Writer of the Week

This week, I've been catching up on Melanie Jeschke's writing. Years ago, I'd read the first two of her Oxford Chronicles. I finally got to read the third, and I'm hoping to read her new book, Jillian Dare, before heading back to Ohio. My parents, who before moving to Albuquerque attended the church Melanie's husband pastors, have all of her books, so I'll read them while I'm here. I tend to like novels set in Great Britian.

Melanie's website is here, but doesn't seem to be entirely up to date.

The Budget

Anyone who has read much Amish fiction is familiar with The Budget. In the local edition, it covers the news in Holmes county, Ohio area. It's claim to fame for the local edition: "a newspaper in which the good news reported in its pages routinely outweighs the bad."

The national edition is more widely known. It publishes 'letters' or articles by Amish and Mennonite writers throughout the United States and the world.

Here's the link to the paper's website. Only information from the local edition is online, but I found it intersting. I'm also considering subscribing to the National edition.

Writer of the Week

The day before a 3:45 a.m. trip to the airport, I realized I had nothing to read on the plane. After my initial panic, I hurried to the library and grabbed the first 3 or 4 books that looked interesting.. all of them by unfamiliar authors.

One of the books that caught my eye was Leaving Carolina, by Tamara Leigh. I don't usually enjoy books written in the first person, and rarely get beyond the first page of one, but she pulled it off well. I enjoyed the book thoroughly; she brought some delightful characters to life. I'm looking forward to the sequel which will be available in May.

Here's the author's website. It lists some other series which I'll be looking for, also.

Scribd

An odd name, but I like the website. It allows you to share things you have written, as well as, of course, to read things others have shared.

I uploaded two short stories and one article on marriage late last week; to be honest, I didn't really expect anyone to read it. After all, if there's a way of publicizing one's presence on the site, I haven't found it yet (or looked for it, to be fair.)

I hadn't been back to the site yet until today, and to my astonishment, I found that the three items had garnered a total of.... (drumroll) 39 reads. Okay, granted, that's not exactly earthshaking, but for this unpublished writer, the response was, "Hey, someone's reading my stuff! Cool!"

So, I got excited, and went into my archives and uploaded two more short stories this morning. I just checked and they've already gotten 6 reads. My concern is that it may tempt me into spending time polishing and/or writing short stories for upload when I should really work on my new novel.

Anyway, here's the link. My username is DLeeFuhry to read my stories.

Writer of the Week

At the recommendations of both Kathy Fuller, author of the Hearts of Middlefield series, and my mother-in-law, I picked up Plain Perfect, by Beth Wiseman.

I enjoyed the interplay between Amish and English life, and found the story compelling and the characters realistic. I'm looking forward to finding more of her books.

Learn more about Beth here...

Writer of the Week

This week, I'm reading a book by Kim Vogel Sawyer titled A Promise for Spring.It's a historical romance set in Kansas in the late 1800s. This one hasn't grabbed me yet as much as some of her other work. I've also read My Heart Remembers, which I really liked. Some months ago I read at the Sommerfeld Trilogy, three books set in a Mennonite community, with some good characters and a fun story.

Her website is here.

James Scott Bell

I am reading (well, studying is probably a better word for it!) two books by James Scott Bell: The Art of War for Writers, and Plot and Structure. The first consists of lots of short chapters, some encouraging, others more informative about the writing process and becoming an author. The second is a practical how-to book on plotting.

As I finally have time to devote to writing this year, I'm realizing what a juggling act it is. It's not just sitting down to write whatever story has currently taken up residence in my brain! First of all, there are usually multiple stories fighting it out over which one gets to be worked on next... but I also want to spend more time working on my craft (thus the aforementioned books), establishing a web presence (thus my current activity : ) ) and working on finding an agent and getting published.

Wow! And that's without having been published... add in book signings, fan communication, etc. and it must get a little daunting!

Oh, yeah, I don't want to forget the link for James Scott Bell's website!

Writer of the week

I've decided to start making notes of authors I've enjoyed so that next time I step into the library, I won't feel so clueless about where to look!

Recently, I came across Brandilyn Collins, and enjoyed the three books I read, Eyes of Elisha, Dark Pursuit, and Exposure. I'm not normally a huge fan of the paranormal craze -- I get a little uneasy with it sometimes. But she handles it very well, with no sense of pushing the limits of spiritual acceptability.

They've all been a fun read, too!

Here's her website for more info... http://www.brandilyncollins.com/