Expansion Pack: Comedy wrap up

Check out this post from C.S. Boyack via the Story Empire blog titled: Expansion Pack: Comedy wrap up

Story Empire

Hi, Gang. Craig with you once more. This time I want to wrap up the mini-series about writing comedy. In the previous two posts, we gave a list of common situations you can use, or modify into your own work. Read those posts here and here.

I’m sure there are many more situations that work as plotted elements for your stories. I’m known for living documents, and those notes came from one of my documents.

This wrap is about the other kind of comedy. Those things that just come to you on the fly while drafting your story. For this to work, you have to keep an open mind.

I’ve had some wonderful things come to me on the fly. Many times it comes after I know my characters a bit better. There’s always one who’s prone to make a smart remark. At those times, I write them into…

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – New Author on the Shelves – #Memoir #NYPolitics – Community: Power Politics and Democracy in Hell’s Kitchen by Mary Clark

Check out the new book on the shelves of the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore via this post from Sally Cronin.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Delighted to welcome Mary Clark to the Cafe with her latest release, a memoir – Community: Power Politics and Democracy in Hell’s Kitchen

About the book

An arts coordinator at a midtown church in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, Mary Clark began a fifteen-year journey through New York City politics. From the volatile streets to the halls of power, she experienced the triumphs and defeats of the Hell’s Kitchen community as it fought “development fever.” Her actions fed into the successes and failures of her community work, as this memoir describes in a nod to Rousseau’s The Confessions.

The AIDS epidemic was at its height. Homeless families were placed in midtown hotels, which resembled refugee camps. Crime associated with the illegal drug trade threatened one of the oldest communities in the city. Meanwhile, ambitious politicians vied for dominance behind the scenes. She had a grassroots view of the fall of Ed…

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – #Author Updates – #Reviews – #Romance Jacquie Biggar, #WWII Robbie Cheadle and Elsie Hancy Eaton, #YAFantasy Colleen M. Chesebro

Check out what’s new at the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore via this post from Sally Cronin’s blog.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the first edition of the Cafe updates this week and for March, with recent reviews for authors on the shelves.

Welcome to the first of the Cafe and Bookstore updates for the week with news and updates for authors on the shelves.

The first author today is USA Today Bestselling author Jacquie Biggar with a recent review for Perfectly Imperfect.

About the book

What happens when Miss Perfection clashes with Mr. Casual?
Chaos!

Georgina’s in trouble. The startup money she borrowed from her parents’ retirement fund is long gone and her dream of owning the next big thing in market-to-table cuisine disappeared with it.
Her only choice? Merge her company into the corporate giant, CLO, and hope she isn’t making a huge mistake.

Rhys Turner is his father’s progeny, born and raised to take over the empire when his dad deems him ready. Rhys doesn’t mind the…

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The Writing Spark

Check out this great post from D.L. Finn via the Story Empire blog on the topic of The Writing Spark

Story Empire

• 

Hi SEers!  Denise here, and I’m going to talk about that spark that started me writing. I can’t pinpoint the exact moment it ignited in me, but I remember my exhilaration when I wrote a short story in my first year of high school. It received an A because of the story told. My teacher overlooked the grammar.

It was during this period in high school that I fell in love with creating stories. The fresh glow that came with my first love kindled that spark. Anything became possible as the world opened up and that writing flame grew stronger. I could create any realm and characters, then live there with them, just like reading.

Then I took classes that advanced my knowledge and skills. I explored new writing avenues that included children’s books, articles, poetry, short stories, and fiction.

Recently, that writing spark from my youth has dimmed. Although…

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – New Author on the Shelves – #Family – Sisters of the Undertow by Johnnie Bernhard

There’s a new author on the shelves of the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore. Check out the details via this post from Sally Cronin.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Delighted to welcome Johnnie Bernhard to the Cafe and Bookstore with her books and today I am featuring Sisters of the Undertow, a coming of age, family novel.

About the book

Sisters Kim and Kathy Hodges are born sixteen months apart in a middle-class existence parented by Linda and David Hodges of Houston, Texas. The happy couple welcomes their “lucky daughter” Kim, who is physically and mentally advanced. Following several miscarriages, Linda delivers “unlucky” Kathy at twenty-nine weeks, ensuring a life of cognitive and physical disabilities. Kathy enters public school as a special education student, while Kim is recognized as gifted.

Both sisters face life and death decisions as Houston is caught in the rip current of Hurricane Harvey. Kim learns the capricious nature of luck, while Kathy continues to make her own luck, surviving Hurricane Harvey, as she has survived all undertows with the ethereal courage of the resolute.

