Covering All the Bases

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

I couldn’t help chuckling as I read this story about a little boy’s baseball practice.

A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strode through his backyard, baseball cap in place and toting ball and bat. “I’m the greatest baseball player in the world,” he said proudly. Then he tossed the ball in the air, swung and missed.

Undaunted, he picked up the ball, threw it into the air and said to himself, “I’m the greatest baseball player ever!” He swung at the ball again, and again he missed.

He paused a moment to examine bat and ball carefully. Then once again he threw the ball into the air and said, “I’m the greatest baseball player who ever lived.” He swung the bat hard and again missed the ball.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “What a pitcher!”

Source: Chicken Soup for the Soul, 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Kindle the Spirit, Page 74

Book Blast: Audition

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome New York Times bestselling author Skye Warren. Today, Skye shares Audition, Book 4 of the North Security Series.

Blurb

Blood and sweat. Bethany Lewis danced her way out of poverty. She’s a world class athlete… with a debt to pay.

Joshua North always gets what he wants. And the mercenary wants Bethany in his bed. He wants her beautiful little body bent to his will.

She doesn’t surrender to his kiss.
He doesn’t back down from a challenge.
It’s going to be a sensual fight… to the death.

Excerpt

Blinding lights. Aching lungs. Thunderous applause. The final show concludes the same way we rehearsed for months, the same way we performed for weeks. My muscles know the movements better than they understand rest. The prospect of after, of what comes next, makes my breath catch. Even as the primas take their bows, relief echoes around the stage. Vacations are planned. Relief for strained muscles. Everyone needs a break, even professional athletes. I’m the only one onstage dreading it.

We bow and curtesy with practiced grace. The curtain descends to the floor. Almost to the second we break formation—a flock of crows startled from the woods. The more exuberant among us, the young ones, the new ones, the ones using steroids, prance and jete toward the dressing rooms. Most of us limp our way out. One hundred percent of NFL players are injured every season. Professional dancing is the same. We hurl our bodies through the air, forcing massive impact through tired joints night after night. I catch my friend Marlena in my arms. Her face is white with pain.

“Ice,” she says. “Or better yet—tequila.”

I push my shoulder under hers as we exit the stage. “Don’t sell yourself short. You can have both.”

A delicate snort. “Not likely. We have to smile and flirt with the old men with big, fat wallets. And for what? I won’t be here next season. You won’t be, either.”

The reminder clangs inside me like a copper bell. I won’t be coming to the New York City Ballet after the break. We fall into our creaky chairs in the dressing room. “Are you going to miss it?”

“Miss it? Of course I’ll miss it.” Marlena turned twenty-eight last month. It’s comfortably retirement age for a dancer. “When the little children do their terrible pirouettes, when they sneeze and throw up and cry all over my leotard, I’ll think fondly of the beautiful art I left behind. Then I’ll be able to walk home. That won’t happen if I try to dance another season.”

“You’ll make a wonderful teacher. You know you were mine.” She didn’t teach me to dance. It was my first love, before I learned to flip and contort myself. Before I ever leapt from a trapeze bar.

Marlena taught me the ropes of the ballet company when I joined two years ago. Most of them thought I wouldn’t last a week. Some of them didn’t want me to. It’s a rigid world, the hierarchy stacked with graduates of Juilliard or the John Cranko school.

I don’t have a pedigree.

All I have is a body that does what it must, no matter how much it hurts.

Which means changing out of my sweaty leotard into a fresh one. We’re contractually obligated to attend the ball. Like Marlena said, we should smile and flirt with the high society people who attend. Both the male and female dancers have to do it. It’s what convinces the sponsors to write checks that will fund the next season. By the time they’re rehearsing The Nutcracker I’ll be in New Orleans, the place I swore I’d never return.

Buy Links

Amazon | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble

Author Bio

Skye Warren is the New York Times bestselling author of dangerous romance. Her books have sold over one million copies. She makes her home in Texas with her loving family, sweet dogs, and evil cat.

