National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel in thirty days. Chris Baty started the project in with 21 participants in the San Francisco Bay area. Each year since on November 1, thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a new novel.  By just the following year, participants or “Wrimos” swelled to over 5,000.  Participation skyrocketed.

NaNoWriMo became a nonprofit in 2005; their programs support writing fluency and education. Their website hosts more than a million writers, serving as a social network with author profiles, personal project libraries, and writing buddies. NaNoWriMo tracks words for writers like Fitbit tracks steps. With the help of over 900 volunteers in thousands of partnering libraries and community centers NaNo hosts real-world writing events in cities worldwide.

Hundreds of NaNoWriMo novels have been traditionally published. They include Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants, Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus, Hugh Howey’s Wool, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl, Jason Hough’s The Darwin Elevator, and Marissa Meyer’s Cinder.

Each year, authors offer mentorship to participants. Past author mentors have included Gene Luen Yang, Roxane Gay, Kacen Callender, John Green, Andy Weir, N. K. Jemisin, and Veronica Roth.

Since NaNoWriMo is used to get people writing, the rules are kept broad and straightforward:

  1. Writing starts at 12:00: a.m. on November 1 and ends 11:59:59 p.m. on November 30, local time.
  2. No one is allowed to start early and the challenge finishes exactly 30 days from that start point.
  3. Novels must reach a minimum of 50,000 words before the end of November in order to win. These words can either be a complete novel of 50,000 words or the first 50,000 words of a novel to be completed later.
  4. Planning and extensive notes are permitted, but no material written before the November 1 start date can go into the body of the novel.
  5. Participants’ novels can be on any theme, genre of fiction, and language.

To win NaNoWriMo, participants must write an average of approximately 1,667 words per day (69 per hour, 1.2 per minute) in November to reach the goal of 50,000 words written toward a novel. Organizers of the event say that the aim is to get people to start writing, using the deadline as an incentive to get the story going and to put words to paper. There is no fee to participate in NaNoWriMo; registration is only required for novel verification.

No official prizes are awarded for length, quality, or speed, though self-awarded badges are available on the site. Anyone who reaches the 50,000-word mark is declared a winner. Beginning November 20, participants can submit their novel to be automatically verified for length and receive a printable certificate, an icon they can display on the web, and inclusion on the list of winners.



Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards

Finalists just announced in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards. RMFW offers encouragement and opportunity to writers in all genres through this annual contest.  Winners will be announced and celebrated at the RMFW Hybrid Gold Conference, set to take place October 15th thru the 17th.

Mystery, Thriller
Delve Too Deep by Phillip Castle
One Way In by Susie Lindau
Pieces by Becky Munyon
The Puzzle by Robert Selzer
Worse than Death by Brooke Terpening

Mainstream
Kamikaze Girl by Kevin Campbell
It’s Cool if You Hate Us by Charles Culp
The Ghosts of Chang An by Vickie Fang
Green Side Up by Ann Ivancie
The Band by Jedeane Macdonald

YA, Middle Grade
The Problem with Pamela by Heather Durham
Kung Fu to You, Too by Richard Erixon
True Love Never by Kelley J.P. Lindberg
Elly Elliott – Secret Code Breaker by Jedeane Macdonald
The Serpent’s Covenant by Ann Marie

Women’s Fiction, Romance
Bannock Bliss by Lyda Mary Hardy
Celie Logan’s Gone to the Dogs by Martha McCannon
The Original Handmaid by Margaret Morse
The Sweetest Revenge by Meegan Epps
The Parts We Leave Behind by Rise’ Smith

Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Spec, Horror
To Feel the Earth as Rough by Dani Coleman
The Osect Indiscretion by Matthew Cushing
Seraph by Cheryl Fallin
Thief of Time by Val Moses
Mars Material by John Arthur Neal


2021 National Book Festival

Create a personalized experience with the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival in 2021 by engaging in author conversations online, watching the broadcast special on PBS, listening to NPR podcasts, tuning in to Washington Post Live author interviews and attending a ticketed event at the Library. Full interviews with each author will be featured in on-demand videos through the National Book Festival website at loc.gov/bookfest and will be released Sept. 17.

The Festival, Sept. 17-26, is a 10-day event with the theme, “Open a Book, Open the World.” Investigate the Festival Near You” page on the festival website. Searchable by state, it will highlight associated book festival events across the country. Kick-off is September 12 hosted by LaVar Burton on PBS at 6 PM EDT.



Link Analysis – How Rita Did It in DRIVEN

Link Analysis – How Rita Did It in DRIVEN

In my book, Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller, my protagonist, Rita Mars searches for the killer responsible for her fellow reporter, Bobby Ellis’s death. She determined there was a political target of the story that got him killed and immediately began the search through available sources as to which groups he might have been investigating and who were their members.

She started at the Federal Election Commission. The FEC maintains a searchable database on its website; the Center for Responsive Politics maintains its own website — opensecrets.org — which is designed to be more user-friendly and includes analysis of FEC data.

For state level races, there is followthemoney.org, a joint project of the National Institute on Money and Politics and the Campaign Finance Institute. The site claims its database documents more than $100 billion in contributions, and more than 2 million lobbyist relationships per year.

