The Art of Map Making

When researching into world making for fantasy stories I came across a fascinating suggestion from someone online. They said that the best way to make a map was to take your camera out into nature and take close up pictures of tree bark, side walk stains, and various other objects. Then you take a piece of paper and trace your map from the picture that you had taken. The reasoning for this is that if you try to freehand a map (unless you are a talented artist) that you are likely to create something that looks really wrong.

So taking this into heart, my friend Stephanie and I went out on the town several years ago and walked around parks in the Kirkland, WA area to see what we could find. To our amazement the things we identified as making the best pictures for maps was....wait for it.....bird poop!!!! Ta-da!

You may think I'm nuts, but it works. We took two different pictures from our collection of bird poop and sidewalk stains and merged them together. When I tried to print it out on my computer it turned out I only had colored construction paper. So our map for the Nedaran Prophecy remained, for years, a collection of three pieces of various types of paper, stapled together to create one consistent map.

Well, this morning I finally broke down and traced over the colored map as best as I could in order to transfer it onto a white piece of paper. Its not as beautiful as being able to use the dots and pixels from the patterns of poop to show where the forests and mountain ranges are, but you still get the general idea. So for the fun of it, I now show to your the map for the Nedaran Prophecy series (as it currently stands). So my writing tip for everyone this month is to take your camera, and go out to explore nature. See what kind of map you can create from what you find. Who knows, maybe it will just work out for your story. Good Luck!

Conference & Conference

The League of Utah Writers Conference that was held this last weekend was phenomenal. Wonderful speakers, amazing workshops, and the food was fantastic too. I was only able to attend the Saturday afternoon and evening events, but it was still worthwhile. Keep on eye out on this site over the next few weeks as I post what I learned.

I have also heard that the American Fork, Utah Arts Council is sponsoring a Fall Writers Conference the beginning of October include the following authors - Josi Kilpack, John D. Brown, Annette Lyon, LeAnne Tolley and Caleb Warnock. Here is the information if you are interested.

Autumn Conference for Writers Date: Saturday, October 9, 2010
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where: Historic City Hall
Cost: $39.00
For schedule, visit smashingstories.blogspot.com & click on conference link. TO REGISTER, CALL 801-763-3081 or email lori@afcity.net.

Authorpalooza

Several of the authors that I've met in my path to authordom will be at a huge event this Saturday at the Orem, Utah Barnes & Noble. Here's the info:

Event: Authorpalooza
Where: Orem Barnes & Noble
Date: Saturday, Sept 18th
Time: 1-4 pm
Who will be there: 42 authors (see list below)


Allan Bellows (Alien Hands)
Anne Bradshaw (Famous Family Nights)
Aubrey Mace (My Fairy Grandmother & Santa Maybe)
Becky Hall (A is for Arches)
Berin Stephens (The Dragon war Relic)
Brandon Mull (Fablehaven, Pingo, Candy Shop Wars)
Brandon Sanderson (Wheel of Time/Warbreaker, Mistborn)
Camille Funk (Cooking for One)
Cindy Beck (Mormon Mishaps and Mischief)
Dan Wells (I Am Not A Serial Killer)
Dan Willis (The Survivors)
Emily Smith (The Way He Lived)
Frank Cole (Hashbrown Winters)
G.G. Vandagriff (Pieces of Paris & The Last Waltz)
Heather Horrocks (How to Stuff a Wild Zucchini)
Heather Justesen (The Balls in Her Court)
Jessica Day George (Princess of the Glass, DragonSpear)
Jillayne Clements (The Diet Rebel's Cookbook)
John Brown (Servant of a Dark God)
Kim Williams-Justesen (Hey Ranger Books)
Kristen Chandler (Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill)
Kristen Landon (The Limit, Life in the Pit)
Kristyn Crow (Cool Daddy Rat)
Laura Card (Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone)
Lisa Mangum (The Golden Spiral)
Marilyn Bunderson (The Mark)
Mettie Ivie Harrison (The Princess and the Bear)
Nancy Miles (In Good Taste)
Nathan Hale (Rapunzel's Revenge)
Nichole Giles (The Sharp Edge of a Knife)
Rachael Anderson (Luck of the Draw)
Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen (Trapped)
Sharlee Glenn (Just What Mama Needs)
Shawn Bucher (The First Timers Cookbook)
Sherrilyn Pratt (City of Angels)
Stephen Gashler (The Bent Sword)
Sterling Nixon (The Sea Kings of Rome)
Sydney Salter (Swoon at your Own Risk)
Terri Ferran (Life's Alphabet Soup)
Tom McCourt (Last of Robbers Roost Outlaws)
Wendy Paul (101 Gourmet Cupcakes)
Zane Taylor (Lesser Heroes)

Please try and make it to support these amazing people.

