Wednesday, May 13, 2020

The 2020 IWSG Anthology Contest and Some Reasons Why You Should Consider Entering It







Last Tuesday, on May 5th, this year's
Insecure Writer's Support Group Anthology,
Voyagers:  The Third Ghost, was released.
















 Twenty-four hours later, the IWSG
 formally announced this year's contest.







Let's start with some reasons why IWSG members should consider entering
the contest this year.  Five of the authors selected for Voyagers:  The Third Ghost
share their reasons for your doing so.


                
Consider These Reasons ...






Beth Anderson Schuck
"The Orchard"

















Why You Should Enter 
Here’s why I enjoy entering contests. Contests have deadlines, which force you to finish up a writing project. No procrastinating allowed! You can test out your ideas in short story contests, to determine if there is enough content for an entire manuscript or is the story best told in short format. The short format allows you to work with limited number of characters to truly hone in on their most vital qualities. I urge all writers to try their luck with this particular contest, as it was a joy from start to finish!

Bio
Beth Anderson Schuck is a retired librarian who believes reading can take you anywhere.  She writes historical fiction featuring willful female characters. Being in nature whether hiking, birdwatching or gardening makes her whole.










Bish Denham
"The Blind Ship"












Why You Should Enter: 
Why enter a writing or anthology contest? Why not? I once entered a contest and never thought for one minute I'd win, but I did. It was a retold Anansi story. That experience led to me putting together my first book, Anansi and Company: Retold Jamaican Tales. You never know where things will lead you. Take the chance. If nothing else, it's great experience.

Bio
Bish Denham is from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where her family has lived for over a hundred years. The author of two middle grade novels and a collection of retold Jamaican Anansi stories, she says, “Growing up in the islands was like living inside a history book.”











Katharina Gerlach
"Winter Days"











Why You Should Enter 
Submitting is a step away from the barrier of perfectitis. It's the sign to yourself that you accept that nothing you write will ever be exactly the way you see it in your mind's eye, but that some things are good enough to be sent out. And you might get surprised--like I was--when your story is accepted for publication. Also the support of the other ISWSG-people is incredible.

Bio
Although Katharina Gerlach was born in the late sixties, she’s still a child at heart. She inherited her love of fairy tales and words from her mother, an ex-secretary and avid reader, and her love of all things nature and science from her father, an ex-forester. Memories of her rather interesting life in Germany flow back at the smallest trigger, even though she tends to merge her three brothers into one when she tells stories about their childhood adventures. And more often than not, she recalls events truthfully.

Website|Advent Calendar|Facebook|Pinterest










Sherry Ellis
"The Ghosts of Pompeii"
















Why You Should Enter 
Entering an anthology contest is a great opportunity to set a writing goal and do the work necessary to achieve it. It can even help you expand your horizons and write in a genre you might not otherwise try. And if you win — well, that's the icing on the cake!

Bio
Ellis' books include Don't Feed the Elephant; Ten Zany Birds; That Mama is a Grouch; That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN; Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China; and Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure. 

She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. For more information about her work, she invites you to visit her websites at www.sherryellis.org and www.bubbaandsquirt.org.

Website|Blog| Facebook| Goodreads| Twitter| Amazon










Yvonne Ventresca
"The Third Ghost"










Why You Should Enter 
Here’s The best reason to enter the anthology contest is to stretch your creative muscles. The contest provides genre, theme, wordcount, deadline, and it’s free to enter. With nothing to lose, it’s the perfect incentive to try something new.
why 

Bio
Yvonne Ventresca is the award-winning author of Black Flowers, White Lies (IPPY Gold Medal for National YA fiction) and Pandemic (SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award).  In addition to her novels, Yvonne’s other work includes two nonfiction books and several short stories selected for anthologies, including the previous IWSG anthology, Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life.  She is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts. You can learn more at YvonneVentresca.com, where she features resources for writers.

Website| Facebook| Twitter| Blog| Instagram| Pinterest


The 2020 IWSG Anthology Contest ...

 Guidelines and rules: 

Word count: 4500-6000

Genre: Science Fiction

Theme: Dark Matter

Submissions accepted: May 6 - September 2, 2020

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (double-spaced, no footers or headers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your full contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges.


