A Swell Online Conference You Might Enjoy

This is a courtesy post for a fabulous writer's conference that I've attended in the past. Check out the class schedule. A lot of the classes apply to writers in any genre.

THE CATHOLIC WRITERS GUILD ONLINE CONFERENCE

The conference is scheduled for September 20-22, 2019. Cost is $30 for Guild members and $45 for non-members. Registration is open at the Guild's website: https://catholicwritersguild.org/cwco-member-registration or https://catholicwritersguild.org/cwco-non-member-registration.

This faith-focused, professional writing conference is being held completely online through webinars with audio-visual access. Attendees are able to ask questions of the presenters and receive knowledgeable feedback, and there is time between sessions for networking and socializing. The schedule is an immersive two and a half days covering all aspects of writing from idea conception to editing, publishing to marketing. Recordings and reference materials from the presentations will be available free to all conference attendees.

Authors will also be able to meet online with publishing professionals and pitch their finished writing projects. In the past, publishers from large Catholic presses, including Pauline, Ave Maria, and Our Sunday Visitor, as well as secular presses like Anaiah Press and Liberty Island, have participated.

This year's conference lineup is being developed. In the past, topics have covered the nuts and bolts of self-publishing, the importance of faith in writing, and nonfiction and fiction writing skills from characterization to plot, editing tips, marketing how-to and more.

"Each year, we try to get a mix of practical and philosophical - what it means to be a Catholic writer," says Karina Fabian, who has organized the online conferences since its inception in 2008. "We're inviting back some of the favorites of our attendees, who always have great advice and a deeper perspective from the year before. In addition, we're seeking out new presenters in the areas of non-fiction, marketing and publishing."

Guild President Joseph Wetterling says, "The Guild exemplifies the Catholic 'both/and' with writers from every part of the world, in every genre, and from every walk of life. We're diverse in personality and style but united in our loyalty and love of the Catholic faith. Our writers' conferences provide a unique opportunity to come together in fellowship and sharpen each other toward our united mission: a rebirth of Catholic arts and letters."

"Every year we hear back from authors who finished a book, started a project, or got a publishing contract thanks to the Catholic Writers' Conference Online. Plus, people make contacts and good friends. It's a terrific opportunity, especially for those who can't afford to attend a live conference," says Fabian.

This year’s conference is sponsored by Duotrope and First Draft, who are offering deals to attendees. Duotrope offers an extensive, searchable database of current fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual art markets, while Final Draft is the industry standard in screenwriting software. People can learn more about these sponsors and their offerings to conference attendees at https://catholicwritersguild.org/online-conference.

For more information about the Catholic Writers Guild, visit www.catholicwritersguild.org.

Writer Resources for the New Year 2019

If you're like me, your inbox is crammed with emails from sites you signed up for because you thought they just might have information that would help you as an author. Unfortunately for me, the ol' inbox is so inundated that I have to fortify myself with a Xanax before I delve into the swamp. My response as I slog through the pile is usually something like Who is this again? Why did I sign up for this? 

Photo by Robbin Higgins

Authors, who I am certain are very nice people, clamor to tell me about their new releases-sales-free offers. Enthusiastic marketers guarantee that I'll be an Amazon best-seller in a very short time if I only listen to their podcast or live event or sign up for their course.

I'm starting to feel like Grady Tripp from Wonder Boys, the author who just can't stop writing his novel.  As one character advises him,  "It's like you didn't make any choices." (I paraphrased. It makes me want to watch the movie again. It's one of my favorites.)

Well, this year, I'm making choices, and I thought I would share the keepers with you.

Author Marketing Club

You can join them for $97, a one-time, lifetime payment, and access their resources. But they have plenty of free resources, too.

The Creative Penn

Author Joanna Penn has tons of free advice on her website, and her fiction is good as well.

Dana Kaye Publicity

Again, tons of good information about marketing. I've followed her for a while, and my interest was renewed when she held a free seminar for Sisters in Crime members.

Kristin Lamb

Kristen Lamb's blog is like having your own cheerleader--a very blunt, funny, honest cheerleader. I've read both her fiction and nonfiction and enjoyed both.

