Free PPW Events This Month

Don't forget tonight's Write Brain, presented by Page Lambert:

Manifestation of Yearning: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling

Speaker: Page Lambert, Author, Editor, Creative Coach, Retreat Director

When: Tuesday, May 21, 2013, 6:30 to 8:30 P.M.

Location: Penrose Library, Carnegie Room, 20 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO

Cost: ALWAYS FREE!

MANIFESTATION OF YEARNING: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling
Yearning: A longing. A desire. An unfulfilled wish. A questioning. A hunger to know more.

In Page Lambert's words: "First, enter the white-hot center of why you write. Second, enter the white-hot center of deep yearning...yours...your character's. Third, enter the place where you dream. Let your vision and words rise like smoke from the creative fire. But manifesting our stories takes more than illusive desires. Our characters interpret the world through their senses, but we create their world through physical detail. Yearning comes alive through detail." During the May Write Brain, Page will explore these ideas and more, helping us enter the white-hot center of detailed storytelling. "Whether you're writing fiction or memoir, the deep (and sometimes dark) motivations behind every action, beneath every word-what Robert Olen Butler calls the yearning factor-is how we manifest our stories."

About Page Lambert: Recipient of numerous writing awards, her books include the Rocky Mountain best-selling memoir In Search of Kinship and Mountains & Plains Best Novel finalistShifting Stars. Her essays, stories and poems appear in dozens of anthologies. Page has presented over 200 seminars and keynotes. She's been leading writing adventures for 17 years and Oprah's O magazine once featured her River Writing Journeys as "One of the top six great all-girl getaways of the year." She writes the popular blog, "All Things Literary. All Things Natural."www.pagelambert.com.

Note: Plenty of parking in both library lots and street-side. Parking is free at meters after 6:00 P.M.

This Wednesday, there's Open Critique:

Open Critique - FREE 

Third Wednesday of every month

6:00 - 8:30 p.m.

Cottonwood Center for the Arts
427 East Colorado Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO

This FREE program provides a critique experience for a small number of writers who seek feedback on manuscript pages and who want to learn how to have positive critique group experiences. 

PPW's Open Critique program is facilitated by Mary Karen Meredith, with regular critique guest Deb Courtney, host of PPW's "Writers' Night" monthly gatherings. During Open Critique, Deb and Mary Karen, or another experienced criticizer will provide comments, criticism and suggestions on participants' manuscript pages, as well as model positive behaviors, techniques and procedures for critiquing.

It is our hope that participants will not only receive valuable feedback on their writing, but will also learn how to create great critique groups of their own, or learn how to improve existing critique groups.

Each month Open Critique will accommodate up to eight participants with a maximum of eight manuscript pages (double spaced, one side) per person. Bring at least 8 copies. To request a slot to participate, email your request to pikespeakopencritique@hotmail.com. Slots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, and are only considered for the month in which they are received. Participants will receive confirmation and instructions via email.

PPW reserves the right to give priority to new participants over those who have attended multiple times.

Thank you!

Hope to see you there!

Mary Karen Meredith & Deb Courtney

And next Monday, we have Writer's Night at Lofty's:

6:30-8:30 PM

Lofty's
287 E Fountain Blvd, Suite 100
Colorado Springs, CO 80903


Free Wireless Internet!

Join fellow writers for PPW Night at Lofty's in the Historic Lowell School District of downtown Colorado Springs on the fourth Monday of every month.

PPW Night is two full hours of discussion, laughter, and fun with other local members of Pikes Peak Writers.

The direction of the meeting is decided by the participants and can include discussions about query letters, obtaining and working with an agent, writing conferences, or other specific points of the craft.  If nothing else, we talk about books! 

Feel free to bring a sample of your work-in-progress to share or discuss with others, if time permits.  NOTE: This is not a formal critique group or editing session.  Bringing your work with you does not guarantee it will be discussed.

If you have any questions, or if there is a specific topic you’d like to get on the agenda, send an e-mail to the host, Deb Courtney, or call her on her cell phone at 719-337-9049.

Meetings are scheduled to start at 6:30 and run until about 8:30.  These are drop-in meetings, so feel free to attend all or just part of them.

Lofty's offers a small selection of coffees, wine, beer and mixed libations, as well as a variety of juices and organic sodas. There is a small menu of mostly sandwich based items. Wi-fi is available.

See you soon!

Help an Author Out — Leave a Review, Please!

Five stars or no stars?

By Stacy S. Jensen

One of my goals after Pikes Peak Writers Conference is to write more. Not my own work really, but short snippets that are published almost instantly.

My declaration: I will write more book reviews.

Why? I know they make a difference, especially for indie authors. Several faculty and conference attendees emphasized this during the conference. I heard them.

If I get a referral for a book — by blog or by an online friend — I read the reviews. I decide my purchases with review, so I should participate in this process more. So, why have I not written more reviews recently?

A mental evaluation of my reading list points to one book. Several months ago, I saw an online friend’s request to read her new release and share a review.  “Certainly,” I thought as I grabbed a copy for my Kindle and began reading. The story fell flat. I didn’t like the characters. I couldn’t finish the book.