Our Official Awesome Judges:

Dan Koboldt is the author of the Gateways
to Alissia trilogy (Harper Voyager), the editor
of Putting the Science in Fiction (Writers Digest,
2018), and the creator of the sci-fi adventure
serial The Triangle (Serial Box, 2019). As a
genetics researcher, he has co-authored more
than 80 publications in Nature, Science, The
New England Journal of Medicine, and other
scientific journals. He is represented by Paul
Stevens of Donald Maass Literary Agency.





Lynda R. Young, author:
Lynda R. Young is an Aussie writing fantasy
novels as Elle Cardy. Wielder’s Prize is her
debut YA epic fantasy. She is also an editor,
game developer, 3D artist, graphic designer,
photographer, gamer and more.








Colleen Oefelein, agent, The Jennifer De Chiara
Literary Agency:
Colleen Oefelein is an author of YA, picture books,
and author promotion guides, a devourer of
books, and the owner of the book review site
North of Normal. Formerly an associate agent
and PR manager with Inklings Literary Agency,
Colleen has hosted numerous Pitch Perfect and
Rejection Correction workshops on Facebook
and at conferences nationwide, and she’s
mentored several authors one-on-one through
online pitch contests such as Pitch Wars.



Damien Larkin is an Irish science fiction author and
co-founder of the British and Irish Writing
Community. His debut novel Big Red was published
by Dancing Lemur Press and went on to be
longlisted for the BSFA award for Best Novel. He
currently lives in Dublin, Ireland and is working on
his next novel Blood Red Sand.







Ion Newcombe, editor and publisher:
Newcombe is the editor and publisher of
AntipodeanSF, Australia's longest running online
speculative fiction magazine, regularly issued
since January 1998. His qualifications and
employment range from horticulture through
electronics into literature and communications.








Julie Gwinn, agent, The Seymour Agency:
Julie Gwinn most recently served as Marketing Manager
for the Christian Living line at Abingdon Press and
before that served as Trade Book Marketing Manager
and then Fiction Publisher for the Pure Enjoyment line
at B&H Publishing Group, a Division of LifeWay
Christian Resources. Recently, she was awarded Editor
of the Year from the American Christian Fiction Writers
and won B&H’s first Christy award for Ginny Yttrup’s
debut novel Words.






David Powers King, author:
David's works include Woven, The Undead Road, and
Full Dark: An Anthology. He currently resides in the
Mountain West with his wife and four children.









Prizes
The winning stories will be edited and published by Dancing Lemur Press"
imprint Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will
receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will
have the honor of giving the anthology its title. Please see their website for
general guidelines on the types of stories they publish.
Coming on Wednesday, May 20, 2020 . . .
Next week more authors in Voyagers will share their reasons
for why you should considering entering this year's anthology contest.






Till next time ~
Fundy Blue








 Reviews of Voyagers: The Third Ghost:

 1. Check out a review by author Beverly Stowe McClure at Goodreads. Beverly has just
published her latest teen novel Gabe's Guardian Angel.

2. Here's another by a teen named Julia who reviews YA books, middle grade, and adult books
at her blog Pages for Thoughts.

3. Roland Clarke's Bookshelf Review at his website Writing Wings features Voyagers:  
The Third Ghost.

 Interviews with Authors:

1. Yvonne Ventresca with Stacy Horan at The Bookshop at the End of the Internet

2.  Sherry Ellis with June McCrary Jacobs at Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic 

 3. Roland Clarke with Laura Wolfe at The Sustainable Writer

 Blog Features:

1. Voyager Authors with Mason Canyon at Thoughts in Progress (Part 1)

 2. Voyager Authors with Mason Canyon at Thoughts in Progress (Part 2)

Events:

 1. May and June - Stormdance Publications https://stormdancebooks.junetakey.com/blog/

2. At various times - IWSG Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theiwsg/

3. Wednesday, June 9 and 11, 2020 . . . A great opportunity to learn about promoting your book! Diane, the publisher of our IWSG anthologies, will be hosting two webinars: June 9th: How to Promote Your Book Now Part 1 Cost: $10.00 US dollars June 11th: How to Promote Your Book Now Part 2 Cost: $10.00 US dollarsEllis
Register at:      
     https://www.eztalks.com/r/956771777 & https://www.eztalks.com/r/978993990



* * * * * * * * * *





You can order a copy of
VOYAGERS: The Third Ghost 
at the links below.