 Cupcake Training  and  Renae Christine's Youtube Channel . She's a bit goofy (which I love) and she has great advice and free training videos on selling. She is geared toward Etsy, but much of the information can apply to anything your selling. 

La Guardia Cross's Youtube Channel   Because everyone needs to laugh, and the New Father Chronicles are hysterical. It's the clever editing and Cross's personality that puts these videos before all other parent/child humor videos.

Mel's Video of the Day  How else are you going to get inspiration for that book unless you open your mind to all of the wonderful, weird happenings out there?

Jenny Can Cook  Do you remember Jenny Jones? Well, she's back with brown hair and easy recipes that will make your mouth water. We all need to eat.  I also purchased her fiction novel, but I haven't read it yet.

Sisters in Crime  This is a members only site, but they have great resources for writers who join. I belong to the Los Angeles chapter as well as the national chapter. 

Now, if only I can get the unsubscribe button to work, I'll have a clean inbox. :) 

Your Sleuth is an Exorcist???!!!

When I tell people that my new mystery novel, An Unhealthy Attachment, features an exorcist as the protagonist and sleuth, I get one of two reactions. A giggle, or uncomfortable silence.

As for the latter reaction, I get that people might think I'm making light of a very serious business, and others might think I'm dragging out an ancient right better left in the past, but both of these perceptions are wrong. I would never mock this healing rite, and exorcism is a very real and active part of the Church, even today.

I do get a lot of questions, and here are some of the answers.

How do you research an exorcist?  

If you call any diocese and ask to speak to the exorcist, you'll most likely not be connected to a man who answers, "Exorcist here. How can I help you?" There are some who are public about their role, but many are priests who have other duties, such as being pastor to a parish, who step into the role when the need arises. Any priest can do an exorcism with the permission of his bishop, but after my research, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without training.

So, instead of interviews, I listened to many hours of lectures given by exorcists, usually to their fellow priests. There are also a few books out there that deal with the ministry of spiritual oppression, such as Fr. Gabriele Amorth's An Exorcist Explains the Demonic: The Antics of Satan and His Army of Fallen Angels and Unbound: A Practical Guide to Deliverance by Neal Lozano and Francis MacNutt. And, of course, The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist by Matt Baglio.  (The book is much drier than the movie and therefor, in my opinion, better.)

Isn't it a downer to hear so much about Satan? 

The next reaction I get is some level of freak-out, stating that the person would never listen to that stuff because it would be too frightening. 

Not so much. Actually, after many hours of listening to exorcists, the devil became a teensy bit boring.  He's legalistic and not all that creative. Literally. Satan cannot create anything, but he can use what has already been created by God, usually to distort it.  His purpose is to keep you from God, and he will exert the least possible effort to do so. He prefers subtlety to making grand entrances into people's lives. Most of the drama comes from filmmakers and our own active imaginations. But make no mistake. He is there. 

Why did you make your character an exorcist?

Well, why not? Evil comes in many forms, much of the time through our own concupiscence, and that's something we can see the results of every day. That said, there are definite signs that Satan is very active in our world today, and it intrigued me to have a character who could work out where the danger was coming from. Is it simply human nature? Or something more? And what is a mystery other than a battle between good (the sleuth) and evil (the killer)?

Will you show an exorcism?

Never.  

I have too much respect for the Rite, and since I'm not William Peter Blatty, I would just make a mess of it. Also, most of the demonic activity in the world is through other forms of spiritual attack. Possessions are the minority. 

But will your book be funny?

I don't think I could write a novel without humor, because people are funny. The very premise of my mystery has humor - an exorcist who has been taken off his regular duties and sent to teach at an all-girl high school. Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire. Teenagers are scary.  It's a traditional humorous mystery with some supernatural and preternatural elements. 

So, it won't be all horror?

I don't consider any of it horror. If it makes you feel better, fallen angels aren't the only angels in town.

Where can I buy it?

It's available on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, etc. (Barnes and Noble and Scribd are still getting it up), and the paperback is available on Amazon. 