For this book, I looked up the reviews and found fellow reviewers had already shared my “problems” with the book. While the author honestly reviews books on her own blog, I didn’t write a review for her book. The main reason: I didn’t finish it.

Fortunately, I’ve found that to not be the norm of the books friends have suggested. As I write this, I have two books on my Kindle that deserve reviews. They are engaging, have unique characters, and a story that makes me read (even when I don’t have time for it).

I’ve heard many cons to writing reviews. If it’s a bad review, you may tick off an author or an agent. That’s fair. It’s important to remember that online reviews leave a digital trail of who you are, so you need to be fair, honest, and willing to live with what you say.

A personal pet peeve is a reviewer who trashes a book because the story wasn’t what he or she thought it was going to be. If you like sci-fi thrillers, don’t buy a romance book and then be angry it wasn’t a sci-fi thriller. You know you’ve seen those reviews.

So read more books and write more reviews. It will help an author out for print books, digital books and storybook apps.

What’s your philosophy on reading or writing reviews? Have you written one lately?

About the Author: Stacy S. Jensen worked as a newspaper reporter and editor for two decades. Today, she writes picture books and revises a memoir manuscript. She lives in Colorado Springs with her husband and toddler.

Blog: http://stacysjensen.blogspot.com Twitter: @StacySJensen

Quote of the Week, Week to Come & I Write Because...

"Write down the thoughts of the moment.  Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable." -Francis Bacon

This week on Writing From the Peak...

...Stacy S. Jensen lets you know how you can Help an Author Out by leaving a review.

...Our new columnist, Donnell Ann Bell, talks about Accepting Advice.

...And Debbie Maxwell Allen discusses query letters in Ready to Test-Drive Your Query Letter.

Also, don't forget the Write Brain this week! Page Lambert pays us a visit to discuss Manifestation of Yearning: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Storytelling. More information available on our website, the Event tab, and our Tuesday post.

Now we've got another installment of I Write Because..., provided by attendees of the 2013 Pikes Peak Writers Conference.

I Write Because...

...The stories are in me. They find their way out one way or another!

...Working fast food eats my soul.

...I am alive and human.

...Okay, so here's the thing...I loved playing "pretend" as a kid. Hours and hours of adventure & derring do, cops & robbers, cowboys & indians, mysteries to solve, treasures to find...And then I grew up. And nobody wanted to play pretend. But I still had all those adventures in my head, firing my imagination. So I wrote. I write. I keep writing. And now I've found friends who want to share my adventures. My readers.

...I have to. It fuels me to live the rest of my life happily. Without it, I am a shell of myself.

...It makes me happy and at peace.

...I can't stop!

...Everyone has a story to tell--and stories are what give life meaning. Plus, it's fun. :)

...Robot dinosaurs from Mars need a voice.

I Remember When: Effective Use of Backstory, Part I

By Karen Albright Lin

One of the trickiest challenges for writers is conveying backstory. We’re in the midst of dramatic action, enlightening narrative or compelling dialogue and, OH MY, we realize that we need to let our reader know something that happened in the past. Instinctually, we want to talk to our readers as we would over wine and cheese. “If he hadn’t done that, he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in.” Conversations in real life are often backstory: gossip, commiseration, bragging, praising, bitching, and so on. When writing our books, however, it’s wise to think twice before jumping back, leaving the current story, or confusing matters by turning your attention 180 degrees away from the peak of that hill you are climbing, thus diminishing momentum and some of the power of your strategically placed foretelling.

Most of us are familiar with the dreaded backstory that is the data dump we’re convinced must be given right up front in order to understand our characters’ coming adventures. How many times have we heard we should lop off that first chapter and begin with the inciting incident or even start just after the action that is essential for the story to exist? What we chop off is likely backstory.

Despite using the terms chop and lop, I don’t mean to make backstory sound like some evil craft error that writers must avoid at all cost. On the contrary, when used well it conveys important information that adds layers and texture to your current story. It can even support your theme and add subplots. 

My editing clients struggle with it more than almost any other aspect of their writing.

How do we offer important background? 

One way is to impart vital information from the past using FLASHBACKS (in which readers are thrust back into an actual scene – living it vividly). We can use NARRATIVE, internal commentary or a layer that allows the writer to become a subtle (or not so subtle) part of the story. We can also offer up knowledge about the past through DIALOGUE. Each has its pros and cons, its potential for brilliance and its risks of stepping into painful traps.

Backstory through CONVERSATION is best if indirect. On-the-nose dialogue will come off as plastic and an obvious info dump: “As you know, Beth, I spent three years in Japan.” Indirectly conveying that same information will get the idea across in a more organic manner and enlighten on character: “She won’t think I’m still that Ozark hick when she sees what three years of bowing, chopsticking, and Sumo diaper folding has done to me.”     

Using DRAMATIC NARRATIVE to enlighten on the past is not simply offering a list of facts. It’s an exciting and colorful summary that brings yesterday into the present: Someday he’d tell her what it was like to wrap thirty feet of cloth around four hundred-pound men with albacore breath. 

