The Muse On Writing

The helpful reference guide for all writers

The writing reference book for all genres and writers.

Get to meet all 18 of the writers who labored close to a year to put this book together. Their chapter headings followed with a brief bio follows their names.

If you would like to contact any of the writers, feel free to email us at:

museonwriting@yahoo.ca

CHAPTER ONE: IN THE BEGINNING...A BLANK SHEET

CHAPTER ELEVEN: EDITING HEADACHES

CHAPTER TWENTY: INTERVIEWS WITH PUBLISHED AUTHORS

Lea Schizas is founder of The MuseItUp Club, http://museitupclub.tripod.com and co-founder and Editor in Chief of Apollo’s Lyre, http://www.apollos-lyre.com, both Writer’s Digest 101 Best Writing Sites and recipients of The Preditors and Editors Most Useful Writing Sites Award. She is also co-founder of the new Coffee Cramp eZine.

She is the author of the Young Adult Fantasy Novel The Rock of Realm published by Star Publish. The Rock of Realm will be a series of adventures and quests to entertain all ages.

Lea lives in Canada with her husband and five children. They have been an inspiration to her, filling her imagination with stories to tell.

CHAPTER TWO: WRITER'S VOICE - WHO'S GOT ONE?

Kathe Gogolewski has published two novels. One, TATO, a fantasy adventure for middle grade readers is available from Wings Press. The other, A Promise to Keep, is available from Double Dragon Publishing under the pen name, Ann Durand. She has won awards for her short stories and poetry with Storyteller Magazine, The Writers’ Journal, the Complete Writers’ Magazine, and has published with Penwomanship, Jacobyte Books and BeWrite. She has also contributed to two anthologies including Spiritual Visitations due from Zumaya Publications in 2008.

You can find out more about Kathe and her books by visiting TRI Studio Authors at http://www.TRI-Studio.com

CHAPTER THREE: ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW

Steve Lazarowitz is the author of A Cure for the Common Curse, Confronting the Void, A Leaf in the Wind, Consigned to Darkness, Reflections of a Recovering Servant and other speculative fiction titles. He lives in Moonah, Tasmania with his wife, two stepsons, an insane dog and a giant spiny stick insect (retired). You can find out more about Steve on his webpage at:

www.dream-sequence.net

CHAPTER FOUR: LORD WILLING AND THE CREEK DON'T RISE (but it had better if you want to sell anything!)

Shane Roe began his publishing career in 4th grade when he wrote and illustrated several books for the school’s library. His professional career was launched in 1986 with several articles in outdoor magazines, specifically Outdoor Life and Bowhunter’s Annual. Since that time he’s published many articles and stories both in print and across the web, in venues as diverse as Alien Skin Magazine, The Writer’s Hood, Meridian Magazine, Wholenote.com, and Useless Knowledge, and an essay in the book Letters To America (edited and compiled by Rosiland Bivings -http://www.letterstoamerica2004.com/ . Click on the quotes from the book link to view my quote.).

As of this writing, Shane is serving as president of The Oquirrh Writer’s Chapter of the League of Utah Writers for which he writes a monthly column. He is also a regular columnist/editor for the monthly newsletter for writers, The Marquee Muse, http://themusemarquee.tripod.com

Shane lives in the outskirts of the Salt Lake Valley in Utah, with his wife Ann, and their two sons, Ben and Sam.

CHAPTER FIVE: WORD WARS

Mary Schneider is a freelance writer whose articles and short stories have appeared in Kids Corner News, Once Upon a Time (writers' magazine), and Cricket. She is the General Manager of the Children's Book Writers' Cafe at http://groups.msn.com/TheChildrensBookWritersCafe.

CHAPTER SIX: I - THE RHINOCEROS THEORY OF PLOTTING

Pamela Shirkey has been writing for many years and has a dark fantasy novel in progress. She has had many stories published in such diverse publications as SANDSCRIPT: A Writer's Journal, Coffee Cramp, Flash Shot, and Flash Quake. A recent short story was awarded a Special Judges prize by the Colorado PEN Women's Association and several of her poems were read on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" in June of 2005.

