Meet Your Fellow Contestants

[Susie]

Your real name/pen name: Suzan Wiener, no pen name

What you generally write: I generally write love poems, love stories and occasionally horror. My friends call the horror writer the 'other susie.':)


Your favorite writers: My hubby:)

Why you write: It's a need that I have to do even if I feel I'm not getting anywhere with it. It helps me cope with my back pain and other health ailments.

Your best piece of advice for fellow writers: My best piece of advice to fellow writers is to never give up. If you want to be published you have to have confidence in yourself despite any rejections. Just keep moving forward and you will succeed.

Career goals: n/a

And any personal info you'd like to include (where you're from, how old you are, family, hobbies, day job, pets, etc.): I just turned 59 (yikes!), and I like to write and watch television, and of course I really enjoy being here with you all.

This is fun to read others bios and get to know the great members here. Thanks much, Jenna.

[ShadowGuide]

Your real name/pen name: Mel (short for Melissa) Edwards, also have written as Meli O'Brien (O'Brien is a family name from me mum's side)

What you generally write: red ink on student papers (high school English teacher by day...but I just resigned effective the end of this school year...)

Your favorite writers: Marquez, Potok, Stegner

Why you write: I don't always have another person to talk to and I can't shut up!

Your best piece of advice for fellow writers: Find what you love the most about writing and focus on that. I was once told to do what you love because you have a natural talent to become a great student of that subject.

Career goals: To be published when I want to be published.

And any personal info you'd like to include (where you're from, how old you are, family, hobbies, day job, pets, etc.): I'm 36, marreid, bunny mama (former llama mama) who is ready to put her money where her mouth is and tell stories and write as a career choice - not just as a hobby. Of course, I've got a long way to go, but I'm working on it all in earnest now.

Thanks for giving me a shot to know you guys/gals. Absolute Write is a great community, and Jenna is our muse.

:Guitar:

[108Days]

Pen name is Lisa Lindell. Previously I've written poison pen letters-to-the- editor and my children's school about things that don't seem important now. I guess it was grooming. My mother told me since I was a child I should write, but I was always too busy earning a living, and what adolescent girl listens to their mother?

Well, we had a life changing event in our family two years ago, and it continues to this day. I said, throughout the ordeal, "When this is over, I'm writing a book and sending it to Oprah."

Well, real life took over and the nightmare never ended. I didn't want to re-live hell from day one, so I never wrote. My mother nagged me for two years to write a book. To get her off my back I said, "Fine! Every night after 9pm when the kids are in bed I will write for an hour."

Let me tell you, that first night I was up all night. The non-stop racket from the keyboard was like a rapid-fire machine gun. I stayed up until three or four in the morning every night, sometimes all night long, until the book was finished. I couldn't stop. The second I came home from work I was at the keyboard until my husband forced me to stop or it was time to take a shower and go to work. Writing it only took three weeks. It was all the re-reading and editing that took forever, and that, too went on well into the night, sometimes all night long. I babysat my nephew (less than one year old) on the weekends, so I couldn't write on the weekends. You guys know the rest, literary agents, publishers, you name it. The more I learned the more I realized I wanted to print it myself, and that's what I'm working on now.

Why do I write? Because I am determined to tell our story. Hopefully to America.

Favorite writers: I read Stephen King voraciously as a young teen. Prior to that I devoured every Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys book there was. I graduated to true crime stories, I also like what's her name....gosh darnit, the forensic lesbian. Michael Palmer, oh and I love Clive Custler.

I don't have any advice for fellow writers as I do not consider myself worthy of the esteemed community of authors. I'm a rookie. A rookie with a cause.

Career goals? Hmmm. Which career? Credit Manager? Author? Publisher? Crusader?

I'm 35 and I live in Houston, Texas. Two children in elementary school, one husband. Day job? Credit Manager for a construction company. Hobbies? Lately I've become an Ebayaholic, trying to sell household junk to raise book money. It's very addicting. Prior to this book taking over, I puttered in the garden a lot and we constantly had home improvement projects going on. I love a good game of poker.
One Boxer named Brownie.

I came to this site as since the beginning of the year my hobby has been publishing my book. I joined before I became aware of the contest. I butchered (to fit 700 words) an excerpt and didn't think much more about it. It is the same excerpt (unbutchered) that I sent to a complete stranger (4 degrees of separation) who holds a Master's Degree in journalism. She said it was very well written and compelling. That pumped me up. Of course everybody who knows me thinks it's the best book ever. But feedback from strangers is what I need.

Well, now the results are in here and I've requested feedback and the silence is deafening (#294). Suddenly it has occured to me my book might suck. Maybe I lost too much and should have picked a different excerpt? Maybe I shouldn't have submitted anything until I have the ms back from the editor? I've been full-steam-ahead and suddenly this little Idol contest is making me very nervous. Even if I only sell a couple hundred to the people who know us, it will still be an accomplishment. Even my own parents don't know the whole story, there's too much to it.

