Ransom Stephens new book

Ransom presented at the S.F. Writers Conference with his usual wit and excellent information. His new book is "Your Pursuit of Greatness". His bookmark describes the book as "Featuring mixed metaphors, silly rules, enlightening blurbs, great questions, irritating cliches, and boring anecdotes!

I can't wait to read it. I know it will be anything but boring.

Jed Diamond, Ph.D is quoted: "...but be warned, don't open this book until you're ready for greatness."

You can check it out at www.yourpursuitofgreatness.com. It's available on Amazon and so is his "The God Patent", one of my all time favorite books.

More About The First Line

Years ago, several of us in my critique group entered The First Line contests on a regular basis. Although we weren't accepted then (we all were beginner writers), we enjoyed hearing the different themes that emerged from the same line. Plus they were stories we wouldn't have written had it not been for the contest prompt. One of my entries was a story I changed and polished many times, and submitted to several other magazines and competitions. A few years later, it won a first place award in a conference short story contest.

Here is a quote from the editor, David LaBounty:


"The purpose of The First Line is to jump start the imagination--to help writers break through the block that is the blank page. Each issue contains short stories that stem from a common first line; it also provides a forum for discussing favorite first lines in literature. The First Line is an exercise in creativity for writers and a chance for readers to see how many different directions we can take when we start from the same place."

The first line for stories due May 1st is: Rachel's first trip to England didn't go as planned.

You have time to write, polish, and enter. Go for it. "See how many different directions we can take when we start from the same place".

The First Line on Amazon's Kindle

Here is an email I received from The First Line:

"We are happy to announce that Amazon has added The First Line to its Kindle Magazine Store. If you have a Kindle, or an electronic reader that runs the Kindle app, you can now add The First Line to your reading list. We are one of the few literary journals available through this subscription service.

A one-year subscription (4 issues) is only $0.99 a month. As a bonus, if you sign up now, you’ll receive the last issue (Volume 13, Issue 4) for free. There’s even a two-week money-back guarantee.

Click this link http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006XGLLSU
(or paste it into your browser) to start you subscription today.

To Journal or Not To Journal

For those of you who like to journal and for those of you who have never tried it, Mari McCarthy's "Peace of Mind and Body: 27 Days of Journaling to Health and Happiness" has prompts that will take you to surprising places in your inner reflections. I did it for the 27 day commitment and highly recommend it.

Several class members have told me they are inspired to write more in depth with some of their entries and then submit them as flashes/short fiction.

Mari's book is available on Amazon. I got the Kindle version for around $5.00.

San Francisco Writers Conference

The annual San Francisco Writers Conference is held at the Mark Hopkins Hotel February 18th through the 19th. Lisa See will be one of the keynote speakers.

There will be extra classes available before and after the conference. On Thursday evening, the 16th, Katharine Sands will speak on Pitchcraft. Linda Lee will offer two topics on the 20th. In the morning she will talk about Author Marketing with Social Media and in the afternoon she'll tell about Building Your Blog and They Will Come.

I'll be volunteering in registration again. I hope to see you there.