I've also made it and my other books--the digital copies--available from my website at a 20% discount.

A Bloody Habit Book Review

For some time, there has been a craze for books about lusty, sexy vampires that seduce willing females. Books which deftly avoid the point that to snuggle with a vampire is to snuggle with a cold, dead corpse. For those who long to return to the fearsome creatures of Gothic fiction, author Eleanor Bourg Nicholson’s A Bloody Habit takes us back to a time when the undead generated terror.

The story follows the mysterious happenings in the life of fastidious barrister John Kemp, who on a return journey from Budapest meets a humorous little Dominican priest, the Rev. Thomas Edmund Gilroy. John, a social snob, immediately dismisses this Roman priest as an irritant, even after he discovers the man’s occupation is that of vampire slayer. Apparently, the Order of Preachers has a secret sideline.

Once back in London, John’s ordered life begins to unravel through a series of mysterious and tragic events—events that seem to relate to vampires. His dreams are haunted by blood-lusting beasts, and his thoughts stray to the smiling face of Father Gilroy. He dismisses both as the workings of an overactive imagination, as he has been reading a highly recommended novel, Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But as events unfold, John cannot ignore the presence of preternatural forces at work, and he finally realizes the need for supernatural intervention via Father Gilroy and his team.

Each chapter begins with a quote from Dracula, but Nicholson keeps the story from becoming a mere modern retelling with her own twists and red herrings that have the reader guessing about the fate of several characters.

The author’s deft use of sardonic wit, usually pointed at her pompous hero, gives the reader uncomfortable moments of self-recognition as John fails to see his own glaring faults while criticizing those around him. At heart, John is a good man in search of the truth, and this keeps the reader rooting for him, the woman he loves, and a cast of quirky but lovable supporting characters.

Even while Nicholson is having fun placing her characters in increasingly dangerous—and sometimes hilarious—situations, the author never loses sight of the spiritual battle, which includes God’s mercy. This adds an extra layer of suspense to the climax, and the epilogue provides a reminder that evil leaves a residue on those it touches.  

With its perfect combination of humor, horror and suspense, A Bloody Habit is a fun page-turning experience and has left this reader hoping that Nicholson has another tale up her proverbial sleeve.

An Eye for Others: Dorothy Day, Journalist, 1916-1917 - A Book Review

The timing for An Eye for Others: Dorothy Day, 
Journalist 1916-1917 couldn't be better.

On April 19, 2016, the Archdiocese of New York announced a canonical inquiry into Dorothy Day's life. Currently a Servant of God, she is on the next step in the formal process of Sainthood. There are many ordinary people whose names we will never know who lived as saints, but Saint with a capital "S" would lift Dorothy to the role of an acknowledged example of how to live as a disciple of Christ. This inquiry will include a theological examination of her writings with an eye for doctrine and morals, and An Eye for Others is a good place for the curious layperson to start.

The book, written by Tom McDonough, covers Dorothy's articles for The New York Call  and The Masses from 1916-1917. McDonough puts the articles in context by reporting on what Dorothy and New York were going through during the year leading up to World War I, sometimes in Dorothy's own words from her later writings. This gives the reader a unique and personal perspective of an important moment in history. 

A dedicated advocate of the poor, Dorothy lived a bohemian life with a string of lovers, an attempted suicide, and an abortion before she converted to Catholicism. Through her writings, the reader can understand the basis for her attraction to Socialism and similar ideologies as well as the disillusionment that caused her to later abandon them.

For one who is unfamiliar with her writings (and too familiar with the vitriolic rantings of many activists today) one of the most surprising characteristics found in her "voice" is the humor and wit with which she attacks her subject, often through a "Silly me, I should have known better" viewpoint that often borders on comedy. One such example arises out of her time spent on the The Call's Diet Squad, when she tried to live on $5 per week (about $100 in current money) in sympathy with the poor. She despairs of having spent $2.40 on weekly groceries -- $0.58 more than the amount recommended by the Organized Charities:

"You are too extravagant," said the Organized Charities..."You should not eat so much fruit, you should not eat so many potatoes, and you should eat butterine instead of butter...you have been gormandizing as much as four rolls at a time."...

