coming in October. It's the first year I've managed to secure a spot. Registration opens and fills up within two hours. It's crazy. 

I'm also busy planning the 2026 Pennwriters Annual Conference. We're extremely excited to have Chuck Wendig and Maria V. Snyder as our keynotes. We'll be in Lancaster, PA, next May. This month, we'll be settling the menu and collecting workshop proposals.

I enjoyed Dept Q on Netflix. The Accountant 2 was okay. Lots of funny stuff mixed in with the brutality. The Old Guard do is coming soon. I hope it's as good as the first one.

What genre do you want to try out? Are you okay in the summer heat? If it's summer where you are, that is. Anything entertaining you on the small or big screen?

Maria V. Snyder, Author and Instructor

As I start writing the first book in my third YA series, I'm constantly referring to the notes I've taken at Maria's workshops. I've been fortunate enough to hear her speak a number of times and most recently saw her at the Pennwriters Conference in May.

Maria V. Snyder is not only a well-known successful novelist, she’s an excellent educator and presenter. I’ve heard Maria’s presentations before at my local RWA’s meeting. She’s very generous with sharing her expertise. You can visit her website and find links to outlines of her workshops.


Maria’s two bestseller series are the ‘Study Books’ which were first released as fantasy and have now been promoted as YA fantasy. The ‘Glass Books’ are her second series and came out as YA fantasy and are set in the same world at her ‘Study’ series. Her newest release, Inside Out, is a futuristic YA novel. All her books have some things in common.

First is her intricate but not overly complex world building. In her fantasy novels there is of course magic in her worlds and many things unlike from our world but not so radically different to be confusing. Maria gives a list of dozens of questions that you must ask yourself about your fantasy world before you write it. Animals, weather, education, medicines, government, physical features, clothing and add to those how magic works and how it affects the world and the story. Then you must decide how you’ll introduce all the answers to those questions in your novel. Of course you don’t want to commit the sin of info-dump in the first chapter but you need to work it all in so the novel makes sense to the reader.

A few other tidbits Maria passed along had to do with language in your created world. She emphasizes readers don’t like to be confused so don’t make up a lot of new words. Call chocolate, chocolate. Avoid unpronounceable names for people, places or objects.

The other part of Maria’s presentation at the Pennwriters Conference was her ‘Show vs Tell’ presentation. You can read some of the examples she gives on her website. She also rolled a lesson about writing in scenes as part of this session. She explained scenes as mini-novels that must have a beginning, a middle and an end. They must start with a hook to engage the reader so they want to keep reading. If you’ve read her novels you know she does this very well because it’s very difficult to put any of her books down.

Maria also shared some scenes from her books to demonstrate how to use all the senses in a scene to draw the reader into the fantasy. Don’t rely alone on sight and sound but use smell, tastes and textures to give the created images more depth.

If you ever have a chance to hear Maria speak, you’ll walk away with at least one if not dozens of new ideas and thoughts on how to improve your writing. Visit her website to learn even more.

Have you ever read a novel with exceptional world building? Have you ever put a novel down because the names or worlds were so confusing?

Great Gobs of Writers

I promised a report on the Pennwriters Conference and here is a small piece of it. Throughout the next few weeks I'll be blogging about some of the helpful information I inhaled and about the various writers and other publishing professionals I spoke with, listened to and even pitched to.

Jennifer Jackson gave some great tips on queries and how to select an agent. Nate Hardy, Pennwriter extraordinaire, shared his hints for promotion and getting your name out there. Agent Jenny Bent spoke to us about contracts and I think I can quote her here, 'it so complicated.' Agent Alex Glass defined the differences between commercial and literary fiction. Editor David Pomerico talked about the fantasy and scifi market. I can't wait to speak about that one. Agent Janet Reid had us all laughing and gave us many reasons to use social media and make it work for us. Maria V. Snyder instructed us on 'show not tell.' She is teacher of the year in my opinion.

I have pages and pages of notes to share with you. I'm not even sure where to start but I'll figure it out.

On a more personal note, I met many writer friends I only knew from blogs or loops face to face for the first time. One of them, Jon Sprunk, will visit my blog in early June to promote the release of his first book, Shadow's Son. I can't wait to read it. I love his cover art.

As I've recommended in the past, Pennwriter's Conference is the best buy for the money anywhere in the USA. Join us next year.

Is there a particular author you would go to a conference just to meet and hear speak? This year we were blessed with the generous, entertaining presence of James Rollins. I'll have to do an entire blog on him as soon as I read his YA novel. Stay tuned.