Print 9781939844729 $13.95
EBook 9781939844736 $4.99

Juvenile Fiction - Historical / Action & Adventure /
Fantasy & Magic





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Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Story Reviews for the Just-Released "Voyagers: The Third Ghost"








It's Out!
The IWSG's 2020 Anthology:
Voyagers:  The Third Ghost
was released yesterday on May 5th!







Over the past few months I've had the pleasure of organizing posts for this IWSG Anthology blog.  It's been great fun to meet my fellow authors in Voyagers:  The Third Ghost and to learn what went into the creation of their stories.  About a week ago I received a copy of the anthology, and I have been up late at night reading and rereading all the stories that I eagerly anticipated. I was not disappointed!  This is a book filled with adventures that span the globe and time.  The young protagonists tackle their challenges with courage, resourcefulness, determination, and great heart.  Sometimes funny, sometimes sad, sometimes scary, these tales will delight readers of all ages.  I hope that my reviews of the individual stories will entice you to read our book!

                                                                                                     
* * * * * * * * * *





Yvonne Ventresca
"The Third Ghost"
Among darkened,
arson-damaged streets,
a boy stops to help two ghosts
until he realizes his own family
is in grave danger.

Yvonne's story is suspenseful, atmospheric, and full of courage and love.  Lewis, almost thirteen, regularly sneaks out of his apartment at night, leaving his younger sister sleeping alone while he follows his mother home from the Hoboken train terminal where she works.  Torn between leaving Christina unprotected and worrying about his mother's safety, he sets out on this night, a night filled with danger and extraordinary encounters.  He suddenly receives a strange message:  Danger.  Burning.  Fire!  Forgetting his mother, Lewis races for home to try to save his sister.  The ending is not what I expected!
Yvonne is the award-winning author of Black Flowers, White Lies, (IPPY Gold Medal for National YA fiction) and Pandemic (SCBWI’s Crystal Kite Award).  Her other works include two nonfiction books and several short stories selected for anthologies, including the previous IWSG anthology, Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life.






Sherry Ellis
"The Ghosts of Pompeii"
Mount Vesuvius is about to blow and it's up to Bubba and Squirt to warn everyone, so they don't end up like the Ghosts of Pompeii.








The lengths a boy will go to for authentic Italian pizza!  Bubba's mother told him that the best pizza is in Italy, and he heads there with his reluctant older sister Squirt.  No worries ~ They have a magical vortex that will transport them wherever they want to go.  Unfortunately they land in a dangerous place where a ghost warns them Mount Vesuvius is about to erupt.  Can Bubba and Squirt warn people in time to evacuate before the volcano blows?  Can they escape themselves?  This funny twosome will delight readers!
Sherry's books include Don't Feed the Elephant; Ten Zany Birds; That Mama is a Grouch; That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN; Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China; and Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure.



Bish Denham
"The Blind Ship"


Will the Le Rôdeur reach port, or will it disappear below the waves taking its crew and passengers with it?



This harrowing tale of a journey on a slave ship related by twelve-year-old Jacques Romaigne stays with you.  Jacques sets out from Le Havre, France to join his father on their sugar cane plantation in Point-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe in the Caribbean.  At first the voyage is an adventure for young Jacques, but it quickly turns dangerous after the ship picks up a cargo of Negro slaves from the West African coast.  When a devastating disease strikes the crew and passengers, their survival is doubtful, and Jacques is forever changed.

 Bish Denham is from the U.S. Virgin Islands, where her family has lived for over a hundred years. The author of two middle grade novels and a collection of retold Jamaican Anansi stories, she says, “Growing up in the islands was like living inside a history book.”   


Louise MacBeath Barbour
"Dare Double Dare"
Who can resist a dare to enter a forbidden room? Sara and her brother Kelsey find themselves in dire circumstances a long way from home after a rash dare and double dare.