Note: any backstory imparted about our character’s time in Japan shouldn’t be just an interesting fact. It is there because it’s essential to the story in some way, informs what is happening now.

The trickiest form of backstory to pull off is the FLASHBACK. It recounts previous events by taking readers back in time to an actual scene. A none-too-subtle example is Harry Potter’s Pensieve (the stone basin that reviews memories).       

WHY WOULD A WRITER CHOOSE TO USE A FLASHBACK?

To add depth to a character: 

• To enlighten about relationships from the past and bring current ones into sharper focus
• To better understand personality and current motivations, fears, barriers to love, and to create sympathy or empathy. A character’s desperate goal keeps readers hooked.
• Seeing an important scene in real time offers us the opportunity to get two perspectives, that of your character and that of his younger self. Think of Forest Gump. 
• It helps describe a character before and after a trauma. In Nora Roberts’s Angels Fall her protagonist was witness to, and injured in, a mass murder changing her forever.

For the story’s sake:

• It fills in gaps with active scenes that engage.
• Introduces facts from the past that readers need in order to understand current events.
• If it is a framed story—like A Prayer for Owen Meany— one can begin the story after the action is over.
• It offers clarity about how the world works.
• Reveals obstacles
• Raises stakes. In The Fugitive Harrison Ford’s character’s freedom is at stake because he was accused of murder and is being chased by the law.
• It helps to make the stakes personal. Again in The Fugitive, Harrison Ford’s character saw his wife killed (through flashback).
• If the story takes place all over the temporal map, flashbacks may be essential. One could argue that The Time Traveler’s Wife is written entirely in flashbacks.
• They offer opportunities to create buttons that, if pushed, are obstacles to your character. Think of Marty McFly in Back to the Future and his aversion to being called a chicken.

For the writing sake:

• To show instead of tell backstory, creating a fully realized story world.
• To add dimension to the writing and create richer drama
• To add suspense. For example, in one of my books I add suspense by gradually unfolding important backstory: first showing that my character avoids the media, later we learn of her fear that her true identity will be discovered by the public, later we learn her mother disappeared when she was a young girl and that she blamed herself, later we learn that she was a witness protection kid and she has long believed that her mother was killed because she told a friend her real name, and now she fears exposure can make her own daughter vulnerable. Unraveling the past sheds light on the present.
• Flashbacks help contrast events, people or objects in fiction. In No One Asked the River, a screenplay I wrote with Janet Fogg, the archaeologist protagonist lost his son in an accident on a dig. He still blames himself. It affects him when another young boy dies on his watch. This contrasts this POV character before and after a traumatic experience. Contrast is a powerful tool.

Sometimes the benefits of using flashbacks outweigh the sacrifice of immediacy.

Next post, I’ll address when and how to most effectively use flashbacks.

Come back next month for Part II of Karen's Backstory series.

About the Writer:  Karen is an editor, ghostwriter, pitch coach, speaker and award-winning author of novels, cookbooks, and screenplays. She’s written over a dozen solo and collaborative scripts (with Janet Fogg, Christian Lyons and director Erich Toll); each has garnered international, national and regional recognition: Moondance Film Festival, BlueCat, All She Wrote, Lighthouse Writers, Boulder Asian Film Festival, SouthWest Writers Contest, and PPW Contest. Find out more at www.karenalbrightlin.com.

Sweet Success! Karen Albright Lin

Prepared by DeAnna Knippling

Karen Albright Lin's adult literary mainstream poem, "Holding Us" (online and softcover), was published in Paris/Atlantic, the American University of Paris literary magazine, in May 2013. The poem is available in the Paris/Atlantic 2013 issue here. The author's website is at www.karenalbrightlin.com.

"Holding Us" is a poem about love lost and knowing one "could have had more than the sea to hold."

Karen also has a mainstream, all-ages short story, "Easy," which will be performed on stage by the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art's "Stories on Stage" program on May 16th from 7-9 p.m. 

My love story, EASY, has been accepted for the BMoCA and Stories on Stage event "Love Stories and Other Disasters." EASY will be performed by Stories on Stage during an evening of storytelling about done-me-wrongs and broken hearts. The event will take place at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art on Thursday, May 16, at 7pm and will be $13/$10 for members. For info: 303-443-2122  www.bmoca.org

Karen Albright Lin is a professional editor/consultant for multi-published and yet-to-be published writers of fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays. She writes cookbooks, ghostwrites, and writes for newspapers and magazines, as well as literary magazines. She has won or placed in 25 writing contests. She’s written and collaborated on five short scripts and ten feature length screenplays that have garnered international, national and regional awards--one produced. Her co-written scripts have been considered by James Cameron, Barry Sonnenfeld, HBO, Showtime and the Sci Fi Channel. She speaks at writer’s conferences, retreats, and on cruises.

Monkeys Behaving Badly - Writer Versus Character Versus Audience

By Aaron Michael Ritchey

Something came up at my critique that completely caught my fascination. I was writing a scene in a short story where it’s apparent to the reader that my hero’s boss was actually Jack the Ripper. The hero of the story would never even consider that a possibility. But I was told that if the hero doesn’t make the same leap as the reader, it won’t be believable.