She lives in the shadow of Pikes Peak in Colorado and draws her inspiration from her world travels and the occasional nightmare.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE UPPER ROOM (INSPIRATIONAL WRITING)

William Koonce’s educationalbackground: -B.S. Southern Illinois University. -MAfrom Bellevue University -First book: The Aging American Worker (1994) -SecondBook: Tall Man in the Hat (2004) -Short Story: Jake (2004) "...the first ebook that knocked my socks off." Evo Terra, KFYI Talk Radio about William Koonce’s ebook Tall Man in the Hat. CHAPTER EIGHT: CALLING ALL MUSES (OVERCOMING WRITERS BLOCK) Marie Davies is moderator of Polymnia’s Muse group at The MuseItUp Club. She has a Masters of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary and is a minister in the Church of the Nazarene. As the Director of Chaplains for the Maryland State Police, she is a frequent contributor to the Maryland Trooper Magazine and adjunct faculty at the Maryland State Police Academy. Her book reviews can be read at Book Pleasures (www.bookpleasures.com) where she is part of their international team of reviewers. Marie is working on her first novel Chasing Demons. Marie resides in Catonsville with her husband, Jay and her Jack Russell Terrier, Boomer. Visit her website at www.mariedavies.com CHAPTER NINE: WORLD BUILDING Charles Mossop holds a Master's Degree in Anthropology and Oriental Studies, and is now retired after a thirty-two year career in post-secondary education as a teacher and administrator. He lives on Vancouver Island where he works part-time as a consultant in international marketing, spends time in his large garden, indulges his love of playing classical guitar and writes historical fiction. His Flash Fiction has appeared in Flashshot http://flashshot.tripod.com/, and short stories set in Ming China and the eighteenth century English Navy will shortly appear in Over My Dead Body http://www.overmydeadbody.com/, and Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine http://www.fmam.biz/. He is also editor and columnist for Worlds Apart, the Historical Fiction department of The Muse Marquee, an online magazine for writers, http://themusemarquee.tripod.com. CHAPTER TEN: NUTS AND BOLTS: PSYCHOLOGY WRITERS REFERENCE Patricia Ferguson is a clinical psychologist, as well as cofounder and editor-in-chief of Apolloslyre.com. She is a member of the Muse Club, and has contributed to several books on societal treatment of girls and women. She writes a monthly column of “psychology for writers” in Apollo’s Lyre. She is a book reviewer for several sites, and has written for a nuclear medicine journal as well as several psychology-related journals. She lives in northern California with her husband and son. CHAPTER TWELVE: I'M NONFICTION - I'M NOT BORING Shelagh McNally graduated with a B.AA. in journalism from Toronto’s Ryerson University in 1988. She worked as a corporate writer in the financial sector before moving to Cancun, Mexico in 1998 where she was a journalist for the Miami Herald. In 1999, she began a successful career as a freelance travel writer and is the author of The Adventure Guide to Guatemala, the Pocket Guide to Guatemala, Mundo Maya and six editions of Fodor’s Guide to Cancun, Cozumel and the Yucatan Peninsula. She returned to Montreal, Canada in 2002 and has been working as a freelance writer and editor since then. CHAPTER THIRTEEN: POETIC PETALS (PETALS OF YOUR MIND) Alan Toback’s Publishing Credits: -Tomball college, Tomball, Texas … Certificate of Excellence – Leadership, 2003 -Tomball College, Tomball, Texas … Certificate of Excellence – Outstanding Editor for the “Inkling“ -Tomball College , “Inkling Magazine” – poem, “Window On The World” – Spring, 2003 -Poets NW, ( Chapter of Texas Poetry Society) Staff Member 2002 through 2003 -PHI BETA KAPPA Member -JMW publishing co. Missouri …Passages In Time– Vol. XX –2001 -Literati – Literary Journal –N. Carolina – Vol. 1 – Issue 1 –2002 -Shadow Poetry Anthology – Vol. 3 –2002 -Lovingyou.com – Short Story – “The Travel Iron” Feb. 2002 -CK Publishing CO. UK – Writers Muse Magazine –Poem – “A Woman Bound In Love” – 07/16/2002 -Poem –“ Ode To A Writer“ 12/07/2002 -Rearview Quarterly –Poem, “ Spicewood Retreat” May, 2003 -Midnightedition.Com – Poem , “As Love Flows“ 04/28/2004 -Apollo’s Lyre -Short Story - “The Travel Iron” Jan/Feb, 2005 CHAPTER FOURTEEN: GOLD STAR WRITING: HELPING KIDS BECOME REAL WRITERS