It's impossible to objectively review my own story, because I've spent so much time and effort bringing it to its published form.  I feel proud of my story, and I'm looking forward to further adventures with Sara and Kelsey. 


Born in Nova Scotia and raised throughout eastern Canada, Louise is a writer and blogger who now lives in Colorado.  She writes fiction and nonfiction with the encouragement of her supportive husband.  "Dare Double Dare" is her first middle grade story.








L.T. Ward
"Return to Cahokia"
Will Tonalli, her mother, and her siblings, Warm Weather gods, complete their spring journey to Cahokia, and what will happen if they don't?





This story about the journey of Warm Weather gods from their winter home in the south to their summer home in the north was fresh and imaginative.  It was fascinating to accompany Tonalli and her family as they traveled across the clouds to Cahokia and to see how their progress affected the weather.  In pre-Columbian times Cahokia was the largest urban settlement north of Mexico City.  Today its culture is known through its archaeological ruins near St. Louis, Missouri.  Seeing the weather from a pre-Columbian perspective was fun and informative.  The story’s unexpected ending inspired me to learn more about Cahokia’s culture and mythology.  

L.T. hails from the Land of Corn, otherwise known as Central Illinois, where weather inspires her literary works. When not writing speculative fiction shorts and novels, she spends her days raising a brood of plague monsters (a.k.a. her children) as well as satisfying her never-ending thirst for knowledge through reading, meeting people, and first-hand life experiences.






 Roland Clarke
"Feathered Fire"
Will the Firebird help Soviet sisters Vasy and Kalyna outwit evil during WW II?

What hope is there for a better future for Vasy, a 12-year-old goatherd near the Soviet-Nazi front during WWII?  Her parents were executed, and she is alone except for her sister Kalyna and the woman who took them in after her parents' deaths.  Kalyna is a Soviet pilot with the feared Nachthexen, the Night Witches, and flies nightly raids against the Nazis.  Vasy must travel through the night forest evading the Nazis to carry a message to the Soviet Red Army leaders. Accompanied by her goat Zoya and carrying a hoopoe bird feather, Vasy faces her fears and seeks her future in this suspenseful story that draws on the legend of Zharptica, the Firebird.
After diverse careers, Roland Clarke was an equestrian journalist and green activist when chronic illness hastened retirement.  But he hasn't stopped exploring rabbit holes and writing - mainly mysteries and alternative history.










Beth Anderson Schuck
"The Orchard"

Can Nels, with her magical connections to nature, and Della help each other survive in a remote area of Utah over a century ago? 





"We're not like the others," Della says to Nels.  No they certainly aren't.  Della is a 30-year-old spinster in Junction, Utah, and Nels is an 11-year-old orphan working as an orchardist in the remote community.  Over the spring and summer, Della tries to befriend Nels and to convince her to attend the local school where Della will be the new teacher in the fall.  During this time Della discovers that Nels has a special gift that connects her with nature and her dead father.  This is a mystical story that explores the lives of two strong and independent females in the canyon lands of Utah in 1910.  Misfits in the community, they must help each other or fail.

Beth Anderson Schuck is a retired librarian who believes reading can take you anywhere.  She writes historical fiction featuring willful female characters. Being in nature whether hiking, birdwatching or gardening makes her whole.









Charles Kowalski
"Simon Grey and the Yamamba"
Can the yokai help Simon and Oyuki escape deadly danger on a mountain?






This story has the feel of a horror movie, one where you yell at the characters, "Don't do that!"  You just know things are going to go from bad to worse.  Cabin boy Simon Grey has a special gift, the ability to see ghosts.  The only place he can escape them is at sea.  Unfortunately, he finds himself shipwrecked in a strange, dangerous, and haunted Japan in 1620.  He meets Oyuki, the daughter of an English sailor-turned-samurai, and together they struggle to stay alive and return home.  When fleeing the Shogun's agents they face a fork in their road.  First bad decision ~ They take a shortcut over a mountain at twilight. Second bad mistake ~ They stop at an isolated house.  Third bad mistake ~ You'll just have to read this suspenseful fantasy to find out!
Charles Kowalski has published the full story of Simon, Oyuki and their adventures through haunted Japan in Simon Grey and the March of a Hundred Ghosts.  In addition to to middle-grade fantasy, Charles' thrillers for adults, Mind Virus and The Devil’s Son, have won prizes and nominations including the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Colorado Gold Award, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award, and the Adventure Writers Grandmaster Award.



