#PNWA

[threeravenspublishing]

Raven and the Crow Author Interviewed on TV!

If you’re a fan of the Raven and the Crow series and you’ve never met the author, now’s your chance to at least see him! Michael K. Falciani was recently interviewed by a TV station local to his area. ABC’s KOLO 8 spent a segment covering Michael’s writing career with specific emphasis on his newest release in the Raven and the Crow universe, Shores of Blood. Click the picture to watch the video,…

[danielwshegrud]

I lived my dream today. I got up early, made my coffee, sat down, and started writing. My wife brought me lunch, and I kept writing. I finished and edited one chapter, then completely wrote another, and now I’m taking a nap. This is the life! (now if I could just convince people to buy the books I write) #danielwshegrud #barbeesatthebeach #pnwa #spokanewriters https://www.instagram.com/p/Cof96Qbvt3W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[pcktknife]

I was giving this team the fucking works my god 😭

rslw-lv1d-wugj-pnwa is the replay code if u care

[jtq1844]

Nope. Not yet.

When I entered into a creative writing MFA program, no one was sure why, myself included. I do recall feeling sorry for the lonely professor and head of the program for NILA, Dr. Wayne Ude. He was tabling alone at the PNWA conference in 2015. My husband and I had moved up to Washington State as empty-nesters less than a year before and I needed to "find something to do." I was a volunteer at the conference having started volunteering a few months before at their ridiculously cute office nestled in the corner of the ridiculously adorable Gilman Village Shopping Center -- a collection of 19th century buildings moved to that location. It's more diverse than just a shopping center, but something's got to pay the bills. The folks at PNWA were hip-deep in contest and conference planning when I first walked in. That was back when paper copies were required. My task was to make sure the entries met the physical requirements for each contest (right font, right size, right labels, etc). I had a few duties at the conference at a hotel close to SEATAC but was otherwise free to frolic amongst the tablers, sellers, buyers, and really angst-ridden writers in attendance. Anyway, Dr. Ude explained the NILA program to me as he had little else to do. He could have had a fine career in sales. I started in their next term, January 2016. It was what is called a low-residency program, meeting for 10 days for many intense sessions in a beautiful setting and then continuing the classwork online. It was so interesting. Feeling like I might make friends there, I stated a little theory I had been developing. What if we looked at writing projects through the lens of "Good Writing," "Good Story," and "Good Storytelling?" Those would be tangible, albeit still somewhat subjective touchstones for evaluation. If you've ever had the honor of reading a good translation of, say, HCA's Ugly Duckling, you know it is beautifully written. I remember feeling the prickly scratch of the dry brown grass as he laid out the scene. That's good writing. The story of finding one's place in the world despite your circumstances is an important lesson for everyone to contemplate. That's good story. The ducks and swans are engaging, particularly for children. That's good storytelling.

Now, I'd noticed the stories that catch the public imagination need to excel at one of those three and be competent at another of them. My theory was that one need not be superlative at all three, just one if there was also competency in at least one of the other two categories. The third aspect could be positively "meh." Hear me out. Let's look at some (old) examples:

Joyce's Finnegan's Wake -- The WRITING is undeniably rich (Read: excellent). The STORYTELLING was memorable and provocative, but definitely not to everyone's taste. I mean, did the world really need a sitting-on-the-crapper scene? Regardless of any one person's reaction, it certainly demonstrated competency. But the STORY itself? Whoa, Nelly. Arguably, it doesn't actually exist.

Rowling's Harry Potter series -- The WRITING is, well, okay (she typed demonstrably). The STORY is the tried and true hero's tale. Nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing particularly innovative in it either. But the STORYTELLING -- ooh, the storytelling! The reader drops in the JKR's world like Harry into the pensieve. We frolicked in and dreamt about that world from Book 1.

Brown's Da Vinci Code -- That is some objectively faulty WRITING. The STORYTELLING clips along at a fair pace, competently urging the reader to keep turning pages. As cockamamie as the story is to those who know European and Church history or have ever taken Logic 101, it is one dang innovative and provocative STORY that upends most people's passively-learned Euro-Christianity tropes.