Are you with me, so far?

So as the writer, do I write the scene for the audience? Or do I write the scene for the character?

For all of my writing career, I chose my characters over my audience. I follow the characters in my books, I let them dictate to me how they react to the story I’ve plotted. I’m a pantser, but only up to a point. I know what needs to happen, and I whip characters when I need to, but I also honor their reality.

Should I?

One of my terrible habits that I need to break is writing only for myself. I write what I think is cool, what I want to read about, what I want to experience. Audience? What audience? I am an audience of one. I got a steely-cold lesson about this when I wrote a book for my daughter, without really keeping the audience in mind. You know what? She couldn’t read it. Not a bit. And she wasn’t too shy about telling me. Ouch.

So yes, if I want to continue to publish books, I need to consider the audience. Audience definitely trumps writer, I think. But what about audience versus character?

Ideally, sure, you’d have both. Characters that react like the reader expects and that the reader likes. But aren’t people cool who don’t always do as they’re told? Being human is part Divine wisdom, part Pride and Prejudice politeness, and part monkey, throwing poop. 

Flat characters bore me. Characters who know as much as the reader bore me. What I like? Complex, conflicted characters, struggling to be good, but choosing to be bad, then living with the consequences. Who is more interesting, Luke Skywalker or Han Solo?

What did I do in my Jack the Ripper story? I had the character think his boss might be a murderer, then reject the idea. I threw a bone to the reader. ‘Cause I’m a good little soldier.

But deep down, I think character trumps reader. Character and story - if you are true to those twin gods, I think the readers will tag along and be grateful for the truth.

About the Writer: YA Paranormal author Aaron Michael Ritchey has penned a dozen manuscripts in his 20 years as a writer. When he isn’t slapping around his muse, Aaron cycles to look fabulous, works in medical technologies, and keeps his family in silks and furs. His first novel, The Never Prayer, hit the streets on March 29, 2012.  Most recently, his work appears in the steampunk anthology The Penny Dread Tales Volume III.



Douglas County Libraries Local Author Showcase

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CLICK HERE

Story Tips #8 - Hero's Journey, Act I

By Jax Hunter

Welcome to the next installment of Story Tips From the Big Screen.  This monthly column (to be posted the second Monday of each month) explores screen writing techniques that will help fiction writers tell a better story. 

***     ***     ***     ***

Last month, I gave you an overview of the Hero’s Journey. This month, we’ll look at the first section of that mythic structure. For the most part, the steps we’ll work with this month are those that make up Act I in our story.

Review: Do you remember the pattern - get your hero up a tree, throw rocks at him, get him out of the tree? Ready to get that hero or heroine up that three? Then let’s begin.

Step One - the Ordinary World. 

This part of the book is the opening, in which we get to know the protagonist, see his values, his character, and maybe even his flaws. It shows the reader the hero’s comfort zone. It is given so that the reader will have a baseline to measure the hero’s growth. Ideally, it will be as different as possible from the Special World into which the hero will soon be forced.

The ordinary world may be rather ho-hum, or it may be a world of excitement. For example, a military hero may be very comfortable dodging bullets, jumping out of perfectly good airplanes or hanging from the side of a mountain. (Can you tell I’m writing military romance at the moment?) Take a man like this and put him into a situation where he has none of his tools, none of that excitement, and you have a man up a tree.

In the Wizard of Oz, the Ordinary World is represented in black and white, the Special World in technicolor. It’s the boring world of a Kansas farm where a young girl dreams of no more problems. In Wizard, this world foreshadows the Special World Dorothy will soon be blown into. Your hero’s Ordinary World may do the same. For Luke Skywalker, it’s another farm in a galaxy far, far, away. His problems, though, are fairly similar to Dorothy’s. 

Step Two - The Call to Adventure - also known as the Inciting Incident.

This is the part of the book, ideally as soon as possible, in which the problem, challenge or adventure shows up. This Call throws off the balance of the Ordinary World. It establishes the game and the goal becomes clearer. It may be as simple as the hero running out of options. 

For Dorothy, she’s faced with an angry Miss Gulch who wants to take Toto away. Auntie Em, Dorothy’s sanctuary, is unsympathetic to her plight. The only answer is to run away.

For Luke Skywalker, the Call takes the form of a hologram of Princess Leia, begging for the help of Obi Wan. “Help me Obi Wan, you’re my only hope.” Sorry, couldn’t help myself.

Heroes hardly ever respond to the call with a hearty heave-ho. Like us, they tend to cling to their comfort zone and to the status quo. Which brings us to the next step:

Step Three - Refusal of the Call.

During this part of Act I, the author has the opportunity to point out the clear and present dangers inherent in the hero taking on the challenge. This is a time of fear and waffling for our hero. 

Sometimes, in this part of the book, we see a Threshold Guardian that blocks the way for our hero. In Wizard of Oz, Dorothy runs into Professor Marvel who convinces her that she needs to go home. She’s an example of a hero that willingly leaves her comfort zone - because she doesn’t see the comfort there. 

