A Celebration of Hard Work - Dynamic Writing 1 Release Celebration and a Peek at Stephen Tremp's New Novel

By Krisaemilia (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Warning: This post grew to mountainous proportions. Hit the highlights, if in a hurry, and it will be here all week.

Have you ever climbed a mountain? I have only climbed to the top of Black Comb Mountain in Whistler, B.C. to ski down the bowl, and I only had to climb the last part after assists from a gondola, a lift chair, and two rope tows. So, technically, I can only imagine what it feels like to be in the picture above. 

Yet, I have climbed the book writing mountain a few times. Each book writing mountain is slightly different. There are days that the trail is socked in with fog and my next steps are obscured and other days when the sun shines bright on the horizon. 

Then, there are the book mountains that I've climbed without planning to set foot on them in the first place. 

When I set out to teach classes at our home-school co-op, I planned to use curriculum I found but I kept supplementing pieces of my own teaching ideas into the mix until finally I was giving out two to three page home-made handouts nearly every week to all of my classes. This took place over three years.

Finally, I started writing my own curriculum. Last year, two of my classes received instruction from private print run books I had made up from notes and exercises I had created. Parents were kind, and then enthusiastic. Kids gave me hints on how I could improve the books and then gave me huge thank you notes at Christmas and at the end of the year. A few parents said, "I can't wait to see your book on sale at home-school websites and curriculum fairs." Wow. 

I received huge compliments: 

"My son doesn't normally love writing, but he loves your class." Wow.

"My daughter loves writing and appreciates the creativity you put into a writing curriculum that focuses on essay writing. It makes it fun." Again, wow. 

I feel humbled by the enthusiasm I've received for books that I never dreamed of writing. I just stumbled onto the mountain path and kept climbing upwards, ever upwards, through notes, booklets, private print run books, content revisions, and massive formatting and copy-editing revisions. And, finally, I have finished completely* with the first one.

Dynamic Writing 1 is available in complete form in paperback through Amazon. Containing 161 Lessons for Middle Grade Students, this curriculum is meant for a complete year of home-school, home-school co-op, or classroom use. Eighteen of the lessons are "double" lessons and may be split over two days worth of time to extend the school year to 179 days with a planned celebration day at the end. Teaching notes, grade sheets, a resource list, and extra writing prompts are included in the text, as well as an answer key at the back of the book for the writing exercises. Within a year, students will study journal writing and essay writing, with short forays into fiction and poetry. Specific instruction in sentence variations, similes, and other writing concepts is spread over the course of the book and reviewed throughout the year so that students can wrestle with these concepts over the full course. 

The cost for the full curriculum in paperback is $25.99. Most full year writing curricula start at $35 and skyrocket upward, even when written by an individual and self-published. (I've done my research on this one and unfortunately purchased a few of those skyrocket-priced curricula.) I'm trying to show that I value my work and yet make it reasonable for home-school families and small private schools where I think this curriculum will most benefit the students. It is set up to be multi-purpose in use from home to large classrooms, but I think my market is probably home and small classrooms. It may also be used as a supplement at home after school hours (This is called "additional home-schooling" and my mom did this without even knowing the terminology. It's when parents assign extra work: reading, writing, math, and science experiments, with visits to history museums, art museums, and zoos.)

Dynamic Writing 1A contains only the first 85 lessons and is available for kindle, smashwords, nook, and kobo. Dynamic Writing 1B Second Semester will be released in e-book format in late October. Each of these e-books is/will be priced at $9.99.

Dynamic Writing Introduction (The First Fifteen Lessons) is FREE on the Dynamic, Every Day Writing site. These are the easiest of all the lessons and serve as a gentle start to the year, but they should give parents, teachers, and students a sense of the writing curriculum as a whole. 

*"completely"means that I have more student examples to add, and I'm sure that my current crop of students will give me some suggestions for improvements.

And, I'm celebrating today by teaching the first day of classes at Harbor Christian Home-School Co-operative. I'm excited to start the school year with my students, get to know their strengths, and give them tools to climb their own writing mountains. 

In addition to my book, I'm also celebrating the hard work of author Stephen Tremp:

Stephen Tremp writes speculative fiction and his fourth novel, Salem’s Daughters, is supernatural thriller. A four hundred year old evil is unleashed when souls of the daughters of those killed during the Salem Witch Trials find a new generation of people to murder at a popular modern-day bed and breakfast.

 

For a full synopsis and to pre-order a copy of Salem’s Daughters for $2.99 (price goes up to $4.99 soon after release) Click Here 

Climbed any mountains lately, literally or figuratively?

