Skip to main content

Mount Hermon recap, part 2

Captain’s Log, Stardate 04.17.2006

Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is AND BABY MAKES FIVE by Debra Clopton.
You can still enter. Just post a comment on that blog post.

I was supposed to have another giveaway today, but it’s not yet ready so I’ll post it tomorrow.. On Thursday I'll draw the winner for AND BABY MAKES FIVE and post the title for another book I'm giving away. Stay tuned.

Continued from Mount Hermon recap, part 1:
It was very good timing that I got my contract just before I went to Mount Hermon, because I was able to focus my learning goals. I took the Media Mania class with Ellie Kay, assisted by Sharon Durling.

Wow, that was terrific! It was media training—stuff I had no clue about. I went into sponge mode.

I learned about sound bytes—15 second answers (to very short questions) that are appropriate for radio and television (mostly television) interviews. Fifteen seconds is about 25 words, and it goes much faster when you’re miked than when you’re practicing in a nice friendly small group of classmates.

It really made me learn to give just the meat of what I wanted to get across, to break information up into small chunks, to be selective with my word choices.

There were lots of hands-on exercises. I did a mock camera interview for the first time, and although I felt like I was going to puke in Ellie’s lap, I restrained myself thanks to an encouraging word, and I did a good job.

I don’t think I’m as “media-ready” as I should be, but at least I wouldn’t be completely unprepared for interviews.

Wednesday: How I fed my addiction.

Attention new writers! This is a message from Linda Fulkerson on her New Writers Showcase contest:

So many people have helped me in my journey as a writer, I've decided I need to do something in return, so...

Announcing a new contest especially for new writers. I'll be featuring a New Writers Showcase on my web site beginning in May. Each month I will announce the "New Writer of the Month."

This is a no-fee contest. The purpose is to help new writers get their writing read and publicized.

Not only will the winner be featured on my web, but I'll announce it in my NEW monthly e-newsletter (please visit my website to subscribe) and will also announce the winner with a link to the several writers' groups I'm a member of. The winning piece will also be posted for everyone who wants to read. You will also get a link to your web site plus a special winner's logo to post on yours!

BIG NEWS! Camy Tang, who recently signed a 3-book deal has agreed to add a special surprise for each month's winner. She has offered to give a FREE critique to each month's winner on 15 pages plus a 2-page synopsis of their work. Camy is one of the best critiquers I've ever worked with and offers great insight when she reads one's writing. Trust me, it will be worth your while to enter this contest just because of Camy!

(Note from Camy: I promise I did not bribe or blackmail Linda in any way, shape, or form to get her to say the above...but it's not my fault if it's exceptionally pleasant to post on my blog. :)

* Submissions are accepted via e-mail only: mail@lindafulkerson.com
* Put "Contest Submission" in the subject line, please.
* You may submit any genre, or even non-fiction, up to 1000 words. Essays, columns, articles, and short-stories will also be accepted, but please keep the 1000 word limit.
* Submissions received by the 20th of each month will be considered for the following month's contest. The contest submissions open immediately and the May winner will be announced May 1st.
* Sorry, but no critiques are available for any of the submissions except the winner.
* I'll accept attachments in MS Word.

Thanks! I look forward to reading your stuff.

Linda
Labels:

Comments

Unknown said…
That media class sounds fantastic! What a great idea. Glad you didn't puke. I can't seem to find part I of this Mt. Hermon recap. But then I have no sense of direction so maybe it's related.
Mon Apr 17, 04:54:00 AM 2006
Catherine West said…
You mean I have to enter a contest to get you to read my work? Sheesh!
15 pages huh? That's not even half of chapter one...or maybe it is...well, got nothing to lose I suppose.
I will think on it...
Mon Apr 17, 12:48:00 PM 2006
Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Chinese Take-Out and Sushi for One

Captain’s Log, Supplemental My agent sent me an article from Publisher’s Weekly that discussed this incident: Chinese Take-Out Spawns Christian Controversy And here’s also a blog post that talks about it in more detail: The Fighting 44s This is Soong-Chan Rah’s blog: The PCS blog In sum: Apparently Zondervan (yes, my publisher), who has partnered with Youth Specialties, had put out a youth leaders skit that had stereotypical Asian dialogue, which offended many Christian Asian Americans. In response to the outcry, Zondervan/Youth Specialities put out a sincere apology and is not only freezing the remaining stock of the book, but also reprinting it and replacing the copies people have already bought. I am very proud of my publisher for how they have handled this situation. The skit writers have also issued a public apology . (I feel sorry for them, because they were only trying to write a funny skit, not stir up this maelstrom of internet controversy. I’ve been in youth work long enou...
39 comments
Read more

Toilet seat cover

Captain’s Log, Supplemental Update August 2008: I wrote up the pattern for this with "improvements"! Here's the link to my No Cold Bums toilet seat cover ! Okay, remember a few days ago I was complaining about the cold toilet seat in my bathroom? Well, I decided to knit a seat cover. Not a lid cover, but a seat cover. I went online and couldn’t find anything for the seat, just one pattern for the lid by Feminitz.com . However, I took her pattern for the inside edge of the lid cover and modified it to make a seat cover. Here it is! It’s really ugly stitch-wise because originally I made it too small and had to extend it a couple inches on each side. I figured I’d be the one staring at it, so who cared if the extension wasn’t perfectly invisible? I used acrylic yarn since, well, that’s what I had, and also because it’s easy to wash. I’ll probably have to wash this cover every week or so, but it’s easy to take off—I made ties which you can see near the back of the seat. And...
21 comments
Read more

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures...
10 comments
Read more

I sold to Steeple Hill!

Captain's Log, Supplemental Remember that romantic suspense proposal I blogged about earlier? Well, it just sold to Steeple Hill’s Love Inspired Suspense line! I am so jazzed! I am beyond jazzed! The story’s working title is Sinister Spa The story's title is Deadly Intent and here’s a blurb (but it’s probably not what will appear on the back of the book): Massage therapist Naomi Grant could use a massage herself. With her father at home recovering from a stroke, Naomi is put in charge of the family’s elite day spa in Sonoma county. The new responsibilities sit awkwardly on her shoulders, and things only get worse when handsome Dr. Devon Knightley breezes into the spa, demanding to see one of the female clients. And the woman is found dead in Naomi’s massage room. Suddenly, Naomi is a suspect and her family’s spa is shut down. How could God let this awful thing happen? Devon only needed to see his ex-wife about a family necklace she still hadn’t returned, but when she dies and...
32 comments
Read more

Excerpt - A HUNDRED YEARS OF HAPPINESS by Nicole Seitz

Captain's Log, Stardate 03.05.2009 Update: Sorry, this giveaway is closed. A Hundred Years of Happiness by Nicole Seitz A beautiful young woman. An American soldier. A war-torn country. Nearly forty years of silence. Now, two daughters search for the truth they hope will set them free and the elusive peace their parents have never found. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, a young mother named Katherine Ann is struggling to help her tempestuous father, by plunging into a world of secrets he never talks about. A fry cook named Lisa is trying desperately to reach her grieving Vietnamese mother, who has never fully adjusted to life in the States. And somewhere far away, a lost soul named Ernest is drifting, treading water, searching for what he lost on a long-ago mountain. They're all longing for connection. For the war that touched them to finally end. For their hundred years of happiness at long last to begin. From the beloved author of The Spirit of Sweetgrass...
24 comments
Read more