Website – http://www.skyewarren.com

Giveaway

Skye Warren will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Skye on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Movie Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Tom Hanks delivers a stellar performance as Mister Rogers, the popular children’s television host and America’s most beloved neighbor. Hanks nails the details from the bushy eyebrows and flat silver hair to the red cardigan to the folksy singsong voice. Even the ties that Hanks wears once belonged to Fred Rogers (they were donated by his widow).

The movie was filmed in the same Pittsburgh studio where Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood was shot, using some of the same crew and cameras.

For almost two hours, I was transported to a kinder, gentler time: pre-9/1l and one year before the Columbine Massacre. Inspired by a magazine article published in 1998, the film explores the friendship between Fred Rogers and cynical journalist Lloyd Vogel (well played by Matthew Rhys). Note: Lloyd Vogel is a fictionalized version of real-life journalist Tom Junod.

Assigned to write a brief (400-word) profile of an American hero by his hard-nosed editor (Christine Lahti), Vogel chafes at the task but grudgingly agrees to interview Mister Rogers. What should have been a quick, 20-minute interview evolves into an intense relationship between the two men. As Vogel spends more time with Mister Rogers, he starts opening up about his personal and family challenges.

While this film isn’t a Fred Rogers biopic, it does reveal the essence of the entertainer. We learn that he had a temper and dealt with anger by reading scripture, swimming, and pounding on the bass register of the piano. His adult sons gave him plenty of grief during their adolescent years.

When Vogel asks Joanne Rogers (Maryann Plunkett) how it feels to live with a saint, she immediately dispels that notion. But there is an authenticity and genuine interest in the lives of other people, especially those who are broken.

In a recent interview, Director Marielle Heller commented, “There’s a reason that everyone feels so connected to him…Some collective consciousness thing where we all want Mister Rogers in our lives right now, myself included.”

A must-see film!


In Praise of Series Bibles

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I never intended to write a series.

Fifteen years ago, I couldn’t imagine anything beyond a novella, possibly a novel, about the following What-If scenario that had invaded my daily thoughts:

What if a teacher-turned-lottery winner returns to her hometown, only to find herself the primary suspect in the murders of four blondes? Can she prove her innocence and solve this case before it’s too late?

I even had a title—A Season for Killing Blondes—for what I thought would be my one and only foray into the world of publishing.

All that changed once the book was accepted and published by The Wild Rose Press. My editor, writer friends, and readers asked about the next book in the series.

Continue reading on the Sisterhood of Suspense blog.

Try Something Different

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Last week, I reread some of the stories in the first book of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series (1993).

Here’s one of my favorites from Price Pritchett:

I’m sitting in a quiet room at the Milcroft Inn, a peaceful little place hidden among the pine trees about an hour out of Toronto. It’s just past noon, late July, and I’m listening to the desperate sounds of a life-or-death struggle going on a few feet away.

There’s a small fly burning out the last of its short life energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the fly’s strategy: Try harder.

But it’s not working.

The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw effort and determination.

This fly is doomed. It will die there on the window-sill.

Across the room, ten steps away, the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It could be so easy.

Why doesn’t the fly try another approach, something dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the idea that this particular route and determined effort offer the most promise for success? What logic is there in continuing until death to see a breakthrough with more of the same?

No doubt this approach makes sense to the fly. Regrettably, it’s an idea that will kill.

Price Pritchett’s Advice: Sometimes we need to do something radically different to achieve greater levels of success. We need to break out of our paradigm prisons, our habit patterns, and our comfort zones.

Source: Chicken Soup for the Soul, 101 Stories to Open the Heart and Kindle the Spirit, pp. 222-223

10 Things I Have Learned from Being an Athlete

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome paralympian, speaker, author, and disability advocate Tricia Downing. Today, Tricia shares ten lessons learned from sports and her new release, Chance for Rain.