Fall Info & Updates

Wow, everyone, I apologize that it has been so long since I posted anything. I have been so involved with prepping stories for contest submissions, having family visit, and a nice old summer cold that won't go away that I allowed time to slip away from. Here is a brief list of suggestions or conferences that you might want to check out:

1) David Farland's Writing Group - Fantasy author David Farland has began an online writing forum for people from across the world to meet, critique, and to learn from each other as we strive to improve ourselves as writers. To check out this fantastic forum please click here: David Farland's Forum

2) League of Utah Writers Annual Fall Conference - If you live in Utah and are an aspiring writer than you might consider attending the fall conference to be held in Salt Lake City September 17 & 18th. For more information and a list of guest author speakers please click here: League of Utah Writers Fall Roundup.

3) Fabulous Reads - Looking for a good book to read? Then I recommend that you check out this website where books are only reviewed if they are loved, adored or are absolutely fabulous. All types and genres of books are reviewed. If you need a great weekend read or something new and different than click here: Fabulous Reads.

I hope everyone continues to seek after their dreams and has a blast doing so.

Contest Finalist

Whohoo!!! I few weeks ago I submitted the first page of the first chapter of the Nedaran Prophecy to the 1st Annual Aboslutely Write First Page Contest. The idea is that it is the first page that determines whether or not an agent will ask for more of your manuscript. Last week I got the fantastic news that we earned 2nd Place for the Adult Fantasy Genre. I am SO excited.

One of the wonderful side effects of entering contests (other then the absolute excitement of placing) is the feedback the judges provide in return. Stephanie and I are now finalizing the latest draft of the book to enter two more contests. I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, keep on writing and seriously consider entering your own work in whatever contests you can find. It is worth it.

Fantastic Blog on Writing

One of the amazing people that I met at the American Fork Writer's Conference was up-and-coming author Natalie Whipple. She gave some fantastic advice on how to write synopsis. If you want to learn a great way how to do that, or to learn some other fantastic writing advice then I would HIGHLY recommend checking out her blog BetweenFactandFiction.

Things I learned at AF Writers Conference

A few weeks ago I attended the American Fork Writers conference. It was fantastic. It was a smaller scaled conference from others that I've gone to in the past, but the information given was still just as pertinent and helpful as all the others. Plus you just couldn't beat the price - $29. Guest authors included Ginger Churchill, Ally (Allison) Condie, Eric James Stone, Shannon Guymon, Natalie Whipple, Sara Larson, Linda Jefferies, and Caleb Warnock. Visiting Editors included Derk Koldewyn of Deseret Book, and Greg Finn of Granite Publishing.

The following is the first installment of what I learned from the various Keynote Speakers:

Ginger Churchill

- 3 Things That I Wish I Knew Before Becoming A Writer

• 1) How to Write
  
  - It is important to learn the ins and outs of writing. Attend classes if necessary and make sure to attend as many conferences as you can so that you can learn from other writers. - It is okay to admit that you are a writer. There is no shame in using your creative abilities to create stories. Be proud of who you are and what you are attempting to do/become.
  
  
• 2) How to Take a Critique
  There are two types of critiques
  • 1) The Cheerleader The cheerleader only focuses on the positives and tells you how wonderful you are. Though it is nice to hear cheerleading critiquing it is almost impossible to find out how to improve your work through it.
  • 2) Slasher/Helper The Slasher/Helper is often harder to hear as it will feel harsh, but take a moment to step back from the writer role and look at their critique from an evaluators role and you should be able to see which of their feedback might help improve the story and which of their feedback you can choose to disregard.
  
  
  - No matter whether you received the Cheerleader or the Slasher/Helper critique maker sure to thank them for taking the time to look at your work and provide feedback. - While they are providing the feedback do not defend your work if you disagree with them. Consider having someone else critique your work and if they come back with the same feedback then you need to step back and admit that there may be a problem with that part of the story.
  
  
• 3) Writing is a Team Effort
  
  • - It's not all about you. When you write you have to make it not about you, but about your readers and what they think, see, and hear when they read your story.
  • - You get out what you put in. So if you want to be published you need to work at being consistent with your efforts to write.

I really enjoyed listening to Ginger speak and am looking forward to checking out some of the picture books she has written for my kids. Keep checking the NedaraTree regularly for the next installment of what I learned from author Ally (Allison) Condie who has written YA Novels for the National as well as LDS markets. Hope you have an awesome day and don't forget...Have faith in what you are doing? You deserve to live the dream and to write the dream.