See? Be excellent in at least one and if only one, be competent in at least one other. I wasn't saying that we abandon long hours of discerning the relative merit of each point-of-view option, or all the choices thesaurus.com offers, or careful attention to the minor characters' arc, but merely that we become aware that writing fiction's prime function is to contribute to the STORYTELLING aspect of the writing project. Make sense? I think so.

It went over like a fart in church. "Ideally, you should strive for excellence in all three." Of course, but it was a theory of how we approach strengths and weaknesses, of viewing the efficacy of each technique. ... Or why mediocre or even downright crappy books can sell then our perfectly formed manuscriptions languish alone on our laptops. NILA announced its shut down suddenly four weeks into my first term there. Maybe I broke it. I dunno. The MFA in Creative Writing at Antioch University-Los Angeles graciously invited the stranded students to complete their MFAs in a similar but by no means identical system. Soon, Mike and I relocated to Southern California, so it worked for me.

I tried out my Writing/Story/Storytelling theory there. Same reaction. My outlier thinking about the craft of writing was not welcome, despite Horace Mann and Abraham Lincoln's hopes for the school.

Here's the funny thing. As I learn about the writer-agent-publisher paradigm, I'm finding all sorts of pontifications online about "why some really bad novels can get published and become best-sellers (when yours languishes unread). [[try this one from Alyssa Matesic: https://youtu.be/oow7FW-1Hvo ]] What it comes down to was ... dun, dun, dun ... exactly my lonesome, abandoned theory.

[timothyhasletartist]

A part of my process... Setting the nearly-finished painting up and just taking the time to take it in. Looking deeper at where it is and where it can be refined in order for it to look its best (like gem cutting, maybe?). Sketching and visualizing before I make my new marks. 90% done, 10% to go! Likely finished tomorrow. West Beach (unnamed, as of yet) 24"×48"��2 . I plan to share photos and notes like this while painting at my PNW Art School session at the end of next month. @pnwas . . . #whidbeyislandartist #whidbeyart #westbeach #oakharbor https://www.instagram.com/p/CpMnnXjO_Y1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[jay-the-demon69-blog]

I need some weed... #drawingwhileblack #blackartist #blackartistmagic #darkhumor #demon #pnca #pnwa #pdxartist #pdx #bestdemon #comicbooks #fanart #blackandred #latepost #positivevibes #cool #red #sketchpad #blackcomics #minicomic #funnythings #portlandartist #pdxlocal #facts #rude #truthful #riskycomment #offensivehumor #jaythepositivedemon #inktober2018 https://www.instagram.com/p/BpUryGZgKeT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cjdalltxzfq7

[authormarialberg]

Reading as a writer:Deconstructing a scene

Reading as a writer:Deconstructing a scene

This summer my wonderful local book store, A Good Book in Sumner, Wa, not only had a Summer Reading Bingo card, but came up with a Bingo card for writers as well. It looked daunting at first with squares like: Write your manifesto (turn your excuses upside down); Write seven days in a row; and Finish Something; but the more I worked on it, the more inspired I was to continue.

One of the final…

[slutdge]

[cjjasp]

#amwriting: sit down and write

#amwriting: sit down and write

This last weekend, I attended the 2017 PNWA Conference. I had the chance to connect with friends whom I rarely get to see in person elsewhere, and met many, many new friends.

I immersed myself into four days of seminars on writing craft, with the intention of kickstarting the rough draft of the one manuscript which has stalled for the last two months.