Aside from looking for love, my character Rainey Abbott, spends her time split between the ski slopes and the race track, chasing her athletic and competitive goals. One of the reasons I wrote Rainey as an athlete is because sports have been such a great part of my life, teaching me about overcoming obstacles and staying in the game even when things get tough. Sport has taught me:

1. The quicker you forgive yourself (and your mistakes), the quicker you get back in the game. How often have you beaten yourself up for making a mistake, not accomplishing a goal or doing something that you later thought to yourself, “Well, that was a dumb thing I said/did?” I think one of the greatest keys to success is to acknowledge a mistake (“yeah, THAT happened”), let it go (this is the hard one, because most of us tend to continually roll mistakes over in our minds), set a new course and refocus on the goal. The faster you can cycle through those steps, the faster you will get back on track.

2. You have to feel like a winner, even before you get to the start line. I have been an athlete nearly my whole life and I can tell you about the races I won or did well, and how the key was going to the start line believing that anything was possible. I can also name the events I went to doubting my preparation, my abilities or fearing my competition. Guess what? Those were the events that ended poorly. We are only as good as we believe ourselves to be.

3. Saying the word TRY is like having one foot on the track and one foot off. How many times have you said, or heard someone say they were going to “try” to do something? Once that word slips from between your lips, it builds in an automatic loophole…one through which you can escape to save face in case you don’t make it. Most of the time when we are worried about failing it’s not even about us. We wouldn’t be as afraid of failing if it weren’t for what we thought other people would think about us. Sports have taught me that whatever you’re going after, you have to own it to get it.

4. Keeping a journal is one of the best ways to help you achieve a goal. Here’s where athletes and writers definitely have something in common. Whether it’s writing down my workouts, my successes or things I need to work on, my journal keeps me focused on what I am doing and working to accomplish. The same goes with writing. You can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment when you go back and see all that you have written and the ability to get words on paper. To everyone who says, “I could never write a book!” I say, you just have to sit down and start.

5. To Ride My Own Race. I think this is one of the most important lessons I have ever learned. A fellow racer once said it to me, and I’ll never forget. There are so many things we don’t have control over. We spend time comparing ourselves to other people on social media, trying to be someone else, not thinking we’re good enough. But each one of us is on Earth experiencing our own journey and the most important thing we can do is honor OUR UNIQUE path and let it unfold. You can’t ride someone’s else’s race…only your own.

6. To take control. Resistance is typically due to fear. But if you’ve outlined your stretch goal, reverse engineered it and know where you’re headed, it’s time to take action. Think of a challenge you’re facing or a goal you have. What bold steps would you take if you knew you couldn’t fail?

7. To Be kind to myself. Have you ever listened to the voices in your head that tell you, you aren’t good enough? That you don’t have the talent to be a writer, a musician, a doctor, an engineer? Those words that we say to ourselves are often exactly what we get in the end. As an athlete I haven’t perfected the never-talk-negatively-to-yourself habit, but I am highly aware of it and when those bad thoughts seep in, I work to chase them out as quickly as they surfaced.

8. Consistency is a must. Whenever you want to be good at something or see the fruits of your labor, it takes discipline and regular attention. As an athlete, I know that if I don’t practice regularly my results mimick the effort I have put in. Same thing goes for writing. It’s all about practice, practice, practice.

9. Work hard, do a little more every day, stay patient and don’t give up! I think this lesson explains itself!

10. When things get difficult, take off the dark lenses and try looking through some rose colored glasses. How do you do this? Here are a few suggestions: 1) As my Grandmother would say, “always count your blessings,” 2) Let yourself dream. Get out of your head or your body for a little while and think about the possible positive outcomes to your situation. Start by saying, “What if…” 3) Create a power statement that you can say to yourself every time things get tough for you. For example, “I am strong, able and nothing can get me down,” or “I am on an adventure, and will embrace the uncertainty because good things are going to happen.”