In other stories, we meet the mentor briefly at this point. In Star Wars, Luke runs into Obi Wan, but ends up turning away from the Call and going home. Refusing the Call often leads to tragedy, as we see when Luke arrives home to find his family dead and the homestead in ruins. In this case, the refusal didn’t RESULT in the tragedy, but many times it does.

Step Four - Meet the mentor.

This step can be separate, or it may be hidden within the other steps. Sometimes, there really is no mentor. A Mentor, though, does not have to be a person.  It can be a map, a book, or even the hero’s strong code of honor. The Mentor stage is defined by a time of preparation for our hero, where he is given advice, training, guidance and, sometimes, magical equipment with which to enter the fray. 

Be careful, in this stage, to avoid the typical mentor who has become a bit cliched: the wise old woman or man, the fairy godmother or wizard. If you do use these characters, make sure you twist them a bit.

Dorothy has many mentors in her journey. The most obvious may be Glenda, but she only shows up three times, when Dorothy can go no further without intervention. Nowadays, readers may prefer heroes who don’t rely on intervention. However, Dorothy has mentors, of sorts, in the Scarecrow, the Tinman and the Cowardly Lion. The Wizard, himself, becomes a mentor. And we can’t forget Toto, who is with her every step of the way and in whom resides Dorothy’s intuition.

Luke, of course, has Obi Wan, who trains him to trust the force and who gives him his father’s light sabre. 

In some stories, the mentor is simply a sounding board for the hero, someone who listens to and encourages him along the way.

Step Five - At the end of Act I, we come to Crossing the Threshold.  

This is the turning point at the end of Act I that propels us into Act II. The hero finally commits to the journey, sometimes after a swift kick in the pants from the mentor, sometimes because he has no choice. Often, we see a Threshold Guardian here, an obstacle that stands between the hero and actually getting into the Special World. The hero may need to engage this Guardian, kill him and absorb his power. Or, it may be a matter of just pushing through the obstacle, or simply acknowledging it. 

At this point, we’re definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Next month, we’ll look at Act II steps in the hero’s journey.

Until next month, BICHOK (Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard)

Jax (www.jaxmhunter@gmail.com)

(This series first ran in the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers newsletter in 2004.)

About the Author: Jax Hunter is a published romance writer and freelance copywriter. She wears many hats including EMT, CPR instructor, and Grammy. She is currently working on a contemporary romance series set in ranching country Colorado and a historical romance set in 1775 Massachusetts. She lives in Colorado Springs, belongs to PPW, RMFW and is a member of the Professional Writer's Alliance.

Quote of the Week, Week to Come, I Write Because... & Contest

"For me, a page of good prose is where one hears the rain [and] the noise of battle." -John Cheever

This week on Writing From the Peak...

...Jax Hunter takes us through the Hero's Journey with her 8th article in the Story Tips series.

...Aaron Michael Ritchey gives us Monkeys Misbehaving.

...and Karen Albright Lin examines Backstory, in a three part series.

Now for some more in the I Write Because series, taken from conference attendees who detailed why they write:

I Write Because...

...If I don't I think I'd roll up in the fetal position, start to babble and eventually drool all over myself.

...I was told that I wouldn't be alive today. Writing is living!

...Pitching is so much Fun!

...I love words. I love the beauty of words, the symphony of words linked to say new things, or to say old things in a new way. I love the power, the glory, the exaltation of writing, the joy of finding just the right words. I love writing.

...My inner, true self has a place in my writing.

...Because I have a story to tell.

...I have a story that needs to be heard.

...Reading makes me happy, and I want to share my happiness with others.

...I can't not!

And guess what: the new, improved Pikes Peak Writers Fiction Contest is back. However, before we make it official, it needs a name. Check out the "Contest" tab for more information.

Love. True Love.

By Mandy Houk

By the end of the school year, my creative writing students can chant a couple of my maxims in unison, because I’ve hammered them into their brains all year long:

Torture your characters or you’ll torture your readers

…and…

Write characters as they are, not as they should be.

Pretty awesome, right? Yeah. I think so, too…too bad I’ve ignored my own instructions.

My agent started sending out my manuscript in early December, and though I’ve happily received some nice compliments, all are followed by something along the lines of “thanks, but no thanks.” And all of the criticisms center on two things. Think you can guess?

You got it: the main characters are too idealized, and there is not enough “at stake,” so the plot’s not really “gripping.”

How did that happen exactly? Why are my characters so “good,” and why is the plot…less than gripping? If you’ve been to enough workshops, and read enough of The Writer magazine, you know the answer.

I have a crush. And what do you do when you have a crush? You believe the object of that crush is perfect, or at least closer to perfect than any other pitiful excuse for a person on this planet. You’re wrong, of course. And thinking that way actually blocks you from getting to know that person in a real, authentic way.  That person never becomes real to you.

You also try to protect that crush from hurt and harm, and if you’re successful, well, that’s lovely, but you also don’t get to see that person in action. You don’t get to witness his or her strength of character, cleverness, resilience, patience, kindness, all-around awesomeness. Then you don’t get to fall into actual, honest-to-goodness love.