Robert A. Redmond taught elementary and Middle School students for 26 years before retiring. He is currently exploring the challenging world of writing for children. Robert moderates a discussion group of teachers, writers, librarians, and others who share tips, strategies, and resources meant to improve writing instruction for children. realwritingteachers@yahoogroups.com Robert is also currently writing teacher guides for picture book authors. You can contact Robert at Fearnot24@aol.com CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SCREENWRITING: THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF THE ART FORM Barbie Perkins-Cooper is a talented, award-winning writer of screenplays, fiction, non-fiction, plays, and over 60 articles for regional and trade publications. In the spring of 2007, she will be the guidebook author of “Insiders’ Guide to Asheville, NC.” In February 2004, she was awarded the Grand Goldie Film Award for her screenplay, Not My Papa. She is a member of North American Travel Journalists Association, The National Writers Association; and Dramatists Guild. She is Vice President of South Carolina Writers Workshop, and a member of Southeastern Writers Association, St. Simons, GA. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, boat riding, relaxing on the beaches of South Carolina, and listening to good music, especially jazz. You may contact her at: www.writergazette.com/barbiepc CHAPTER SIXTEEN: DABBLING WITH DIGITAL INK Kevin Oxland is a game designer and writer of fiction / non-fiction. He spent the last 21 years working on interactive entertainment. His first industry job was as a freelance programmer where he worked from home, on a desk in the corner of his bedroom. It was the early 1980's and he was churning out budget games for Mastertronic and Audiogenic on the Commodore 64. After his initial taste of game development, he joined Intelligent Designs in Brighton, UK, where he programmed 'Willliam Tell' on the Commodore 64. He continued to program and eventually moved to Leeds, UK, where he joined WJS Design, a small development company working primarily for Psygnosis, a successful UK publisher of that time. It was here that his art and design skills began to push to the fore. Big publishers beckoned and he went to work in Manchester, UK, for Ocean Software as an artist and designer. He then moved to London, UK, where he worked for Virgin Interactive as Creative Director. He spent six months working on the Lion King at Westwood Studios in Las Vegas, USA, and continued with Disney projects by designing and creating much of the art for Pinocchio. After leaving Virgin, he set up a development studio in Oxford, UK, for Grolier Interactive and subsequently another near Manchester, UK, where they developed many titles for next generation consoles including the PS2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube. In addition, he wrote a book entitled 'Gameplay and Design' which was published in 2004 by Addison Wesley (Pearson), and then designed and developed a Btec National Diploma course on Game Design for West Cheshire College, UK. He has also just completed his first novel. If you would like to know more about Kevin, please visit his web-site at www.kevinoxland.com CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: DEVELOPING GENRE FLASH FICTION - HOW TO GET STARTED Michael A. Kechula is a former technical writer with 29 nonfiction books to his credit. Switching to fiction in 2003, his works have won first prize in four flash fiction contests, including two in a row for Alien Skin Magazine in 2005. His stories have appeared in sixteen magazines and four anthologies. He's the author of four books of flash fiction and a book that teaches beginners how to write flash fiction. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: PROMOTING YOUR BOOK L.R. Farley is the author of Thrips, a suspense thriller set in the farmlands of Hawaii. A former newspaper editor and writer, he lives in Colorado with his wife, son, two dogs, and assorted fish and forest wildlife. Visit him at www.LRFarley.com . CHAPTER NINETEEN: FROM CONCEPTION TO DELIVERY: BIRTHING YOUR NOVEL THROUGH SELF-PUBLICATION After four years of teaching, Michelle Bailey Webster fulfilled her first lifelong dream of becoming a stay at home mom. Twelve years and four kids later, Michelle is finally finished with diapers and is following her second lifelong dream - writing.