Blurb

Elite athlete Rainey Abbott is an intense competitor on the outside, but inside, she feels a daunting apprehension about her chances of finding true love. Her life as a downhill skier and race car driver keeps her on the edge, but her love life is stuck in neutral. A tragedy from her past has left her feeling insecure and unlovable.

Now that she’s in her thirties, Rainey’s best friend Natalie insists she take a leap and try online dating. Rainey connects with brian85 and becomes cautiously hopeful as a natural attraction grows between them. Fearful a face to face meeting could ruin the magic, Rainey enlists Natalie to scheme up an encounter between the two where Brian is unaware he is meeting his online mystery woman. Rainey is left feeling both guilty about the deception and disappointed by something Brian says.

When they finally meet in earnest, Rainey’s insecurities threaten to derail the blossoming romance. As she struggles with self-acceptance, she reveals the risks we all must take to have a chance for love.

Excerpt

“Sometimes going shopping is work,” Natalie announces as we head back to her house after a morning at the mall. “You can’t be creative when you’ve been jammed up in an office for five hours. You have to get out for new ideas to come to you.”

“I love how you can rationalize almost any of life’s indulgences,” I say. Nat turns and winks in response to my playful smirk.

“Life is too short to deny yourself all self-indulgent behavior.” The words hang in the air slightly, as we both know it was an off-handed comment, but our minds go immediately back to the event that reinforces her words.

“Yes, life is short.” I say this in a way that reassures her that her comment was taken in the spirit it was said, rather than meant to dredge up bad memories. Though I can’t help but elaborate on the subject. “Do you realize I’m only six years shy of my mom’s age at the time of the accident?”

“Yep,” Nat answers a bit too quickly. “I do. And I also realize something else. Your mom was thirty-eight, married to the love of her life and had two charming young girls.” I quickly realize I have given her the perfect segue into a lecture that has been constructed, rehearsed, and delivered to me many times in many different iterations over the past ten years. Now, as if she is attempting an intervention while we drive down Colorado Boulevard, Natalie blurts out, “Rainey, it’s about time we found you a man.”

“Why? Are you getting tired of hanging out with me?”

“It’s not that,” she says. “It’s just. That. It’s time,” the words spit out of her mouth. It’s obvious she wants to punctuate her points. “You can’t keep running away from it. You’re an incredible catch—beautiful and charming to be around. Athletic. Everything most girls would die to be.”

I know she is keenly aware of my resistance, but I get the feeling she isn’t going to fall for it today. But I also can’t ignore my feelings or my truth.

Buy Links

Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Author Bio and Links

Steve and Trish

Paralympian, Speaker, Author, Disability Advocate

On September 17, 2000, Tricia Downing went from being a competitive cyclist to a paraplegic requiring a wheelchair for mobility. Her life was changed forever, but Tricia’s competitive spirit and zest for life continued on. Making the transition from able-bodied cyclist to an athlete with a disability, Tricia has completed over 100 races, including marathons and triathlons, since her accident. She was the first female paraplegic to complete an Ironman triathlon and qualified for the Hawaii Ironman World Championship twice. Additionally, she was a member of Team USA at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tricia’s professional life has been immersed in sports as she earned a master’s degree in Sport Management in 1995 and worked at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. She was the press officer for the USA Table Tennis team at the 1996 Olympic Games.

She has received many sports accolades, including the USA Triathlon Physically Challenged Athlete of the Year (2003), Sportswomen of Colorado—Inspiration (’03), Triathlon (’05), Hall of Fame (’12) Awards, the 2006 Most Inspirational Athlete from the Challenged Athletes Foundation and the 2008 Courage Award from the Tempe Sports Authority.