American Fork Writers Conference

I had an amazing time attending the American Fork Writers Conference this weekend in American Fork, Utah. It has to be one of the most inexpensive writers' conference with the most fantastic information that can help a writer move forward toward their dreams. I will try and post some of the things that I learned during the conference over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, there are a few events that I wanted to pass on the info for.
1) If you missed the AF Writers' Conference this year, then plan on coming to the one next year which will be held on April 16, 2011.

2) If you plan on participating in next year's conference there is also an opportunity to have your work published in anthology that will be sold on next year's conference. The due date for submissions is Aug 1, 2010. There is no submission fee and if your work shows up in the anthology you will get a free copy at next year's conference. Submissions must be no more than 500 words (20 lines if its poetry) and can be fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and novel excerpts. To submit your work or ask for further details regarding the submission guidelines then email submissions@writingindepth.com.

3) If you live in Utah and feel like you could use additional help in your writing, getting help with submissions, and much more the American Fork Arts council is sponsoring a weekly manuscript workshop with Caleb Warnock to be held at the AF Historic City Hall at 31 North Church Street. The class costs $10 each class when you purchase a month at a time, or $15 for a single class. I'm definitely going to start attending and I hope to see you there.

Never give up hope on your writing dreams.

Write-a-thon

The editors that I'm currently working with on book one of the Nedaran Prophecy series are sponsoring a write-a-thon this evening in order to promote people writing. This is a great opportunity for a little added motivation to work on your own stuff. To check out the details and join in the fun (yes, there will be prizes) check out their blog post at WritingOnTheWall.

Even with a husband who will be away this evening, and two kids to get ready for bed, I'm going to do my best as this is a great opportunity to get some writing done. In fact, I may even get the kids ready for bed at four so that I won't have to do it at 8 and just let them play in their pajamas.

I hope that you join in for the Write-a-thon as well. In the meantime, Keep on writing.

Giveaway on my book blog

Hello everyone!

The last book in one of my all-time favorite series, Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, is releasing today. To celebrate this release my friend, Stephanie and I are doing a book giveaway on our blog Fabulous Reads where we are giving away a signed copy of book one in the Fablehaven Series. Please come check out our website and enter to win this giveaway by going to www.fabulousreads.com.

For anyone in the Salt Lake area, Brandon is hosting a huge release party tonight at 6:30 pm. For details check out his website at www.BrandonMull.com. Hope to see you there!

Leap of Faith

Today I took a leap of faith in the book that Stephanie and I are writing. I hired a professional editor to work on our book. Hiring an editor is not cheap, but I'm learning that if you want to give yourself all opportunities of having your book published, then you really need a professional to polish it up for you prior to submitting it to agents and editors. The key is to find an editor that you trust (and which is in your price range). Luckily I had a referral from a friend, plus the opportunity to have a free evaluation done last year. I was so impressed with the seven-page feed back that I got in return, that I chose to continue working with this particular editor. I know that our story is good and is worth publishing, and I will do what it takes to make it shine so that others may see it as well.

So the question you must ask yourself is...Do you believe in yourself and the work you have created? If you do, then you must do everything to support that believe.

Good luck in your writing efforts and DO NOT lose faith in yourself. You can do it!

Local Writing Conferences

I'm learning that a writer can find motivation through writer's conferences at all levels and that you can find a conference almost anywhere. In fact, I was looking at my town newspaper and discovered that even this little town is hosting a writer's conference come April and they are have several nationally published authors on tap to speak and the cost to attend is only $29. So my recommendation this week is to make sure you keep your eyes and ears open and you will be surprised at all the opportunities that there are surrounding you. Please take advanatage of them and you will be amazed how much they help you to become a better writer.

Writing is Joy

I love planning sessions. Last week, Stephanie and I met on the phone and planned out book two of our Nedaran Series. I'm so looking forward to getting to work on it and see how our general outline pans out. I love discovering events, and new twists that beloved characters bring to a story. Writing also is a very enlightening method of discovering yourself and what you are willing to put characters through to make a great story.

Writing is definitely hard work, but one of the most rewarding things I know. If you haven't tried it lately...give it a go.

Brief Update

I apologize for not posting anything for a while. I am expecting to have a baby next week and have been on bed rest for the last several months. Even though it would have been a fantastic time to catch up on all my writing, I'm afraid that I have done very little. However, my co-author and I will be meeting tomorrow to plan out the outline for the remainder of the series we are working on...so hopefully I will have some notes of what I've learned through the process to post sometime within the next month. Good luck to all of you on your writing efforts, and never give up hope...there is sunshine on the horizon and as long as you never lose faith in yourself, then you will reach your writing goals in due course. See you on the flipside.