Let’s be clear—I always have three or four…

[danielwshegrud]

Well, phooey! I was having a wonderful time sitting on the back porch in this amazingly, pleasant, mid-October weather, making progress on my book, BARBEE’S AT THE BEACH. Working on chapter 30, by the way. I was enjoying the warmth, the sunshine, the scenery, and the smell of freshly picked pears on the table in front of me. Then, for some ridiculous reason, the sun, which had been perfectly positioned, moved, and I could no longer see my screen. Don’t mourn for me, however, because I have a comfy chair inside just waiting for my author-sized backside. #DanielWShegrud #BarbiesAtTheBeach #PNWA #metaline https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjloi-RvDft/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[danielleurbansblog]

PNWA's Nancy Pearl Book Award Contest

PNWA’s Nancy Pearl Book Award Contest

    PNWA’s Nancy Pearl Book Award is a contest designed to recognize recently published works by PNWA members. Books with an original copyright date of 2018 can be submitted for consideration. Winners will be announced at the 2019 PNWA Conference (September 12 – 15, 2019) and receive $1000 in cash prizes.

Enter here: https://www.pnwa.org/page/pearlaward

[kristineendsley]

Okay tonight is the night I’m starting on Tumblr after everyone and their aunt is leaving Twitter. Am I? Not really, just adding more ways to connect to other urban fantasy readers and writers just in case Twitter does really go down. Hopefully there’s a writing community here and other fans of Kim Harrison, Seanan McGuire, Patricia Briggs, Kelly Armstrong and so many others. I write contemporary fantasy (the new name for urban fantasy genre) and I’m querying my first book. I have had 7 rejections so far and when I pitched my book at the PNWA 2022 conference I got a full manuscript request. Exciting, but not getting my hopes too high.

[bardicfool]

Sometimes the idea of going to a conference or an event where “real” writers are can feel intimidating.

Thing is, we all go to these sorts of things to grow our skills and meet some cool people. You’re just as welcome in professional creative settings as you are on social media.

(And yes, that’s true for my fellow creative introverts, too!)

[timothyhasletartist]

Late night tonight at the wharf! I'm so thrilled - at the last Paint Out two years ago, I had started a nocturne from this spot, but the colors muddied as the weather worsened halfway through the painting. I ended up finishing in my studio a month later ("Coupeville Starry Night"). Tonight's work has a luminous 3/4 moon. . A bonus tonight was the sound and sight of sea lions catching fish, swirling and splashing in the water right next to me. . . . #whidbeyislandartist #coupevillewharf #pnwas @pnwas #coupeville #nightpainting #nocturnepainting #landscapepainting #expressivepainting #expressionistlandscape #whidbey #whidbeyisland #hasletstudio https://www.instagram.com/p/CStP0uhLQkI/?utm_medium=tumblr

[yespoetry]

Lynne Schmidt: September 2019 Poet of the Month

Alternate Universe

 I have seen the moment

they pull my body from the water.

 When they call my sisters,

one of whom I just got off the phone with,

she’ll say she didn’t want to talk.

 The other sister will ask why I was out so far.

I’ve never been a strong swimmer.

They both have had to leave shore to rescue me before.

 One will cry.

 The fishermen, they’re the most likely to find me,

to pull me into their boat.

 Perhaps for a moment,

they hoped I was a mermaid,

blessing their ship

rather than the lump shell of flesh

that gravity held too tightly to.

 But,

on that night,

the water was too cold

because the sun had set hours before.

 And so in an alternate universe,

my sisters got the call.

 And in this one,

I watched the sun rise.

Lynne Schmidt (she/her) is a mental health professional in Maine who writes memoir, poetry, and young adult fiction. Her unpublished memoir, The Right to Live: A Memoir of Abortion received the 2018 Maine Nonfiction Award and was a 2018 PNWA finalist, while her poetry received the Editor's Choice Award for her poem, Baxter, from Frost Meadow Review. Her chapbook collection, Dead Dog Poems, was honorable mention from Pub House Books and she received honorable mention from Joy of the Pen for her poem, The Perfect Dress. She is a regular contributor for Marias at Sampaguitas, and work has appeared in RESIST/RECLAIM, Crepe and Penn, Peculars, Royal Rose, War Crimes Against the Uterus, and many others. She is the founder of AbortionChat, and regularly does presentations on the intersections of writing and mental health.