As a community leader and disability advocate, she was a member of the 2013 class of the Girl Scouts Women of Distinction. She also received the 2019 Inspiration Award from Craig Hospital for outstanding community contribution from a Craig Hospital “graduate.” (Craig is a world-renowned spinal cord and brain injury rehabilitation hospital) Tricia has truly excelled despite her life-altering injury.

In addition to her sports pursuits, Tricia has taken an active leadership role in her community as a peer mentor to others experiencing spinal cord injuries, she founded Camp Discovery (and subsequently The Cycle of Hope non-profit) dedicating 10 years to helping female wheelchair users gain confidence and self-esteem through a yearly sports and fitness retreat. Additionally, she serves on the board of USA Shooting, which is the National Governing Body for the Olympic sport of shooting.

Tricia published her memoir: Cycle of Hope—A Journey from Paralysis to Possibility in June 2010, with the second edition released in January 2017. In August of 2018, she published her first fiction novel Chance for Rain.

Website | Facebook | Twitter| LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram | Pinterest

Giveaway

Tricia Downing will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Tricia on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

A Forty-Year Dream Come True

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome multi-published author Jodi Rath. Today, Jodi shares her writing journey and the books in The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series.

Here’s Jodi!

In 1978, I was a five-year-old child who took my mom’s old magazines into my playroom and played magazine. I know it’s a very creative title for the company! I’m an only child, so my stuffed animals and my dolls served as my employees. You have to understand that I had no clue what it meant to run a magazine. My mom watched the re-runs of Mary Tyler Moore Show, and although I know now it was about the news—I used to watch the show with my mom while she would flip through magazines. I liked to tear up her magazines and then put them back together in different forms and use red markers through things.

My mom read to me all the time as a kid. As I grew older, I was always reading. In fifth grade, we went to a local fair, and I signed up to win a set of encyclopedias! I won the full set of World Book Encyclopedias. We bought a bookshelf just for those. I used to close my eyes and pick one—then do the same to pick a topic in the book. I’d read about the topic, take notes, and write a story about the topic. This was for fun.

In ninth grade, I used to go to the library at my school, and I found a poetry book by Langston Hughes. I sat and read some his work. From there, I began exploring more poetry. It got to the point where I was checking out as many books as the librarian would allow me to check out. In high school, during the summer months when other kids were hanging by the pool or at the mall I could be found in the basement of my house or in my room reading Sweet Valley High or poetry or any books you can imagine.

I played sports and had friends, but I was one of those kids who had one or two good friends. I never cared about being in a group or having a lot of friends. I played volleyball and basketball from fifth grade through my senior year, but for me, it was showing up and doing it and being a team on the court. I felt no need to know anyone beyond the court.

As a college student, I was the same way. I’d go to class—I was an English Literature major—do the work and go home and devour the books and write the papers. It was fun for me. As a professional adult, I’ve bounced from insurance jobs to advertising/marketing jobs, to VP of a credit union, to education for the last twenty years. I never changed. I was the person who showed up at work—did the work, and during lunches and breaks, I found a place to be alone and read and write.

Working in education drained me because I cared about my students so much. One of the reasons I read and wrote so much as a kid is to escape. There were some abusive issues with my biological father that continued well into my adulthood with my first husband. My step-dad was a blessing in disguise, but I lost him to prostate cancer. So, it was important for me to work with teens to help them understand that even though things can be bad, life can get better. If there are people in your life that don’t treat you well, it doesn’t mean that good people don’t exist.

This entire period of my life, I always wanted to be a full-time writer. Once I became an educator—I really wanted to combine education and writing. So, in February 2018, I started a business MYS ED LLC (Mystery and Education). I teach online working with teachers; I write for educational affiliations, blogs, and publishers on deadline and work with teachers to help them write about their experiences, AND I write The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series—a cozy culinary series. So, at age forty-five, I’ve finally got to make my dream come true.

What’s even BETTER is that recently, I’ve partnered with The National MS Society and True Colors United with the cozy mystery series. A percentage of my profits for the mystery series will go to both organizations to help those that navigate MS and to help LGBTQ homeless youth.

