Tag: humor

Kenyon Ledford: I Submit!

Ken LedfordGuest post
by Kenyon Ledford

Submission is a hideous word. In the fight world, it means, “You just lost.” In other circles it means that someone is quitting, giving up, docile, meek, a loser. How wonderful for us writers that each time we want to send out a piece, we have to visit the magazine’s online site and click “submission.” It’s almost like being on the gallows after a long manhunt: “I give up. This is futile. I submit. Kill me now.”

Fortunately, some magazines make the effort to entertain us before they slaughter us. In fact, I’ve belted out some huge guffaws reading some magazines’ online submissions rules. Continue reading “Kenyon Ledford: I Submit!”

Featured Book: Cat in Charge

Cat in ChargeCat In Charge
Lea Tassie
Genres: humor, literature, fiction
Available from Amazon.
Holly and Ben make a deal. He can try market gardening for one year and she can adopt a tabby-Siamese cat. George the Magnificent causes Ben to become an animal activist. But will renovations, invading cattle and a dry well make Holly end up depriving Ben of the land he loves?

Trigger Warning Template

scaredLynne Cantwell wrote an excellent article on the relatively new trend of providing trigger warnings for books.

Of course, it is impossible to know what might offend or shock another person. This can make it difficult to write a trigger warning that would accomplish the desired objective. It is also important to authors that any trigger warnings avoid creating spoilers, ruining carefully-crafted and suspenseful passages in the book for readers who may not have such delicate sensibilities.

Obviously, someone needed to step up and provide a ready-to-use template for these trigger warnings. We’re here to help. We asked our crack legal team* to come up with a template that could be used to meet these complex criteria. You’re welcome. Continue reading “Trigger Warning Template”

12 Secret Meanings of Beta Reader Lingo

dictionary-wideIt is said we find the truth we seek. That makes it very easy to look at feedback and see it as glowingly positive when the reader may actually be trying to tell us something else. Here are a few common phrases used by readers and what they might really mean:

1. The story was absorbing.
I used your book to clean up something I spilled.
2. It moved along very quickly.
I skipped over quite a bit of this drivel.
3. The writing was accessible.
The author’s vocabulary is very limited.
4. The plot dynamics were intricate.
It may be time to up the author’s medication.
5. The characters were instantly relatable.
We all know boring people.
6. The style was captivating.
You know, like a train wreck you can’t help but stare at.
7. The dialogue was gritty and real.
This author knows a lot of bad words.
8. It’s easy for the reader to become immersed.
Swallowed up by a whirlpool of convoluted sentences.
9. I wondered how everything would be wrapped up.
It should be wrapped up, set on fire, and stomped out with golf cleats.
10. The ending was very satisfying.
So relieved this is over.
11. It left me wanting more.
More plot, better dialogue, better characters…
12. I am looking forward to the author’s next book.
It has GOT to be better than this one.