Guest blogger

Guest post: Baking a bigger cake

/ Ari / 2 Comments

This week’s guest poster is the lovely Jann Weeratunga who discusses the authors group she started called “Baking a Bigger Cake” 🙂

JannBAKING A BIGGER CAKE

“We must meet up for coffee.”

Famous last words.

This is what I saw written on numerous Facebook pages between authors who were only known to each other via this medium.

Thus I decided to make faint promises into concrete arrangements, and so was born the Indie Authors Networking group. I approached Deborah du Plooy from Skoobs and explained my thoughts and she was on board from the onset. Basically, it’s a platform where authors, readers, bloggers, reviewers, artists, printer, publishers and all others literary folk can meet and hang out together. We meet once a month at Skoobs Theatre of Books, basically because they have, under the guidance, (as well as occasional poke and prod) of Deborah du Plooy, launched over 100 Indie Authors and are considered by many as the home of Jozi Indies, and their support is constant. Plus they have a lovely upstairs venue with a licensed bar and brilliant coffee – the two musts for any author.

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Guest post: Interview with Viv Drewa

/ Ari / 10 Comments

This week’s guest poster is author Viv Drewa, the Owl Lady.  Check out her answers to these interview questions 🙂

viv-drewaInterview

with Viv Drewa

Q01 – When did you decide you wanted to become a writer?

When I was 9-years-old I read a book that made me want to be a writer. It was “The Whistling Sword” by James Robert Green. I was so impressed by how he used true people in fiction. I bought the book from a library that closed just to have it.

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Guest Post: Finding that book inside you

/ Ari / 44 Comments

This week’s guest post is by the lovely Sally Cronin who is discussing the option of writing Non-Fiction books.

sallyFinding that book inside you by Sally Cronin

Not everyone can dive into publishing with a best-selling novel, and most successful authors who have sold a million copies of their books are a rare breed.

Writing and then marketing our own books can be exciting but it can also be a daunting task. Whilst most of us who write love the process, we understand that we are competing with hundreds of thousands of other fiction titles that are published each year. This is particularly true if you are writing within one of the most popular of the genres such as Thrillers, Mystery or Fantasy.
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Guest Post: You’re Never Too Old To Learn

/ Ari / 4 Comments

This week’s guest post if by the lovely Lorraine Ambers, Writer and Queen of Daydreams, who talks about who own personal experiences and how you really are, never too old to learn.

Lorraine AndrewsYou’re never too old to learn by Lorraine Ambers

Exam result time is upon us. People are waiting in angst or hope for their future endeavours. Now-a-days pupils are taught through positivity, that if you try you can succeed. This method is new. Teachers used to drill home the concept, that exam results were the pinnacle upon which success hung.  That without great grades adults would scrape the bowels of existence. Facing perils for evermore… Blah blah blah!

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Guest Post: Book Reviewing

/ Ari / 13 Comments

This week’s guest poster is my dear friend C from HappyMeerkatReviews who not only writes but also produces awesome book reviews and is one of the nicest people I’ve met in internet land!

CatBook Reviewing by C

Being a book reviewer is something far more rewarding than I ever imagined.  Being able to read books and talk/write about how great they are is something I’ve only been doing for a short time but it’s so rewarding, especially when you find a gem from a new and unheard of author.

For me reviewing starts with reading.  I can never read more than two books at a time, one fiction and one non-fiction (memoirs are like fiction for me).  This is because I’m one of those people who loves to get completely absorbed by a book and I couldn’t do it if I had several going at once.

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Guest Post: A Writer’s Love Story

/ Ari / 11 Comments

When we think of writers we often go straight to novelists. However there are many different writers. So, this week’s guest post is from the wonderful Brenda Baker from CyberneticBlonde.com who is an amazing poet. Enjoy!

Caffeinated RamblingsA Writer’s Love Story by Brenda Baker

Writing has become somewhat of a love affair for me. I have to write, if I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing, or when I’ll get the chance to write again. I sneak it in where ever and whenever possible.

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Guest Post: Building layers into your story

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Let’s continue with more guest posts! This week’s lovely contributor is T J Muir, here to discuss the layers in your story. She is another writer I met through the 85K Writing Challenge. (look at me being all social!)

Building layers into your story

by T J Muir

GP Teri1.jpg

One of the things that often separates the majority of writing from the George Martin’s of the world- is the layers of world-building. Every corner of his literary map is completely filled in. It is essential to develop your world and your characters, we all appreciate that. One of the first things I remember learning about writing: for every fact a writer uses, there are ten facts sitting in their pocket.

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