Other sites will allow you to drill down at the local level. The Virginia Public Access Project has a database on money and politics including local elections in that state. In California, the nonprofit group MapLight includes data about state and local races on its website, as well as information about national campaign finance. Disclosure requirements vary by state and locality and the federal government offers an online directory.

Even with these multi-level sources, Rita found no easy task.  Why?

First, many object to disclosure laws because they believe that such requirements impinge on First Amendment freedoms of speech and association in spite of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA).

Secondly, the Supreme Court determined that disclosure reporting need not occur until the minimum threshold financials provided in the BCRA are triggered. The goal was to ensure that only truly serious candidates would be affected by the disclosure requirements.

And then there are the gaping holes:

  1. Groups that spend $12,499 or less in a quarter need not disclose
  2. Outside contractors hired by organizations to lobby have to report work billed at more than $3,000 in a quarter – but that reporting still doesn’t show a full and accurate total.
  3. The most significant level of underreporting is generally attributed to a carve-out in the law that allows some highly-paid political operatives to avoid disclosing any of their lobbying activities. The law is based on semantics and former office holders label themselves “advisors.”  This permits them to avoid registering as lobbyists and so gives them exemption from reporting.
  4. General meetings with special interest groups need not report their sessions or monies spent in conjunction.
  5. Grassroots lobby reporting is not mandated.
  6. In reporting meetings with office holders or government officials, lobbyists indicate only agency or branch of government, not individual names and titles.
  7. There is no accountability or reporting of retired government officials or office holders as to their lobbying of their former agency of employment

The trail Rita followed is long, convoluted and difficult to find. First, she “fingerprinted” her potential suspects, expanding their profile with contacts, family members and other organizations to which they have contributed. What is the fingerprinting Rita did? She utilized best practices of criminal investigation link analysis and social media analysis. These are complex methods and the links I have provided will give you an excellent overview.

From the fingerprint data, Rita categorized each individual or corporation to determine a similarity to Bobby Ellis’s story. This exercise led her to her short list for in-depth investigation. When you read the book, you’ll see how her search took her down the right path.

** image courtesy of www.datawalk.com


Wisting

SO – as a hard-core fan of mystery, thrillers and all things where I’m trying to figure out who the bad guy is and how to stop them, I rifle through Netflix and Amazon Prime as well as the world of books. I suspect you do the same.

For the build of suspense and the sheer tension of sharply conflicted characters, experience WISTING. You will be rewarded. Dialogue is spare but effective. You get the profile of each character clearly within seconds of introduction. You’re wary of them all. No, they’re not the perps but you instantly recognize there are hidden agendas – subtle but potentially contrary to
cooperative detecting.

Just as the folk you work with yourself, you’re going to feel that push back from those who see the situation through a different lens and want to impose their approach on the case at hand. Yes, sometimes, you’ll see that studied frozen stare of recognition and think “deer in the headlights?” Just keep going.

True thriller storylines unwind across the magnificent Norwegian landscape. The two series on ACORN TV are based on novels by former police detective Jorn Lier Horst. His Detective Chief Inspector, William Wisting, is played by Sven Nordin. You may have seen him before in Valkyrien and Lilyhammer.

Wisting is head of homicide at Larvik police station, a small town just outside Oslo. Series one is comprised of 10 episodes, telling two stories which have been adapted from Lier Horst’s novels The Caveman and The Hunting Dogs – with five episodes
apiece.

Watch the trailer. Decide for yourself. I’m betting you’ll opt in.


Bookspotter

Bookspotter

RADIO SILENCE
by Cara Malone

Reading Experience – There’s a reason Cara Malone maintains high rankings on Amazon. Her books are expressive and have strong clarity. The reader will find her narrative easy to follow the action and to differentiate characters.

Characters – If you like strong women who are not unrelentingly hard-boiled, you’ll love her series protagonist, Mel Pine, a disciplined police officer who gets her shot on solo patrol. Perfect job for the loner that she is. Still, she’s not so lone wolf that she is not caring.

Mel is the loving caretaker for her ailing grandmother. Equally attractive is the eager and less edgy, Court Wilson. She’s young brave; she’s open; she’s willing to take her chances.

Author Malone draws her secondary characters with no less a finer pen. Especially well done is Nonna, Mel’s grandmother who brings A-game strength to her battle with cancer. Malone clearly gives each of the secondaries a unique personality with specific individual motivations.

Story – The story line on the main plot is the murder/cover-up. The reader gets a clear line of action towards solving the case. Conflicts in the case arise and Mel and Court doggedly pursue the obstacles in the way. No machina ex deus here! True detective and police work take the reader to its natural conclusion.

The secondary storyline is the increasing attraction between Mel and Court. The reader experiences the tension between the two. The reluctance, the bonding, the danger of the case spins the two into a believable romance.

book cover

Specs
Pages: 234
Lending: Enabled
Available: Kindle, Paperback Recommendation Get it. Read it. As we said in the beginning – there’s a reason Cara Malone maintains high rankings on Amazon! https://amzn.to/2TpgNCk