I left the office chastened. Yes, such reckless extravagance must cease.   

              from "Call's Diet Squad is Accused of Gluttony by Experts" by Dorothy Day,  Friday, December 16, 1915

The articles also bring to light some shocking reflections of the time, such as the amount of money the wealthy Astor family spent on their baby, while children all around New York were starving: $75 per day for baby Astor (almost $1,800 by today's standards) as compared to $0.33 per day for the poor.

The poor were struggling to find work and to eat, while controlling corporations focused on price-gouging for profits, especially as the U.S. geared up for war. Dorothy passionately called out the hypocrisy embedded in the responses of politicians and the wealthy.

It was disheartening to find that some things never change. Workers were being left without jobs, having been replaced by machines. Today, those jobs go to computers or overseas. The left was committed to abortion as a solution to the poor, as if eradicating them would make their lives better. Mainstream media channels weren't trusted, though, ironically, it was the left that feared they were controlled by the right. The media's agenda for the most part has flipped from right to left these days, but the root fear that corporations controlled the message remains the same.

In the end, Dorothy realized that the various ideologies that first attracted her were in love with their way of thinking - without any real love for the person.

"I either want to retire from the world and study for the sake of acquiring wisdom or else I want to do something simple and useful."

           from The Eleventh Virgin by Dorothy Day

Fortunately for us, she chose the latter and went on to join forces with Peter Maurin to establish the Catholic Worker Movement, a charity dedicated to the Works of Mercy and the God-given dignity of every human person.

Reading An Eye for Others won't give you a full picture of Dorothy Day's life, but it's a great start to understanding the woman Pope Francis recently praised as an example of "a great American." By the end of the Church's investigation, I think we'll find she was much more than that.  

Looking for Opportunities to Promote Your Book? Author Marilyn Meredith Tells You Where to Look!

F. M. Meredith who is also known as Marilyn Meredith is nearing the number of 40 published books. Besides being an author she is a wife, mother, grandma and great-grandmother. Though the Rocky Bluff she writes about is fictional, she lived for over twenty-years in a similar small beach town. Besides having many law enforcement officers in her family she is counts many as friends. She teaches writing, loves to give presentations to writing and other groups, and is a member of Mystery Writers of America, three chapters of Sisters in Crime and on the board of Public Safety Writers Association. Visit her blog, Marilyn's Musings , website Fiction for You,  and Amazon Author Page. She writes the Rocky Bluff series under F.M. Meredith and the Deputy Tempe Crabtree series under Marilyn Meredith.

Heads Up!  Marilyn is hosting another contest. The person who comments on the most blogs during Marilyn's current blog tour can have a character named after them in the next Rocky Bluff P.D. mystery. Tomorrow you can find Marilyn at Thonie Hevron Mysteries! 

Anyone who follows Marilyn knows that she is always off on another book-signing adventure, so I asked her to share her experience with other writers looking for venues in which to promote their books. 

Marilyn, how do you make all of those connections? 

This is not an easy question to answer. First, I must say I love meeting readers and talking about different facets of writing.

Early on, I felt like bookstore signings were the only way to go—but it didn’t take me long to discover there were so many more places to appear and talk about my books.

I always keep an eye out for book fairs and craft shows. Book fairs are great because the people who come are interested in books. I tend to like the smaller ones where there aren’t so many big names in attendance for obvious reasons. Craft shows are great too. As I’ve grown older, I like the ones best that provide the table and chairs.

Marilyn at the 2015 Jack Ass Mail Run

When I started going to the craft show put on by our local art gallery, I asked if I could give a talk on “How to Get Published” and they were enthusiastic about the idea. I’m thinking of doing another “How to” there.

Library talks are wonderful. Sometimes a library has approached me, other times I’ve asked. Some libraries have special author days—and these are great. Find out what’s going on in the libraries around you.