Many thanks to those who have offered to help with the Dynamic Writing 1 release! I know it's not everyone's "usual" reading fare, but I'm looking for four more reviewers. Please e-mail me at tyreantigger (at) gmail (dot) com for a free review pdf copy. 

Also, if you can help with a tweet, I would greatly appreciate it:

Dynamic Writing 1 - 161 Lessons for MG Writers - Available at Amazon @TyreanMartinson http://tinyurl.com/navnmaq 

Dive into Writing with Dynamic Writing 1 - 161 Lessons for MG Writers - http://tinyurl.com/navnmaq

Thank you!!!

Murees Dupe on Writing Romance, Static Cover Love, A Few Hint Fiction Stories, and A Double Question

Please Welcome Murees Dupe!

Why I write romance

When you ask someone what about life is a mystery to them, most will probably say something like religion, who built the pyramids, or whether we are alone in the universe. Well, for me, it is matters of the heart. I have never been in love, so naturally that is what caught my attention and prickled my curiosity. After all, love must be amazing if people are willing to die, or even kill for it . . . right?

Another reason why I like writing/ reading romance is that the author is obligated to give you a happy ending. Life can be depressing and the last thing I want is a book that reads too much like reality. Fiction, for me, is a way to escape reality. Even make my own dreams, or fantasies come true.

I know most people think that romances are corny, but it is hard to write. Getting two people to fall in love, and make it believable is daunting. The fact that most of my characters are immortal just makes it all the more exciting. But convincing my characters to stay together for all eternity, takes a lot of persuading on my part:)

Title: The Amaranthine (Thelum Series)

Author: Murees Dupé

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Release Date: 8 September 2015

Blurb

Claire is sassy, human, and an outcast of society―who only wants to know where she belongs.

Alex is arrogant, selfish, and an immortal warrior―who thinks he’s prepared for everything.

Claire knows the world of immortals is where she belongs. As her guide and guardian, Alex finds it hard to resist Claire’s subtle charm. Can the two overcome their differences and embrace their passion for each other, or will the possibility of true love be lost to both forever?

Find your copy here:

E-book: Kindle * Nook * Kobo * Ibook

Paperback: Amazon

About the Author

Murees Dupé was born and still lives in South Africa. When she is not thinking up new stories, she is spending time with her family, playing with her three dogs and cat, watching TV, or overindulging on desserts. To learn more about Murees, visit her website.



Static Cover Love

I love Murees Dupe's cover for Amaranthine, but I also love S.K. Anthony's Cover for Static! I'm not part of the official cover reveal party, but I thought it deserved a little extra love. Don't you agree?

Coming Soon!

A Few Hint Fiction Stories

I've been heavily involved in finishing "big" projects, but I've been writing a few hint fiction stories, too. I had a few of them published recently by Espresso Stories. I'm usually one for hope at the end of stories, but these two are a little heavy.

Conversations Through Time

Haunted by Reality

Double Question

Would you be willing to help me promote one of the following books?

Dynamic Writing 1 - 161 Lessons for Middle School Students - out now and looking for a little love - a tiny post this size would be awesome! (And, if you are interested in reviewing this for free, please send me an e-mail by Friday, 9/25/2015.)

or

Champion's Destiny - With distracting attention from a former swan prince and her mentors both in harm's way, will Clara be able to trust her team with her family secret as they race to fight the Dark Sisterhood on their terms?

Coming in early December 2015. Later than originally planned, but I'm hoping for "book bash" on December 4th with tiny blurbs, guest posts, or interviews between December 7th and December 18th. 

If you have any interest or availability, I would greatly appreciate your help. Please e-mail me at tyreantigger (at) gmail (dot) com. 

IWSG: Mood Swings

If you haven't joined IWSG, join now! Join here! Visit the website! Visit the facebook page!

Why? Because it's the best monthly hop for any writer in need of a little encouragement from fellow writers!

Plus, Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh started it. 

Many thanks to all IWSG co-hosts and writers!

Co-hosts this month:

Heather M. Gardner    

Christine Rains 

Dolorah at Book Lover 

Julie Flanders  

Murees Dupé  

I didn't post last month so I'm feeling a little insecure about that. I think it was the first IWSG post that I've completely missed since the inception. But, I was on a road trip with my family that included a lot of activity (see post from the 24th) and Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team's Fourth Win of the Flat-water Sprint National Championships! So, I was busy doing a lot of proud mama cheering for my daughters (both brought home three medals) and for all the other kids.