I'm sure curious about what you authors think of my excerpt. And I'm very excited for all the winners. Good for you!
Thanks!

[brokenfingers]

Well, now the results are in here and I've requested feedback and the silence is deafening (#294). Suddenly it has occured to me my book might suck. Maybe I lost too much and should have picked a different excerpt? Maybe I shouldn't have submitted anything until I have the ms back from the editor? I've been full-steam-ahead and suddenly this little Idol contest is making me very nervous. Even if I only sell a couple hundred to the people who know us, it will still be an accomplishment. Even my own parents don't know the whole story, there's too much to it.

I'm sure curious about what you authors think of my excerpt. And I'm very excited for all the winners. Good for you!
Thanks!

Hey Lisa!

I just went and read your story and yes, it seemed like a tale that was good - and gripping.

I believe the biggest problem with your entry was its structure. Not the story structure, but its physical structure.

The way your story is formatted in your entry - there is no structure. Every line blends in to the other to make one long solid paragraph. It's hard to tell which lines are even dialogue and which exposition.

Odd as it may seem - this will have an effect on how a reader perceives it or if a reader will even read it.

By not formatting your story to differentiate between paragraphs, ideas, emotions, dialogue etc - the reader is left with one long block of words where each sentence seems indistinguishable from the other and there is no feeling.

It's like listening to someone talk in monotone. Without the dips and rises, halts and flows of their speech, the ear quickly becomes bored and all you hear is "blah, blah, blah..."

The same with a monotone structure. Without the white spaces between thoughts and ideas and speech in a story - a reader's eye will quickly start to do the same thing. They will slide over the words and not digest the full meaning and emotion the author intended.

So I'm sure you have an interesting story but it just wasn't presented in a way that would let a reader appreciate it.

Just some thoughts to consider or discard as you please.

Hope this helps in some way....

[108Days]

Thank you. What that says to me is I should have waited for the editing. Or, picked a different excerpt that I didn't have to cram together so much. At least I can sleep tonight! : )

[edfrzr]

Hey brokenfingers la la la la la la la la la la la i'm not listening to you la la la la la la la la la.



just kidding -- good advice -- you deplete me

[SueB]

Just read Lisa's self introduction. Wow! Lisa, you told my story. I too, had a life changing experience that resulted in my finally sitting down and writing. You see, when I was 18 years old, I was very much in-love, engaged to be married. Suddenly, I found out my love had been leading a double life. Upon discovery of his infidelity, I broke off our engagement--two weeks prior to our wedding date. Soon, I faced the major decision of my life. I was pregnant. Ultimately, I gave my baby up for adoption. The heartbreak, the not-knowing, the not being able to talk about it, the guilt, the dreams..........All of these were with me daily, nightly. I knew for many years that I should sit down and write about it. I knew it would be good therapy for me, if nothing more. It was too painful. I could not deal with it. Shortly before my baby turned 35, I found her. You cannot imagine the relief. Finally the day had arrived where I could pray, "You can take me home anytime now heavenly Father." My unfinished business had finally been accomplished. Finally, I sat down and wrote my story, for my daughter. She needed to know the story--the whole story. There was a lot more to the story than meets the eye. So many facets to my story--each could have been a stand alone short story. Combined in my manuscript, they gave my daughter a more complete explanation and understanding of where her birth mother had been coming from, and her life long journey. I completed the manuscript in less than one month. Often, my fingers would slip off the keys--they were soaked with my tears. I cried my way through to the end. I was an emotional basket case by the time it was finished. Wondering how many other women out there had suffered similiar experiences, and knowing how much this 'sharing' experience had unburdened me, I knew I must try to find a publisher for this manuscript. And beyond the birthmothers out there, there were adoptees, and adoptive parents, and a wide array of people who had been affected by adoption. So many could benefit from exposure to the inside look at a birthmother's story. My story has names, places and certain circumstances changed and is therefore written as a work of fiction. I needed to protect the innocent, and guilty...I have received a lot of good feedback from agents and editors. Very encouraging feedback. They, by in large, seem to think my manuscript is well written and a compelling story that needs to be told. I just can't seem to find the right house. Where does it, will it, fit? I don't know, but I'll keep trying until I find the fit.
Meanwhile, the writer in me has been unleashed. I can't stop! I've written scads of poems, a dozen children's stories, 3 novels, and am presently working on a YA novel, and an adult novel.
I am 55, married, have 3 lovely daughters, and six delightful grandchildren. Two of my grandchildren know me as Sue. That's ok. The lady they call "Nana" is their grandmother. They are as blest to have her as she is to have them. She is a lovely, incredible woman! She and I have become like sisters. If I could have chosen my baby's mother, it would have been her!
I am so grateful to Jena! Having found this community of writers, whether professional or amateur, is to have found a community of people who are all in the same boat. We are all compelled, pure and simple. We don't feel like the round peg trying to fit into the square hole--not in this community! Isn't it wonderful?--Pure serendipity!