Tara of Tara Sparling writes is an established writer and award-winning blogger from Ireland.
From her About pages:
Tara writes fiction and screenplays. Originally from the west of Ireland, she now lives in Dublin. She spends all of her spare time with words. The writing of them and the reading of them…
…This blog offers a reader’s perspective on traditional and indie/self-publishing, book sales and genre trends, writing and publishing follies, marketing tips, author success stories and spectacular failures.
Tara raises an excellent point in this post from June, a topic I have also blogged about. Check it out:
The Launch included an introduction and bio, a short author reading of an excerpt from Calmer Girls, question period, and sale and signing of books.
I wish to bestow a huge thank-you to everyone who took time out of their Saturday to attend. It meant the world to me. Several of you even drove from out of town to be there, and for that I am forever grateful. ❤
I also wish to thank Jewel S. Cousens, B.A., M.L.S., NL Librarian with the A.C. Hunter Public Library, Arts & Culture Centre, for all of her valuable assistance, as well as her insight and suggestions for future promotions. Ms. Cousens was happy to tell us that interest in Newfoundland and Labrador books has grown in recent years and continues to grow.
Special appreciation to my husband and family for everything you did to make this past weekend one I will never forget.
I hope you enjoy the photos and the slide show I’ve shared below.
Reading Intent Listeners 🙂Answering QuestionsSigning BooksCatching up after the Launch with a Scotiabank bud!
Pamela Wight is one of the many authors I follow here on WordPress. She writes the blog, Rough Wighting: “Life in a flash – a weekly blog on daily living.”
I enjoy her stories and her engaging writing style.
In Pam’s own words:
“I write because I love the written word…This blog shares that love. Parts of it contain fast flashes of life that I write for the total joy of it.
My last name is Wight, and I teach creative writing for fun – calling it Rough Writing. My students have renamed my class ROUGH WIGHTING, and I think that’s just perfect.”
I chose the following post from her blog because of how it highlights her grandchild’s wisdom and keen observation of people and the world around her. Plus, it’s funny!
Author Dylan Hearn at Suffolk Scribblings has written two books and is working on his third.
In his own words:
My name is Dylan Hearn and I am an author. It has taken me a while to admit this. I started this blog because I wanted to write, so I wrote about many different things, but over time the blog has become focused on the act of writing and self-publishing....I limit myself to spending only one hour on each post, plus a bit of extra time for editing, because I prefer to concentrate on writing my fiction. However, this does mean you may find the odd typo or grammatical error. I blame my fingers.”
The post I have chosen delivers great insight into the experience of writing a second novel.
Carrie Rubin is a pediatrician who also happens to be the author of an award-winning medical thriller I recently enjoyed. Besides that, she is a blogger with a fine sense of humour. I follow her blog, The Write Transition, and she keeps me smiling over on Twitter as well.
From her About Page:
“Physician, public health advocate, writer. I believe every experience is worthwhile, even if our paths deviate from where we started.
I am the author of The Seneca Scourge, a medical thriller. This blog chronicles my transition into the writing world, all with a dose of humor, because to me laughter is one of life’s necessities.”
Have a look at this recent post of Carrie’s, especially if you are guilty of using, ahem, big words:
Allow me to set the scene. It was late at night, exactly a month ago yesterday. Paul and I arrived home from dinner and a fun evening at our friends’ house, and as we usually do, sat down to watch a little TV before going to bed. Yawning, I opened my iPad and absently checked Facebook, then my email.
And there it was:
a contract offer from a publisher for my coming-of-age novel, Calmer Girls.
I sat there, staring at the screen, stunned for a moment.
Wha-a-a?
I had queried this publisher with a partial months ago. Subsequently, they had expressed an interest, requesting the full manuscript for review. This occurred with another publisher a while back, who ultimately passed on it. As more months flew by, the cautious hope I had held dwindled, and not being the most patient gal, I assumed they were going to reject it as well.
But they didn’t.
Yes! It’s happening. They actually like my book!
I received the contract. After giving it due diligence and negotiating several changes that were important to me, I signed.
My dream was coming true.
Yay!!!
My new publisher is an independent, traditional press, and I’m already getting great vibes from them. They are an enthusiastic team, and they seem to be very dedicated to bringing my work to life.
Colour me superstitious, but I would like to keep all other details under wraps for the time being, until I am further along in the process. But I will reveal now that it is a two-book deal: they want first rights to the sequel as well. 🙂
So I am looking ahead to a busy future. While I begin work at the end of the month with my new editor on any revisions or tweaks for the first book, I will also be working on my own to tackle edits on the second. After that, there will be cover artwork and design, and the development and launch of my new author website.
To my fellow writers: have you been contracted by a publishing company yet?
How did you feel when you got the news?
Or have you gone the self-pub route instead?
Has Friday the 13th ever turned out lucky for you?
Please share your experience with me and my readers.
Jennifer's Journal 