But here's what I'm feeling really insecure about: intense writer mood swings.

In detail (you can skip this if you're in a hurry):

 At the book festival in Portland, it poured down rain for three hours, my poster became a runny mess of ink, I couldn't seem to describe my own books, 70 other vendors seemed way more prepared than me, and I only sold one book. I was asked if my name was my real name (more on that at the bottom). On the way back to the mini-van, I dumped a box of books into a busy street crosswalk in downtown Portland and encrusted them with mud trying to pick them up, and then I cried in the parking lot behind the van. It was a horrible, no good, very bad day (quoting Alexander's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - children's book). I required dinner (I hadn't eaten all day because my stomach was in knots) and hot chocolate from Cacao to get back to a somewhat calm but near sniveling state of insecurity. My sweet family was super supportive, but I just wanted to go curl up under a blanket somewhere.

After coming home, I realized I had a lot of work ahead of me because I write my own lessons for the classes I teach. Well, except I planned to use a couple of other curricula resources for a part of my College Prep writing class. Then, I discovered that the writer of the most popular home-school co-op curricula advocated using sentence fragments as a "dress-up" sentence variation for college application and SAT essays. I have already had distinctly unhappy run-ins with this particular curricula provider, which apparently everyone else in the home-schooling world thinks is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but this was another chunk out of a tenuously rebuilt bridge of trust. I know that sentence fragments are considered acceptable for poetry, fiction, and any social media. However, I can't and won't advocate sentence fragments for use in a college application or SAT essay. 

Do you see the arrogance building here?  

I do. (Agh.)

The only good thing about that arrogance build is that it gave me the confidence and energy to finish revisions on Dynamic Writing 1 - 161 Lessons of Writing for Middle School Students. 

However, I'm still not finished with revisions for Champion's Destiny - and that's totally freaking me out! 

So, I'm back to semi-normal on the insecurity scale - proud of some accomplishments, challenged by more work ahead, and unsure of how I'm going to make my goal publication date for Champion's Destiny without losing sleep. 

How have you been on the insecurity scale lately?

And, does anyone else hit some intense writer mood swings?

And, my name is my real name. My parents named me Tyrean at my birth. If there has been any "clever" name-stealing going on, it was what's-his-name who took my name, misspelled it, and mispronounced it for his popular book/HBO series. Someone made a half-accusatory comment about it at the book festival and it happened again at one of the hotels we stayed at on our trip. It is an unfortunate coincidence. I like my name too much to give it up just because of someone used something similar for one of their terribly popular characters.

Tyrean = Tie + rene (sound pronunciation)

Oh, and I almost forgot to re-invite everyone to Realms Faire in November! I'll be hosting an event for the first time, and there are loads of fun events to participate in for a whole week in November!

Do You Have Goals? End of Summer Update and Book/Story Celebrations

Do You Have Goals? is an encouraging blog hop about creating fantastic, mind-boggling goals and then taking all the small steps to make them happen. This hop is hosted by the inspiring Misha and Beth!

This is my end of summer, super detailed update (skip to the end, if needed): 

1. Publication goals and celebrations:

July goal (which became my July-August goal): putting Ashes Burn Season 3 into e-book format. 
Plus, I finished Dynamic Writing 1. 

Underlying Long-term goal: To get work off my pc and into the world.
September Goals: Ashes Burn 4 in ongoing episodic format at my Ashes Burn blog. Looking for confirmation from my publisher that Eight if By Sea will come out in September, and prepping C.D. for release . . . which I had originally planned for October, but will take miracles to release as planned.

2. Writing and Write 1 Sub 1 Goals and Celebrations:

July and August: Finish revisions of C.D, DW1, and partial DW2, plus write and submit at least one story.
C.D. (still underway), DW1 (finished!), and partial DW2 (in last stages). Plus, I wrote and submitted 7 new stories, and re-subbed four older stories. 

Underlying long-term goal: To strengthen my writing skills and finish several projects this year.

September Goals: Finish C.D. Finish all prep for home-school co-op start on Sept. 14th (this involves moving some writing curriculum forward, at least in handout/note format).

3. Marketing goals and celebrations:

Underlying goal: To get better at this strange thing called marketing.

July-August goals: Track down that guest post e-mail, make action-item list for the rest of the year and follow it. Go to and rock the NW Book Fair without falling over in a nervous sweat. Figure out my newsletter.

Epic Fail Area. I didn't rock the Book Fair, didn't track down that one e-mail, and have only a partial action-item list.

