Emancipation Wins Silver in the Chapter of Excellence Contest by WAD

Happy Thursday, everyone! Today's post... Oh my goodness. I was so excited last night when I got an e-mail announcing that Emancipation took a silver award in the Chapter of Excellence Contest held by Writers After Dark. I have to share some of the details! Grab your coffee, or tea, and let's get going!

Here's all the details about the book (gonna start there):

Title: Emancipation (Pen Pals and Serial Killers - Story 1)
Author: Jo Michaels
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Length: 70k
Buy Link: Amazon Kindle  ~ Paperback

Blurb:
Tobias Butler has been sitting on death row since being sentenced for a gruesome murder in 2007. Bored out of his mind, he decided to apply to the online pen pal program in 2012. It's a pleasant distraction—nothing more, nothing less—for three years, until he's contacted by a beautiful, smart young lawyer named Jess. She's convinced he's innocent and wants to see him freed. As they organize their attack on the judicial system, he wonders how she plans to get his conviction overturned—because he's guilty, and he knows it. Jess is desperate to release him—and he's desperate to feel his hands squeeze the life out of her once she does.

Information about the contest:
Writers were to submit either the prologue or chapter one to the contest, and each entry was judged by how well that chapter gripped the reader, making them want to find out more.

Click here to see ALL the winners. There are some awesome books on there, and I'm humbled to be included among them. 

Here's my certificate:

EEP! So excited! Huge thanks to WAD for everything they do.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Author Life ABCs - C

Happy Wednesday again, everyone! So, for your second post today, I'm back on my Author Life ABCs with the letter C. Today's topic is appropriate, I feel, because it's also Valentine's Day. We're out there spreading the love so our friends and family have an amazing day. What I want to know is what you're doing for yourself today. Let's chat about my word and the topic a bit. Ready? Hold on to your desk, and let's get going!

Today's word is:

Crossfit

/ˈkrôsˌfit/
noun - trademark
noun: CrossFit; noun: Cross Fit
A high-intensity fitness program incorporating elements from several sports and types of exercise.

Stay with me! I'm not talking about Crossfit for your body, so let's rename it to CrossCT (Cross Creative Training).

That's right, a one-hour exercise program for writers to keep our brains engaged and active. I hope y'all try this! I'm gonna! Ready? 3, 2, 1, GO!

• 5 minutes of hard and fast writing only dialogue
• 10 minutes, new characters, describing scene
• 5 minutes, same characters, short world-building in a genre other than your own
• 5 minutes learning the definition of a new word by randomly flipping open the dictionary and popping your finger down
• 10 minutes, four new characters telling the reader their first impressions of one another
• 5 minutes of micro-plotting
• 5 minutes of speed editing the first dialogue you wrote
• 10 minutes of prose with no dialogue using the word you just learned
• 5 minutes of typing out a conversation with one of your characters

And you're done! That seems fun, right? Anyway, what I'm trying to get to here is that you should take terms and things you're familiar with and apply them to your writing. Have some fun. Flex your muscles!

Never stop learning how to write, market, and do. This is your career.

What do you think? You gonna give it a whirl?

I'll post my results sometime next week. Should be fun!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo