Welcome to the GWN blog and Happy Canada Day! Today is Canada’s 146th birthday.  We’ve got Lynda Kaye Frazier talking about writing communities.

Here’s Lynda!

What do you mean I don’t know how to write?

When I decided to write a book, I did just that. I sat and wrote a book. Easy, right? That’s what I thought.

I had written 137,000 words in two months, I was so excited to write the words ‘The end’ that I sent it right out to friends to read. I felt accomplished, but my balloon burst pretty quickly after a few eye opening critiques. It didn’t take me long to realize that those two little words really meant the beginning. I had no idea where to go but I knew what I needed, help, and lots of it.

I stared at my story and was so lost. I didn’t want to box it up, start over. I worked so hard and my readers said they loved the story line, just not my inability to write. I had no direction on where to get help so I asked my critique partners and after a few weeks I had a list of online writing groups. I quickly researched and realized that there were so many things I needed help with, but I didn’t have a big savings account set aside for my workshops, and some of those sites were expensive. I was heartsick but knew there had to be some groups that were for the struggling writer, eager to learn.  I polled a few of my yahoo groups and found Savvy Authors. It was the one that was recommended for a POV, grammar and punctuation class that quite a few of my critique partners said I needed. And yes, they were right. My grammar sucked.  : )

I went to their site and found an amazing amount of useful information. They had workshops, seminars, online chats and even pitches with editors. I felt like it was Christmas and I just opened my big gift. They had so many workshops that I wanted to take so I joined the group and started to sign up. I have to say I was in heaven. I took classes, met new friends and formed a bond with this group that has helped me battle through every obstacle that got in my way as I fixed all the mistakes in my book. And let me tell you there were quite a few. My 137,000 words are now 86,742. It took me six months but my book, Rescued from the Dark, is now a published novel and I owe a lot of my success to the help I received at Savvy Authors.

Now for a little humor. I never realized I had to know how to write before I could write a book. I had no idea what POV meant and didn’t know whether I was writing in first or third person.

Just a little example of how inexperienced I was:

Now don’t laugh

I watched the mist clear as the sun came up. Walking through the streets of Dayton was eerie in the morning for me. He moved up the street as the hooded figure moved closer.

I stopped at the corner and waited as he moved closer.  “What do you want?” His face was covered as he talked.

“I want you to stop interfering. Leave my family alone.” Because if you don’t leave us alone you will be the next to die.

I know, cringe, I did. 

I have mixed in first person, third person, head hopping, telling instead of showing. I could go on, but you get the idea. To think, I had 27 chapters written like this. And you wondered why it took me six months to fix what I did wrong. I commend my instructors for their patience.

So If I were to give any advice to someone who was thinking about writing a book I would tell them to make sure they knew how to write and send them to the Savvy Authors site. It has everything they will need to make their first story one that others will enjoy reading and not cringe after the first page.  : )

Bio: Lynda Kaye Frazier is an avid reader of romantic suspense and started her writing career with a dream. A cliche, but it’s true. She works full time at a Cardiology clinic, while writing her own novels at night. She grew up in Pennsylvania, but now lives in Arkansas where she enjoys the four seasons without a long, cold winter. She has five children and three grandchildren that she adores. Other than spending time with her family, her favorite things to do are writing, reading and listening to music, but her most favorite is going to the beach. Surf, sand and a good book, her stress relief.

Join the Savvy Authors admin and volunteers as we tour the blogosphere in anticipation of the launch of our improved and updated website. We are excited to share our love of Savvy, and all writing communities, with each of you during the summer months. Below is a list of stops we’ll be making – please feel free to stop by and say hello! (and definitely check out the new look of our site)

May 27th – Melinda B. Pierce on Author’s For Life http://authorsforlife.org/under-construction-by-melinda-pierce/

June 10th – Ella Gray on The Speculative Salon http://speculativesalon.blogspot.com/

June 12th – Elizabeth Gibson on Maggie’s Meanderings http://maggiemeandering.blogspot.com/

June 19th – Sharon Pickrel on Pen of the Dreamer http://calisarhose.com/chit-chat/

June 21st – Riley Darkes on Writing Secrets of Seven Scribes http://secretsof7scribes.wordpress.com/

June 25^th – Leslie Dow on A Writer’s Musings http://constancephillips.com/blog/

June 24th – Angel on The World in My Hands http://angel-leigh.com/blog/

June 28th – Marilyn Muniz on http://www.marilynmuniz.com/

July 1^st – Lynda K. Frazier on Guelph Write Now http://guelphwritenow.com/ <– You are here!!

Rescued From the Dark

She has no memory of their love…

Kidnapped by terrorists and sent into a drug-induced coma, FBI intern Mercy Kingsley awakes with no memory of her ordeal—or the intimate interlude that got her pregnant. Convinced her child was fathered by her ex-fiancé, she walks away from the only man she has ever loved, determined to make things work with her ex, a man the FBI suspects is implicated in her abduction.

He knows the truth, but no one will listen…

FBI undercover Agent Jason Michaels remembers what Mercy can’t and those memories are breaking his heart. Forced to keep his distance from his lover and their unborn child, Jason risks his life to protect Mercy from a cell of international terrorists who want the secrets locked in her memory and have vowed to get them, no matter the cost. Can Jason convince Mercy to trust him until she remembers their past, or will he lose her to a man who’ll trap her in a nightmare world of darkness from which there is no escape?

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BFYANMK
B&N:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rescued-from-the-dark-lynda-kaye-frazier/1114500674?ean=2940016369129

Cindy here again!

Thanks so much for being here, Lynda! I’m afraid to go back and look at the first book I wrote. I know it’s horrible and needs a lot of work. But this convinced me I can fix it, even if it does take me six months.

Happy writing!

Cindy