Alternatively, you don’t get to see them wimp out, duck, cheat, lie, steal, or take advantage of orphans and puppies to get themselves out of danger. And then you don’t get to feel delicious, passionate loathing.

In short, you don’t get to feel anything real.

Getting the theme here?

Me, too. So I’m going back in, people. I’m going to let my main characters be stupid and headstrong and say awful things they can’t take back (it’s actually already in them – I’ve been muzzling them all this time). I want to get to know them even better, and make my readers see themselves in my characters, or at least see someone they could swear they’ve met before.

And then I’m going to subject my characters to all kinds of torture—stuff they’ll sweat and cry and anguish over, until they’re finally overcomers and against-all-odds triumphant.

Because I want the readers to fall into honest-to-goodness, head-over-heels, but land-on-the-solid-ground love.

About the Writer:  Mandy Brown Houk is a freelance writer and editor, and she teaches at a small private high school in Old Colorado City. She's written for several magazines and anthologies, and has completed two novels--only one of which is worthy of the light of day. Mandy's work is represented by Sally LaVenture at Warner Literary Group. Her web site is www.mandybrownhouk.com.

Writing Retreats By Land And River, With Page Lambert

One of the biggest problems cited by writers for why they're not getting writing done is lack of time. Kids, jobs, appointments, cleaning, staring off into space: all of these things take up time, and they're [mostly] things we feel compelled to take care of first. So we put them before everything else, and by the end of the day we're tired, and we haven't written a word.

This, my friends, is why they invented retreats.

Writing retreats can offer a lot to writers. They get you away from the rigmarole of your daily life, providing an atmosphere in which your creativity can thrive. They allow you to leave behind all those things you must do when you're home, so you can focus on your writing. Depending upon the retreat, you'll often also find training/education from a qualified instructor or facilitator, critiques, down time, interaction with other writers, plus additional activities.

We at Pikes Peak Writers are lucky enough to have Page Lambert coming to Colorado Springs to present a Write Brain for us this month. She'll be presenting Manifestation of Yearning: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling on May 21. For more information, go here or check out our Events tab.

Page isn't just an award winning author, editor and creative coach (though she is all of those things). She's also the director of several retreats. The retreats this year were Weaving Words & Women (a trip to Peru), and the upcoming Literature & Landscape of the Horse, and Crazy Brave River Writing Journey.

Literature & Landscape of the Horse will occur in June, and involves a five-day stay at the Vee Bar Guest Ranch up in Wyoming. Not only will guests be working on writing, but they'll also be learning about horses, caring for them, and getting their own horse for the duration of their stay. Sheri Griffith guest facilitates this retreat on the equine side of things, while Page provides inspiration and instruction on writing.

In September, the retreat takes a decidedly wetter turn, with Crazy Brave River Writing Journey. Led by Page and a team of knowledgeable river rafting guides, and joined by musician and writer Joy Harjo, this trek will take guests down the Colorado River through Westwater Canyon. There will be rafting on the river, camping, hiking, and plenty of time and inspiration for your writing. This retreat is four days, three nights.

Page Lambert has been leading expeditions like these for seventeen years now, and has received accolades in various articles, including one in O Magazine in 2006, and a more recent one in the Casper Star Tribune.

If hearing about these trips doesn't convince you that a writing retreat is a good idea, I also previously wrote a post on my personal blog with five things a writing retreat can do for you. Even better, go check out pictures from each of these past trips on Page's site: www.pagelambert.com. Want to know what Page is like, a sample, so to speak? Come to the May 21 Write Brain and see firsthand what a fantastic and inspirational speaker she is. It's free!

See you there!

About the Author:  After years of letting her writing fall by the wayside, Shannon Lawrence has recently thrown herself back into it. Her main focus is fantasy and horror and she has just finished a Young Adult Fantasy novel. She has a flash fiction piece featured in the anthology Sunday Snaps: The Stories, and her short horror story "The Blue Mist" will be in the March 2014 issue of Nightfall Magazine. She has also discovered a love of photography and enjoys photographing the breathtaking Colorado scenery and wildlife, as well as her children. She blogs about reading, writing and photography at www.thewarriormuse.com.   

May Letter From the Editor - Transitions

Ah, May, a turning point for several reasons. The weather begins switching from winter to summer, flowers bloom, and trees blossom. For parents, May means end of school year craziness, and a transition to summer vacation.

For Pikes Peak Writers, May is when we review the conference that has just occurred, and begin preparations for the following year's conference. It's important to us that we outdo ourselves each passing year, and that takes a full year's work.

We've had many transitions in Pikes Peak Writers this year, with changes within the organization and positions changing hands. We've got one more transition occurring. The Pikes Peak Writers Conference is passing out of the hands of the accomplished Bonnie Hagan, and into the capable hands of Mary Karen Meredith. This was announced on the final day of PPWC 2013, and we look forward to seeing what Mary Karen brings us with PPWC 2014.