September goals: to prep for the Puyallup Festival of Books in October, to make that action-item list, and to request guest posts and reviews. That's it.

4. Exercise goals and celebrations:

Underlying goal: Health and fitness.

July goal: Bike 40 miles, walk 40 miles, get yoga routine back, swim and kayak at least 5 times. Drink more water. (I think this is more reasonable)

I biked 34 miles, walked 44 miles, started easy stretches, swam once, and kayaked once.
I considered this accomplished.

August: I boogie-boarded in California, hiked in Yosemite, and started walking again when I got home.

September goal: help start a new "master/40+" kayak/surfski group, walk 40 miles, bike 40 miles.

5. Invitational goal:

Underlying goal: To have an invitational attitude.

July goal: Invite friends and/or family over for dinner/hang-out time. Sadly, I don't remember if I invited or if I just had my in-laws over for dinner in a happenstance kind of way.

August - um, not really. 

September: Invite someone over to my house for something - dinner, coffee, have my kids' friends hang out, etc. 

6. Spiritual goals:

July-August goal:  Prayer, Bible Study, Cell group, look at volunteer opportunities - did these.

September: Volunteer with Youth Sunday School (regular stuff for me), help with an Alpha group, Prayer, Bible Study, and Cell Group. 

BOOK/STORY RELEASE REVIEWS AND CELEBRATIONS

E-mail me if you have news to share! I don't always remember because I'm clueless and my family life is a super busy life. If it's not written down and plastered to something fixed, I don't remember stuff.

Garden of the Lost Souls - Twenty dark tales of flash fiction to shiver your spine by Madeline Mora-Summonte. 

I love Madeline's fiction even though these tales are truly dark and freaked me out quite a bit. She is an amazing writer.  On a 1-10 scary scale, these are a 10+, and on a 1-10 writing scale, these are a 10+. So, move over Stephen King. (Not recommended for MG readers that might stop by this post.)

Dragon's Destiny Review 

Dragon's Destiny by Alex J. Cavanaugh. If you've read Dragon of the Stars, contact Alex J. Cavanaugh about reading this wonderful short story that takes place after the novel. 

My super short review: Aden's growth as a character continues on a phenomenal arc and the story is both dramatic and sweet. Highly recommended as a companion to Dragon of the Stars. You can only read this book by checking out Alex's plan for getting Dragon's Destiny found in this post, and by contacting him directly. Go to his website link for more info.

I read like books are food, and I don't always write reviews well, but I thought I would share a few from my recent road trip:

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. You've probably already read the reviews,and maybe you read my long facebook rant when I was stuck on page 43, utterly disappointed that Scout had turned into a brat, but I have one more tiny review to add to all the hoopla.

As a writer, I encourage you to read this book after you've read To Kill a Mockingbird. I noticed horrible craft issues as well as story arc issues, but I also noticed the differences in characters from one book to another. It reminded me of why I wrote seven content drafts of Champion in the Darkness, and how much the characters changed from one draft to another. I think Go Set a Watchman is an excellent example of a nearly unedited early draft. It helps me feel a bit better as a struggling writer. I mean, if Harper Lee couldn't get it right the first time, why do I think I will? However, I recommend this as a library book read, not a store-bought read. Don't buy it if you can borrow it.

I ended up giving it 3 out of 5 stars because I think Harper Lee was struggling with how to deal with the reality of our flawed humanity and the depth of racism in our country.

More is an urban fantasy mystery by T.M. Franklin. It's action-packed with a touch of sweet romance and a good amount of mystery. My youngest, who is as voracious of a reader as I am, found it to be her favorite book on our road trip. I think she read it twice. It's fairly short, but it's a good read, and the rest of the trilogy is out so you don't have to wait for more of the More Trilogy. :)

The last book in this over-long post is my own. Call this a min-celebration with another small planned celebration to come on September 14th when I will post about the background of this book and have all the links prepared for various sites.

Dynamic Writing 1 includes 161 writing lessons for middle school students. In one year, students will write over fifty journal entries, six book summaries, two descriptive essays, two narrative essays, five short fiction stories, a process essay, a news article, a super short biography, a short research report, two quatrains, a ballad, two timed essays, and a writing resume. In addition to essay basics like thesis statements, introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions, students will also learn sentence variations and writing concepts. Notes for teachers and parents, as well as checklists and grade sheets are provided within the lessons, and an answer key may be found in the back of the book. With all of this, Dynamic Writing 1 is ready for use in the home or the classroom. 