Speaking to special interest groups like various Sisters in Crime organizations. I belong to three chapters and am always ready to speak on various subjects. Recently I was asked to give a talk to a brand new chapter in a nearby city by a friend on Facebook.

Writers’ groups are always looking for writers to share their expertise on a variety of subjects.

Offering your expertise to writing conferences can also offer you opportunities to speak.

I’ve spoken about writing and my books to many schools, from grade school to college. Usually I’ve been asked by a teacher, but sometime it was initiated by a student.

Last but not least, contact local service and social groups who are always looking for speakers, and always take along a supply of books to sell.

Anyone who has any other ideas, please add them in your comments.

F. M. aka Marilyn Meredith

Thank you, Marilyn. Be sure to visit Marilyn's social media sites, and check out her latest book!

Places you can find Marilyn:  Website:, Blog, Facebook, Twitter

 A Crushing Death

A pile of rocks is found on a dead body beneath the condemned pier, a teacher is accused of molesting a student, the new police chief is threatened by someone she once arrested for attacking women, and Detective Milligan’s teenage daughter has a big problem.

Buy it here!

Casting Color: Getting to the Root of Diversity in Film

I thought Chris Rock did a great job at the Oscars. He addressed the controversy about black representation in movies from both sides and brought humor to the issue as well. Humor makes truth go down so much easier!

Years ago, I took a screenwriting class, and the teacher stressed writing diverse characters into the script. While this may mean changes to the dialogue to account for accents and slang, it really comes down to the character descriptions. 

And I remember resenting this. Not because I didn't want people of various races in my stories should I have the good fortune to see my story on the screen but because I think that throwing in descriptions of someone with an Afro or dark skin at random is condescending. I have written a variety of ethnic characters, but it was because I saw certain people in those roles. When I write, when most people write, they have themselves and people they are familiar with in mind, whether it be Aunt Jane or the guy who checks them out at the grocery store. 

I know it sounds as if I am passing the buck, but I think that diversity in films falls squarely on the shoulders of casting directors. 

Casting directors have my admiration, because they can take a guy or girl who comes in to audition, someone wearing a sweatshirt or t-shirt or dress or shorts, and can envision them in the role with makeup and costume. It's a huge, creative talent. 

If I write a doctor, I want the casting director to cast the best actor for the role regardless of color or gender (unless color or gender are a necessary part of the story.) The character doesn't have to be an inner city doctor to be portrayed by a black actor. In the following examples, I can't say what the original scripts called for. Maybe they specifically described the characters as they were cast, but my point is that regardless of the description in the script, the casting director (with leeway from the powers that be) can go beyond stereotypes and simply find good actors who can play the roles.

I'm a huge fan of Firefly, which was kind of a space cowboy television show. The captain of the ship, played by Nathan Fillian, had a second in command who was a trusted fellow soldier in the last war. They cast a woman and a Cuban American, Gina Torres, in the role of Zoe. And when they turned the series into the movie Serenity, The Operative, a James Bond-style government man who tracks them throughout the film, was played by the gifted Chiwetel Ejiofor. The casting of these two actors was the result of casting directors who didn't have barriers up when they looked for talent who could play the roles better than anyone else. And these actors excelled.  

In the movie Prometheus, the ship needed a captain, not a black captain. Enter actor Idris Elba.

British television seems to get this better than we do. They use actors of color without the need to make an excuse for the actor's color. People are people.  Elba starred for several years as Luther. The character's description is "a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can't always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions." Are genius and passion limited to one particular race? No. Bring on the actor that can play the role.

In Dr. Who, Rose (white and blond) had a boyfriend, and I'm willing to bet  his character description wasn't "dark-skinned". They needed a good-looking actor who could do comedy and drama and gave us Mickey, played by actor Noel Clarke. And they didn't make an issue over the racial differences.

If they ever turned my book, Civility Rules into a movie? Edward and Nicholas would need passably athletic physiques and dark good looks. (And I'd like Edward to keep his goatee.) What do you think of Idris Elba as Edward and Isaiah Mustafa as his younger brother, Nicholas? Works for me.

 


I also love that British actors can look like people, not models, but I'll save that for another post.