Also announced at PPWC 2013 were the Volunteers of the Year for PPW. Two wonderful ladies shared the honor of PPW Conference Volunteer of the Year: MB Partlow and Jen LaPointe, both of whom deserved it for all of their hard work on conference. MB brought in fantastic faculty, and has already landed two exciting keynotes for next year (watch for announcements soon--if you attended Sunday lunch at conference, you already know!). Jen worked hard behind the scenes, keeping everything straight and making sure no detail, no matter how small, was missed. PPW Volunteer of the Year went to yours truly, for my work on the blog and the non-conference events directorship. I was delighted to win (and horrified, because it meant going up on stage), and hope to justify the honor over the course of the coming year.

We had another winner at conference. Mardra Sikora won our on-site flash fiction contest with her piece "Malleable," which we're honored to post here.

Malleable

Truth changes like clay in the hands of its master. In childhood, I witnessed my grandfather’s truth about skin color, faith and fear. I waded through my mother’s denial and each truth it bore. Pluto was a planet and the brontosaurus my favorite dinosaur.

I guarded my own truths; held them secretly beneath shallow breaths, until even I no longer recognized them. What was once moldable now burned as lava deep within me. I tried to quench the fires with cold hands and cold eyes, but the smoldering under my skin continued.

The day the eruption came, truth streamed from me. With only a backpack, I stole away from you. I am bruised by your love. In my…escape, I hold the mirror to look for the self I have hidden.

I cautiously recognize adversity finally led me to my own truth. And I will mold a new future from it.

About Mardra: Mardra traveled through ice, snow, and adversity to reach the Pikes Peak Writers Conference, and is a better, stronger writer for having made the trip. She resides in Omaha, NE, and can be found musing both fiction and non-fiction on www.mardrasikora.com.

Congratulations, Mardra!

And to our readers, we wish you a fabulous May!

~Shannon Lawrence

Managing Editor, Writing From the Peak

PPW Director of Non-Conference Events

Quote of the Week, Week to Come & I Write Because...

"The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air.  All I must do is find it, and copy it." -Jules Renard, Diary, February 1895

This week on Writing From the Peak...

...This month's letter from the editor.

...Retreating Into Writing, How Writing Retreats Can Help Jump Start Your Writing

...Love. True Love. By Mandy Houk

And this week's I Write Because... quotes, as taken from the board at PPWC 2013:

I write because...

"I was once told I couldn't."

"In a world filled with tragedy I want to spread love and joy with my happily ever afters."

"I think I have something to say. I'm still catching up for never speaking in childhood. I can't help myself when it comes to a tale - especially one filled with hyperbole. [...]"

"If I don't, I'm awakened by my characters screaming at me in my head."

"I must!"

"The story needs to be told."

"The ideas must go somewhere."

"I had a dream that I want to tell to others."

"If Taylor Swift can do it, so can I! Also, because alcoholism isn't paying the bills!"

May News, Events & Links

PPW News

The May Write Brain will bring you inspiration and teach you how to find the white hot center of your and your characters' motivations. Page Lambert, author and creative coach, will share how to find the yearning in your storytelling in Manifestation of Yearning: The Flesh & Blood Factor of Good Storytelling. It will be Tuesday, May 21, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, in the Carnegie Room of Penrose Library. Page Lambert is an award-winning memoirist and novelist, and her writing retreats have been featured in O Magazine. You can find more information on the "PPW Events" tab above.

Writer's Night will be held at Lofty's on Monday, May 27, 6:30 to 8:30 PM. Come enjoy wine, coffee, sandwiches, and various other goodies, and chat about writing. Open to topics of discussion and question. More on the Events tab.

PPW Open Critique will occur on Wednesday, May 22, 6:30 to 8:30 PM, at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts. The first 8 to RSVP may bring 8 pages of their manuscript to critique. More information on the Events tab.

Other Local Events

Pikes Peak Library District will hold their annual Frank Waters Award Luncheon to honor Tom Noel, an author and professor at the University of Colorado Denver. It will be at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort, Monday, May 20, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM. They will also be honoring the Golden Quill Award winner, Jan Pettit. Cost is $30 if purchased by May 14, $40 after that.

The Pikes Peak Branch of the National League of American Pen Women will hold their last meeting until September on Saturday, May 18, at 11:30 AM. Rosemary Scheueuring will be presenting a program on Georgia O'Keefe in Santa Fe. Cost is $23, with a lunch catered by Blue Sage Cafe included. RSVP required.

Lighthouse Writers Workshop will hold a variety of programming in May, including workshops on playwriting and craft talk.

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers has opened up registration for their Colorado Gold Conference, held September 20 to 22 at the Renaissance Hotel. Their Colorado Gold Contest is also open, with a deadline of June 1. Their May education event will be Saturday, May 18, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, at Table Mountain Inn in Golden. Jess Lourey will teach the Pyramid On Point system. Registration will be $105.

The Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America will have their last monthly meeting before summer break. On Thursday, May 9, they will host members of Flight for Life at the Denver Press Club. Cost is $25.

Colorado Springs Fiction Writers has various meetings throughout at the month at different locations. Visitors are welcome.

Black Cat Books and the BAC, located in Manitou Springs, have lots of programs for readers and writers alike.  Even knitters!  Check out the events page for more information.