The first fifteen lessons are available for kindle readers for 99 cents or for free at the new Dynamic, Every Day Writing site. These lessons serve as a tiny introduction to the series. The rest of the lessons get progressively longer and more challenging as the year moves onward.

Dynamic Writing 1 is available as a whole book in paperback and is getting split into two e-books, Dynamic Writing 1A First Semester, and Dynamic Writing 1B Second Semester.

For some reason, I am more proud of this particular project than any other that I have written. I love writing fiction, but writing this middle school writing curriculum book involved just as much sweat, tears, laughter, and time as anything else I've ever written, and I wrote it because I saw a need that I felt passionate about filling.  

I know that middle school writing curriculum isn't on everyone's TBR list, but if you could in any way help me spread the word, I would greatly appreciate it. 

In fact, if you have any ideas on how to market writing curriculum instead of fiction, I would gladly take marketing advice. Other than contacting a few review sites and planning to have a booth at a home-school curriculum fair next year, I'm not sure how to get the word out about this one.

Do you have goals? Have you finished a project lately? Do you have a book to share?

Here ye! Here ye! I'm back and I'm inviting all to participate in Realms Faire!

During the actual family road trip part of my absence, staying off the internet was fairly easy although I did randomly post images of our trip via instagram, twitter, and facebook. Posting things like that from my phone didn't take more than three minutes and felt like a good way to stay connected with friends and family near and far.

I could ramble on more about my ultra-packed family road trip but I'll try to sum it up in just fourteen phrases:

1. Rained out book festival blues.

2. Long drive(s).

3. Mega roller coasters for my daughter's 14th birthday at Magic Mountain.

Yes, they were making faces while waiting for the Batman coaster, but this is a part of our family fun.

4. A college campus visit.

5. Nationals opening ceremony involved a torch run at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, CA.

6. Daughters both in medal-winning races!

7. Heat, humidity, and a spider bite caused some health concerns.

8. Our team won Nationals for the 4th year in a row!

They're holding up four fingers to celebrate winning four times in a row. We were at an Olympic Training venue and they lit the torch for the event! :)

9. A visit to old town San Diego.

My family's sense of humor on display.

10. Boogie-boarding at Huntington Beach.

We hardly ever take pictures while actually doing things, so this is afterwards . . .

11. Hiking with friends in Yosemite National Park.

12. A visit with friends in Nevada.

13. A doctor visit and antibiotics for that same horrible spider bite.

14. A decision to come home two days early, a beautiful drive, and some rain relief from the heat.

And, it took us a week to adjust to being at home as I started my "book journey" part of my blog absence.

My writing and revision felt like slogging through mud uphill into mountainous terrain with high humidity and I wanted to turn to the internet for any distraction it could offer, and I lurked just a little. Mostly though, I just wrote and revised and paced. (Plus, I celebrated a 19th anniversary with my husband and my birthday.)

Anyway, I'm back. And, I still ramble even when I'm trying not to ramble.

So, without any further distraction, I would like to invite all, near and far, to participate in the annual Realms Faire, started by the one and only M Pax, and co-hosted by several bloggers and blogs including: River Fairchild, Cassandra Webb, L. Diane Wolfe, Untethered Realms, Christine Rains, Julie Flanders, Cherie Reich, Misha Gericke, Mary Waibel, and VelociRaffle. Oh, and me, too.

I'll be hosting the Hero's Dilemma

Hero's beware! Here at the House of Hero's Dilemma, a new cliff-hanging adventure will dangle new heroes above the depths of destiny or despair. In 100 words or less, a hero will face a danger in story form.

Each day, the people of Realsmdom will decide the fate of these heroes in three sentences or less. If fateful endings are giving answer in poetic form, an extra entry for prizes will be awarded. For each Dilemma, the entries must by in by midnight, Pacific time. 

Daily e-book prizes will be awarded via random name-pulling from the entries. Winners will be announced regularly. Everyone is invited to participate in the comments section.

People of Realmsdom, you have the power of storytelling might to decide the fate of the would-be heroes. Will they die in glory or shame, live in victory or defeat? It is up to you.

And, after you have decided the fate of the Hero's Dilemma, try your hand at the other Realms Faire Events for more fun and prizes!

To find out more, visit Realms Faire!

All events have daily drop-in opportunities to participate and a few require some advance sign-ups like jousting. Check it out! Join the fun of the one and only online Realms Faire! You can dress up in your knightly wear or your nightly wear while participating.