short stories – Nancy Pennick

November 17, 2014

Frozen: A Winter Romance Anthology – Meet the Authors

Today I am part of a blog tour for the recently released Women’s Fiction anthology Frozen. I’m a little bias because one of the stories is mine. The anthology gave me an opportunity to write about Drew’s proposal to Kate from my Waiting for Dusk series. I had fun writing it.

It also gives me the chance to introduce you to some of my author friends and other authors I’m getting to know. I wanted to put a face to the names of my co-authors so you could get to know them better. Tara Fox Hall and I have met in person. See us below! We were at the Finger Lakes in New York, known for its wineries as you can see by the glasses in hand.

My other author friend lives a little farther away so it’d make quite the trip! Charmaine Pauls resides in Chile with her husband and two children.

Someone I’m getting to know better is Val Clarizio. She’s great at promotion and a hard working author.

Rhoda Brutt and Elena Kane are Facebook friends. I’ve meet so many interesting people in this profession!

Nicole Angeleen , Marilyn Gardiner , Bess Kingsley , Christina Kirby, and April Marcom make up the rest of the cast.

When the winter winds hit, curl up with a good book. You might enjoy a quick read from Frozen on a cold night. Pick a story, make some hot chocolate or grab a glass of wine. Our stories range from sweet romance to spicy so there’s a little something for everyone.

You can check it out here:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

October 20, 2014

Teamwork

In a few weeks a new anthology will be released by my publisher. She put out a call for short story romances taking place in the season of winter. The book will be called Frozen.

Ten authors, beside myself, have written sweet to sensual love stories for this book. We now are putting our collaborative heads together to work on promo. What does that include? We’ve come up with a Facebook party, blog tour, press release and a giveaway.

Authors have to learn the art of promotion. It’s hard, to say the least, but has to be done. Some author friends have become experts, while others still are sifting through the challenges of Facebook and Twitter. I am learning and still have a long way to go.

Even though writing is a solitary business, promoting your book isn’t. Constant work is needed. The authors I know are a sharing bunch and willing to help. We have worked hard on the promotion. I will be featuring our book at a later date. But I didn’t want you to miss out on the giveaway.

I wanted to include you in the fun part of promotion. Winning! Readers love to win free things. Our rafflecopter giveaway has great prizes. $65 gift cards and copies of the book, Frozen. Just click on the link.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for reading.

August 25, 2014

Summer Writing Series: When is it enough?

Today’s guest author is my friend and author, Tara Fox Hall. She is the author of the Promise Me series and many other novels! Besides being a busy writer, she has been a great mentor to me. If you’re lucky, you may find someone like her to help you through the ups and downs of writing and promotion.

JUST SHORT ENOUGH

The term “word count” is familiar to any author, no matter if they write long novels or micro fiction. But the term is probably most important to those who write shorter stories, like flash fiction.

Most flash fiction is 1000 words or less, though some websites define it as 500 words, maximum. But no matter how you define it, one thing is cut and dry: word count is everything. It defines the story arc, giving the action precise limits, demanding that each word be essential to the action, or face the chopping block. When you have that few words, you can’t afford to waste one that doesn’t convey plot, mood, or meaning.

My first experience with word count was a 24-hr contest I entered. The topic was given in a paragraph. The limit was 900 words, firm. I wrote the story I wanted to write, and then checked the word count. It was 1200 words. Panicked, I began paring down, then checked again. Still too long by over a hundred words. I pared down to the absolute max, then checked again. Still too long.

That day, I wrote and rewrote the story, checking the word count again and again. Each time, I was either under and the story was choppy, or the story was complete and I was over the limit. Frustrated and tense as a spring, I pushed myself to keep reworking, to make the deadline with an engaging story. Hours later, I finished with 2 words to spare, at 898 words. It had been arduous, but I’d done it. Excited and relieved, I sent it off, sure I would place, if not win the prize.

I didn’t win the contest. I didn’t even get an honorable mention. But the experience gave me the skills to convey my story arc in the least number of words possible. I could write an interesting story in a set number of words, if I just worked at it. Further, I was sure that I could do it for stories from my own imagination. I’d learned something valuable and I couldn’t wait to put it to use.

I went on to place many horror stories, and then longer works, most recently Just Shadows, my anthology of horror stories from Bradley Publishing. And my story that failed to win? I sold it a year later to the Halloween Alliance, where it still resides online for all to enjoy.

You can find Tara’s books here:

Melange Books

and more about Tara here:

Website: www.tarafoxhall.com