Writing Wishes and Publication Dreams

I’ve been working on a new story – not only working – OBSESSED!  I don’t think I left the house for most of January and part of February until the first draft was done. I’m currently working through it again and again.  I’ve begun to gather my beta readers, and I’m quite excited.

Weekly, I spend time submitting. This is what a working writer does. Writes and submits. Rejections are no fun, and I get plenty of them. I read one statistic that read, “a writer gets an average of 26 rejections for every acceptance.” Not sure how they came up with that… I feel like it’s three times that much; however, things change!

Malcolm Gladwell, estimates it takes 10,000 hours to master any one thing. I feel like I should have reached those hours long ago; but, maybe, it takes some of us a little longer to get it. (That’s the story of my life!)

So – I have to update you.

My poem, “All At Once”, was a finalist in Medusa’s Laugh NanoText Contest. I didn’t win, but it’s still to be published in their anthology and in an e-book version. This should be available soon!

My poem, “I’ve Never Looked So Beautiful” has just been accepted by Mother’s Always Write. Before you start thinking I’m quite full of myself – the poem is about my lovely daughter! This should be available in the next month.

My story, “How to Throw a Psychic a Surprise Party” has been accepted by The Oleander Review. Sometimes, I write something and I think, this is pretty damn good, and I think this story says a lot about our humanity. I’m so happy that it will be published. It will be available mid-April

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, Writer Advice has just notified me that my story, “Memorial Day Death Watch”, has been chosen as a finalist in their Flash Memoir Contest!

We must have a purpose – I’ve always wanted to reach people, tell them they’re not alone. I think I’m just beginning to do that.

Live an Inspired Life!

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Free Audiobook!

Hello, Beautiful People!

I want to give away free copies of West End, now on audible.com!

Comment here or on my facebook page with a positive affirmation and the hashtag #hope.

A winner will be chosen at random in the next few days!

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One young women’s struggle against hopelessness and madness.

Reviews:

A great story about the cards we are dealt with in life and the choices these characters made with their less than desirable hands. Not all choices made are popular, but at least understandable. And our nameless protagonist shows us the consequences of apathy, and letting life make choices for you. There are no heroes in this story, just the author for showing us how a place like West End does not have to be a dead end.
Noreen Lace creates such wonderful and beautiful scenery for the reader. It really transports us to that moment and time. The most enjoyable feature of her writing would be the continuous awareness of the beauty and joy found in the simple things in life. This was an easy and enjoyable read.
UPDATE: There has been a winner. Thank you and enjoy!

Free Reading for the Holidays

Dad Shining is available for free now on Kindle Unlimited.   Enjoy!

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“Through the blue hills and green mountains of West Virginia, there’s a cemetery with my name on it. It’s in the back country where paved roads have yet to enter. The dirt and pebbled pathways are unnamed; the towns, if they can be called that, carry only the names of their settlers. In some cases, the families are long lost to graves and the names are an unsure mixture of dialect and history. But our name has carried through, strong, certain, alone on the trail that leads to the family church, the family land, and there, next to the chapel, the family graveyard.”

One Dollar Stories

How much is your image worth?

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Cris is an angry person. He feels that he is not getting his fair share. I’m not sure we can say that he ever had integrity given what he’s about to do. He thinks he’s getting a real deal, and he thinks no one can get hurt.

Where do any of us draw the line in getting what we want?  And are we willing to pay the price?

“One Dollar Stories,” my short story, appears in the new Crime Issue by Pilcrow and Dagger.

 

 

Life of Clouds

My new novella, Life of Clouds, will be released next month (fingers crossed!)

It’s a story about family, about heartbreak, sisters, and eventually – hope.

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More information to come —–

Audio Book

I have a tentative release date for West End on Audio – November 4th!

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West End – hard copy available now.

Giggles Galore

“Harvey Levin Can’t Die” is available in print, on the web, and even in podcast format!

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So – what would life be like without reality television?  “Harvey Levin Can’t Die” is a fictional and humorous look at one fantastical outcome.

Imagine this:

I woke up on a Thursday morning and there were no more Kardasians on TV. The news didn’t mention Lindsey, Brittany, or any housewives from anywhere. It was as if they’d never existed, and I wondered, momentarily, as I swept through the channels with careless ease, if I’d awakened in an alternate universe…..

Many thanks to the lovely editors at Pilcrow and Dagger for continuing to publish my poetry and short stories and for now podcasting them as well!

Harvey Levin Can’t Die!

I’m happy to say this strange fiction about life without reality television – Can you imagine?! – has been accepted for the Comedy Aug/Sept issue of Pilcrow and Dagger.  Don’t you love them madly?!!

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Harvey Levin Can’t Die – Aug/Sept Issue of Pilcrow and Dagger!

 

Podcast

 

“Of Strays and Exes” is available as a podcast!

Listen for free at Pilcrow and Dagger

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The Art in…..

The art and photography in Here In The Silence is just beautiful and we have SunBow Productions to thank for that. From the nontraditional cover to the interior choices, they are all quite interesting and lovely.

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This picture leads the short story “The Spaces Between.” A story about a couple, who ends up in a terrible back street motel in a beautiful coastal city, their relationship barely hanging on.

“It was some time past midnight in the darkness of that backstreet motel that she felt an arm slip around her. Panic did not set in, although she thought maybe it should have being where she was…..”

I love the idea of putting photographs and art with stories and poetry. I love when I find this in books and blogs and I was happy to be able to find them and have them add images to every story in the book.

We had the most trouble with “The Spaces Between.” How do you give a visual to a deteriorating relationship? The title itself refers to the emptiness between the couple, the silences in their relationship, blankness. This image is a fantastic representation of the story – the idea of “vacancy”is brought out in this cut up, almost incomplete, colorless image. I think it might be my favorite image in the book!