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Recent Reviews – #Lockdown M.J. Mallon, #Poetry Balroop Singh, #Paranormal Marcia Meara

Check out what’s new at the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore via this post from Sally Cronin.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the Friday edition of the Cafe and Bookstore with recent reviews for authors on the shelves.

The first author today with a recent review is Marjorie Mallon for the anthology This is Lockdown that shares her own diary of events over that period about the pandemic and life as a family in lock down.. and the thoughts and poetry of others within the blogging community including myself.

About the collection

An anthology and compilation of diaries, short stories, flash fiction, contributions from the ‘isolation writers,’ plus poetry written during the time of lockdown in the UK. This Is Lockdown is written from a writer’s perspective highlighting the simple pleasures of day-to-day life during such an uncertain and frightening time. It also gives a glimpse of the blogging, writing world. The book showcases several authors and their thoughts on what it is like to experience ‘isolation’ as a…

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Expanded Distribution Has Expanded

Check out this helpful post from Chris McMullen’s blog titled Expanded Distribution Has Expanded

chrismcmullen

EXPANDED DISTRIBUTION

Amazon KDP now offers two Expanded Distribution channels. In addition to the usual Expanded Distribution channel for the US, they have added an Expanded Distribution channel for the UK.

Authors and publishers using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing for paperbacks may now add the Expanded Distribution channel for the UK. Each title must be individually enrolled. To sign up for Expanded Distribution in the UK, find a book on your Bookshelf, and go to Page 3 of the publishing process for the paperback edition (the pricing page). You may need to click an option to show prices in other countries. If your list price is too low, your book won’t be eligible for Expanded Distribution in the UK (unless you’re willing to raise your UK list price). Check the Expanded Distribution royalty amount that is displayed and make sure that you’re comfortable with that royalty. The process isn’t complete…

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Are You a Whole-Hearted Writer? – From the Writers in the Storm Blog

by Tasha Seegmiller

There is a tricky situation that occurs in the lives of writers. To people who are not engaged in some kind of similar creative pursuit, explaining a difficult day can be met with expressions of disbelief. “You mean sitting in your seat and typing words was hard? Exhausting? Really?”

These people may also not understand why the words of others can hurt, whether that hurt was intentional or not. It can be anything from a bad review to a critique from a well-meaning colleague or beta reader that can make us doubt, stall, quit.

I’ve been on a bit of a Brené Brown kick lately.

[Full disclosure: I gave away nearly a dozen copies of her Daring Greatly, have been listening to every talk I can get my hands on, and recount key points almost daily to my very patient husband.]

Most recently, I’ve been listening to The Power of Vulnerability, which has been great because it is a live recording of Brené and I get to hear that she is a lot like me in her resilience to this whole open and honest thing.

But it has got me thinking quite a bit about what it might mean to be a whole-hearted writer. To start with, these are the guideposts she suggests of whole-hearted living:

Read the rest of this post HERE.

How to use Mac in Cloud for working with Mac-only Software on a PC

Check out this helpful post from Harmony Kent via the Story Empire blog on the topic of How to use Mac in Cloud for working with Mac-only Software on a PC

Story Empire

Mac in Cloud

Hi SErs! Harmony here 😁  Back in January 2020 (I know, how time flies!), I started my series of posts on how to publish to KDP. The first article looked at software for writing and formatting your book. (You can find that post HERE.) One of the tools I recommended was Vellum. Unfortunately, Vellum is only available in Mac.

Today, I would like to show a possible work-around for those of you who may be interested. This online tool will allow you to work with Mac-only software, such as Vellum and others, even on a PC.

For this tutorial, I’m using MacinCloud online.

Please note, I have no affiliation with MacinCloud at all and only show this here for tutorial purposes. Neither I nor Story Empire have any financial or other gain from this and do not hold any liability for using this service.

 

Right…

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #YA #Fantasy – Rites of Passage (The Rites Trilogy Book 1) by Doug Parker

Check out the new book by Doug Parker as featured at the Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore from this post by Sally Cronin.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Doug Parker is already the author of a children’s book, and now has a YA/Fantasy novel on pre-order for February 26th. Rites of Passage: A contemporary fantasy action adventure. (The Rites Trilogy Book 1)

About the book

It’s a world full of magic…

…and ghosts aren’t supposed to be real.

Can two high school pariahs survive the path to adulthood?

Orphan Cassius is stuck with no girl, no car, and magic that breaks whenever he tries to use it.

His luck begins to turn when he sets his sights on righting an old wrong, but when a deeper evil is exposed it threatens the one person he holds dear.

Will their bond be strong enough to help them survive?

Can he master his magic?

And about that car…

You’ll love this fast-paced adventure, because of its captivating characters and thrilling twists.

Get it now!

This is Book 1 of a…

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