Since the business began, I’ve written numerous educational information and wrote three books in The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series: Pineapple Upside Down Murder is book one; Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Murder is book two; Turkey Basted to Death is book 2.5 A Holiday Book, and in 2020 there are four more books coming in the series.

So, if you’d like to get something for yourself to entertain you WHILE giving to two great organizations, then buy some of the books and enjoy it! Pass on the news—the more I sell, the more I give!

Blurb for Pineapple Upside Down Murder Blurb

Welcome to Leavensport, Ohio where DEATH takes a delicious turn!

Introducing Jolie Tucker, the introverted yet passionate restaurant co-owner of Cast Iron Creations. When her grandma Opal becomes the prime suspect in the murder of Leavensport’s local chocolatier, Jolie goes on a search for answers—only to find out that her family’s secret recipes may not belong to the Tucker family at all. Jolie’s job, family, and livelihood are all on the line.

buynow

Blurb for Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread Murder

Welcome to Leavensport, Ohio where DEATH takes a delicious turn!

Financial fraud of elderly villagers in Leavensport, an urban sprawl threat to the community, disastrous dates, cross-sell marketing gone wrong, and another murder? Jolie Tucker is ready to try dating again. Well, she has no choice—since her family auctioned her off to the highest bidder. Her best friend, Ava, has agreed to a double date, but both friends find out hidden secrets about their partners as well as deception by one of the village’s own, who will soon be found dead. This plot is sure to be spicy!

Amazon | All other e-platforms








Blurb for Turkey Basted to Death

Welcome to Leavensport, Ohio where DEATH takes a delicious turn!

Thanksgiving is here, and Jolie Tucker has had quite the year! She is ready to sit back and relax with family and friends. But this is Leavensport, OH—so get ready for intense therapy sessions, dysfunctional family holiday gatherings, uninvited guests, and an inner-city teen advocate found DEAD—stabbed in the ear with the turkey baster!

Amazon | All other e-platforms

Blurb for Blueberry Cobbler Blackmail

Welcome to Leaven—oh wait—Santo Domingo, where DEATH takes a DELICIOUS turn!

Family bombshells, sibling rivalries, blackmail, and a trip that could be deadly…and the new year has only just begun! After a disastrous Thanksgiving, Jolie Tucker is beside herself and feeling the walls closing in around her. She feels like she needs to escape Leavensport before she loses her mind. She unexpectedly gets her wish when her best friend and co-owner of Cast Iron Creations, Ava Martinez, gets a terrifying email revealing that her papa, Thiago, is in danger in Santo Domingo. The girls are off on a dangerous adventure in new territory. Will they be able to save the day before danger finds them?

Preorder here

Bio

Moving into her second decade working in education, Jodi Rath has decided to begin a life of crime in her The Cast Iron Skillet Mystery Series. Her passion for both mysteries and education led her to combine the two to create her business MYS ED, where she splits her time between working as an adjunct for Ohio teachers, educational writing, marketing consultant work with authors, and creating mischief in her fictional writing. She currently resides in a small, cozy village in Ohio with her husband and her eight cats.

Newsletter link to A Mystery A Month—Sign up for my monthly newsletter to receive a free Mystery a Month and a chance to win prizes for those who guess the right answers! http://eepurl.com/dIfXdb

Website | FB Author Page | Twitter | Bookbub | Goodreads

At Fair November

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Earlier today, I reached the 25K milestone on my NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) journey. To reward myself, I decided to spend some time this afternoon at the 45th Annual Fair November Craft Show.

More than eighty-five of Canada’s most talented artisans and designers display traditional and modern crafts, among them pottery, glass, jewelry, metalwork, knits, natural soaps and lotions, woodworking, and delicious gourmet treats.