Pikes Peak Romance Writers will host former Deputy El Paso County coroner, Christina Herndon at the BAC on Sunday, May 19, from 3:00 to 4:00 PM. Cost is $5. Visitors welcome. (Note that this is a different Sunday than usual, as they changed to the third Sunday to avoid Mother's Day).

Publications Open for Submissions and Contests:
Please note: Inclusion of links in this post does not equal sponsorship by Pikes Peak Writers or a relationship between the two entities.  Please always be sure to pursue due diligence before submitting anything to a publication or contest.

Apokrupha is calling for horror flash pieces for an anthology entitled Dark Bits. 500 word maximum. Deadline May 15. Pays $20 per piece.

Paper Darts is offering their $800 for 800 words short fiction contest. The piece will be published and illustrated. Entry fee is $6. Deadline is May 15.

Carve Magazine is holding their annual Raymond Carver Short Story Contest. Deadline May 15. Entry fee is $17 online/$15 mailed. 1st prize is $1000.

Over My Dead Body! is a mystery magazine open for submissions. 750-4000 words. Paying market.

Funny Times is looking for funny cartoons and stories. 500-700 words. Pays $60 for stories. 

Idyllic Books has a call out for submissions for their BladeMage Magazine. Primarily looking for fantasy. Paying market. Also seeking illustrations.

Phantom Drift is seeking fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and art. Paying market.

Whortleberry Press is seeking submissions for a few anthologies. Their Strange Halloween deadline is July 31. Strange Christmas deadline is October 1. All are looking for sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. $10 payment. 4000 word maximum for all.

Meadowbrook Press is open for submissions at any time. They specialize in pregnancy, child care, baby care, humorous poetry, party planning, children's activities, and baby name books.

Romance Flash is open for submissions at any time. Pays $3 per story. Under 1000 words.

Kazka Press holds a monthly flash fiction contest, entitled 713 Flash. This month's theme is Slipping Through Time, with a deadline of May 20. Genre: sci-fi, fantasy, horror, or related. 713-1000 words. $10 payment.

About the Author:  After years of letting her writing fall by the wayside, Shannon Lawrence has recently thrown herself back into it. Her main focus is fantasy and horror and she has just finished a Young Adult Fantasy novel. She has a flash fiction piece featured in the anthology Sunday Snaps: The Stories, and her short horror story "The Blue Mist" will be in the March 2014 issue of Nightfall Magazine. She has also discovered a love of photography and enjoys photographing the breathtaking Colorado scenery and wildlife, as well as her children. She blogs about reading, writing and photography at www.thewarriormuse.com.   

World Building with Words

By Deb McLeod


I’m writing a multiple viewpoint thriller. One of the braids takes place in The Light, that place where Angels go when they’re not hanging around us humans, battling the dark and meddling in our world.

It was a client who brought World Building to my attention. Those of you who grew up with role-playing games know all about this. Alas, I do not.

My client is writing a YA series and her characters, a special race of people with special powers, walk among us. They have their own agendas and live in a world within our world. Hidden in plain sight. 

During the course of her writing some questions came up about longevity and death rituals. So she decided to write a synopsis of their world, their powers and their habits. She found Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide and used it as a sort of template. 

Here are some of the categories she came up with:

• Purpose
• Birth / Creation / Lifespan
• Death
• Lifestyle
• Psychology / Behavior
• Physical Characteristics
• Abilities
• Limitations
• Education
• Relationships
• Families
• Courtship & Marriage
• Children
• To Humans
• Government / Leadership
• Laws / Trial Process
• Punishment / Outcasts
• Conflicts / Enemies
• History
• Land of Origin

For me, creating a world starts with the words I can use to describe it. I like to build lexicons. 

A lexicon is an inventory of words you can draw from, either to use right in your copy, or to spark ideas for plot, backstory and description. 

Right now I’m trying to create the equivalent of the Inuit lexicon for snow, but for light, for dark, and for good and evil. I’m looking into mathematical functions and metaphysical terminology that isn’t too frou frou. I’m reading history and ancient bible tales and pulling words that suit the world I’d like to create. I like to play with the dictionary and a thesaurus, jotting good words down and taking notes on the side as ideas pop to the surface. For me, it’s the lexicon that opens the world. 

But after seeing my client’s list I decided to try one for myself. It has deepened and enriched the work and my understanding. I have defined the Angel’s powers, found words to describe it, have brainstormed what an Angel battle looks like and written their history as I understand it. 

What great fun to immerse into another world, to define powers and limitations and structure. Lexicons and world building for your characters comes in handy whether your world is the street you live on or another world you make out of thin air. 

Try creating a lexicon and see if it sparks you the way it sparks me. And let me know how it goes. 

Or, for all the questions you can imagine about world building see: http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/ 

About the Author: Deb McLeod, is a writer, creative writing coach and founder of The Writing Ranch. She has both an MFA and a BA in creative writing. She has been teaching and coaching for over ten years. Deb has published short fiction in anthologies and journals. She has written articles and creative nonfiction. Deb has been a professional blogger, tech writer, graphic artist and Internet marketing specialist.