Rebecca M. Douglass
"A World of Trouble"
Sneaking off to see their first aeroplane:  What could go wrong for Mattie and Gordon?





“We’re in so much trouble, Mattie,” her best friend Gordon remarks.  Life-threatening trouble.  Mattie and Gordon have to miss seeing their first aeroplane at the Conconully fair.  Mattie must take care of the family farm while her family goes to the fair, and Gordon’s father would never take his family on such a trip.  The night before the fair, the friends concoct a plan that will allow them to see the aeroplane fly and to handle their necessary chores at home without their parents discovering that they snook off to the fair.  What happened on their lark was scary and suspenseful.  Will disobedience and errors in judgment cost them their lives?  
Rebecca is the author of the delightful Ninja Librarian books, as well as a picture book for outdoor families, a mystery series for the parents, and her middle-grade fantasy, Halitor the Hero.  After more than seventeen years working at the library, she has retired still without learning all the secrets of the Ninja Librarian.



Katharina Gerlach
"Winter Days"
Will Katie's family be arrested after a blizzard delays their return from a Christmas trip to East Germany?











 Twelve-year-old Katie’s father is a Republikflüchtling, a former resident of the German Democratic Republic who left to study forestry in West Germany prior to the building of the German-German border.  When he returns to East Germany on a Christmas visit with his family many years later, they are trapped by a blizzard beyond the date of their scheduled return.  This delay and her father’s past may result in the imprisonment of Katie and her family.  This story is filled with winter cold and great fear that had me racing through the pages to its end.  


Katharina currently writes stories of varying length in fantastical and historical genres. She runs the Indie Authors’ Advent Calendar each year, a free for all story feast.


               
Coming on Wednesday, May 12, 2020 . . .

Find out everything about this year's IWSG Anthology Contest and learn some insider tips for the competition.






Till next time ~ 
Fundy Blue 




* * * * * * * * * *


Reviews of Voyagers: The Third Ghost:

 1. Check out a review by author Beverly Stowe McClure at Goodreads. Beverly has just
published her latest teen novel Gabe's Guardian Angel.

 2. Here's another by a teen named Julia who reviews YA books, middle grade, and adult books
at her blog Pages for Thoughts.


Interviews with Authors:

 1. Yvonne Ventresca with Stacy Horan at The Bookshop at the End of the Internet

2.  Sherry Ellis with June McCrary Jacobs at Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic


Blog Features:

 1. Voyager Authors with Mason Canyon at Thoughts in Progress.
Upcoming Events:

 1. Wednesday, May 19 and 21, 2020 . . .
      A great opportunity to learn about publishing!
      Diane, the publisher of our IWSG anthologies, will be hosting two webinars:
      May 19th:  How to Publish Your Book Now Part 1     Cost: $10.00 US dollars
      May 21st:  How to Publish Your Book Now Part 2     Cost: $10.00 US dollars

     Register at 
     https://www.eztalks.com/r/950554940 & https://www.eztalks.com/r/938209289



 2. May 6 - C. Lee McKenzie, Author https://www.cleemckenziebooks.com/blog/

3. May 6 - Natalie Aguirre – Literary Rambles https://www.junetakey.com/#writersgambitblog

4. May 8 - Sandra Cox – https://sandracox.blogspot.com/2020/05/fridays-good-read.html

5. May 11 - Juneta Key https://www.junetakey.com/#writersgambitblog  

6. May 5-7-12 - Mason Canyon – Thoughts in Progress  

7. During May - Elizabeth Seckman  http://eseckman.blogspot.com/

8. May and June - Stormdance Publications https://stormdancebooks.

9. At various times - IWSG Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theiwsg/
* * * * * * * * * *




You can preorder a copy of
VOYAGERS: The Third Ghost 
at the links below.

Print 9781939844729 $13.95
EBook 9781939844736 $4.99

Juvenile Fiction - Historical / Action & Adventure /
Fantasy & Magic




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