This year, I was delighted to discover necknots, Koka-Bora Creations (unique writing instruments and custom cases), and Mariclaro Reclaimed (bags and accessories from repurposed automotive and aviation materials).

Fair November runs until Sunday at the University of Guelph. There is no admission fee, and parking is free on the weekends. Find out more here.



Start With Yourself

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

The following words were written on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in the Crypts of Westminster Abbey:

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it, too, seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed my self first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.

Inspired by C.S. O’Cinneide

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Sunday afternoon, I attended the “How to Write Frightening Fiction” workshop facilitated by author C.S. O’Cinneide (Carole) at the University of Guelph. A former IT business analyst with 25+ years of technical writing experience, Carole has written Petra’s Ghost, a novel that resonates with both literary and horror communities.

Carole’s Backstory

From an early age, Carole enjoyed writing fiction. While she liked her IT career, she hoped to write a novel someday. At midlife, Carole decided to seek inspiration and direction on the Camino di Santiago.

Her supportive husband looked after their two teenage daughters and a German exchange student while Carole was away.

Walking 30 kilometers each day, Carol completed the ancient five-hundred-mile pilgrimage that crosses Northern Spain in one month. During that time, a woman was abducted and killed on the Camino.

When Carole returned to Canada, she spent two years writing and editing Petra’s Ghost, a novel loosely based on that tragedy. Intrigued by the storyline, Dundurn Press offered Carole a contract within three days of receiving the manuscript.

At Sunday’s meetup, Carole shared information and advice in an entertaining and interactive session. A short Q & A period followed.

Here are seven nuggets that captured my interest:

• Terror and horror are not mutually exclusive—most scary fiction is a mixture of the two ends of the spectrum that has terror on one end and horror at the other.

• Horror gives people a safe place to face their fears. In one of the exercises, we were asked to list 10 things that frightened us. In the sharing session that followed, a number of “fears” emerged, among them sharks, earthquakes, and shame/embarrassment.

• Don’t terrify readers the entire time. Use a balance of light and dark to give the reader a break from the tension at regular intervals.

• Develop an inner struggle to match the external one. Publishers and readers want a deeper story to go with the thrills and chills.

• Make the threat real and present for the reader. Writing in the present tense can add to the immediacy of the danger.

• A “hook” is essential when writing frightening fiction. Write the first chapter and then find the place where the “hook” occurs (often halfway or near the end of the chapter). Rewrite, starting from the hook. The earlier prose can be reused as backstory or flashback.

• Speak the language to get your book published. Do your research and decide on the best descriptor (magical realism, psychological suspense, speculative fiction, etc.) for your manuscript.

Blurb

A man’s pilgrimage becomes something from his darkest nightmares when secrets arise and ghosts haunt his path.

A woman has vanished on the Camino de Santiago, the ancient five-hundred-mile pilgrimage that crosses northern Spain. Daniel, an Irish expat, walks the lonely trail carrying his wife, Petra’s, ashes, along with the damning secret of how she really died.

When he teams up to walk with vibrant California girl Ginny, she seems like the perfect antidote for his grieving heart. But a nightmare figure begins to stalk them, and Daniel’s mind starts to unravel from the horror of things he cannot explain.

Unexpected twists and turns echo the path of the ancient trail they walk upon. The lines begin to blur between reality and madness, between truth and the lies we tell ourselves.

Amazon (Canada) | Amazon (US) | Indigo | Barnes & Noble

Books on Horror

Danse Macabre (Stephen King)
Monster, She Wrote (Editors: Lisa Kröger, Melanie R. Anderson)
Horror: A Literary History (Xavier Aldana Reyes)
Writing Horror (Edo Van Belkom)

Helpful Links

Horror Writers Association (http://horror.org)
Ladies of Horror Fiction (https://www.ladiesofhorrorfiction.com)
Carole’s Website (https://www.shekillslit.com)

Thanks to Karen Ralph and Marion Thorpe for organizing this event.