coffee klatch noun
–an occasion when people meet socially to talk and drink coffee (Cambridge Dictionary)
Welcome to the Coffee Klatch. Join us each week for conversation and news in the Writer’s Life community and connect on Twitter (@Writers_Life) at #Writers_Life.
Today I am serving cheeseburgers for breakfast (I saw the conversation about that on Twitter, I think it is a good idea) they’re good all day and all night. I LOVE cheeseburgers and it was one of my staples as a child. I am also offering veggie burgers with all the fixins.
We always serve a full menu of drinks. Help yourself to coffee, tea, hot chocolate or chai.
Writer’s Life Happenings
The Writer’s Life Weekly Feature. Last week I began a series about dealing with Negative Thoughts in our writing life. My latest post described a specific technique from cognitive psychology that can help you get a grip on negative thoughts – Get in Your Right Mind. I will continue this series in two weeks with the topic of depression (I am taking a break next week).
Yoga and Writing Challenge. In case you missed it, my final update about progress on the 21.5.800 challenge was posted last Monday. I have been making major decisions about the direction of my work life. More announcements coming soon.
New Pages. I created new pages on my website. Check out the page bar and navigate through the new pages for Coffee Klatch, Fiction & Poetry, and The Writer’s Life. These pages are updated each month so archives are easily accessible.
Kringla. Did you see my favorite kitty this week? I tweeted a collection of 9 photos, A Day in the Life of Kringla. See what he likes to do during the day.
It’s Party Time
Get ready, the wild ride begins on Friday, July 2nd and continues until Wednesday, July 7th!
I have so much to celebrate during the next week!
Anne Tyler Lord/Don’t Fence Me In Blog Birthday. When I complied my archives on Pages, I realized my blog is about 1 year old. It all began with a series of prose poems in June 2009. Only a few people visited when I linked my poems on Integral Life (a discussion forum). But once I connected to Twitter (October 2009-I think), found out about NaNoWriMo (from Twitter), participated (Nov 2009), then discovered #FridayFlash (Dec 2009) – well, the rest is an amazing history and a wild ride.
I am so thankful for the many friends I have met and our regular connections. Coming from an almost completely offline life, I never could have imagined that being online (especially Twitter) could be such a wonderful experience. I have learned a lot about writing, enjoyed reading so many stories written by friends, connected with several writing communities and gained a tremendous amount of motivation to keep writing (besides having a really fun time).
My Birthday. My own birthday isn’t until July 7th, but I am throwing it in as another reason to party this weekend!
What do I want for my birthday? Well, lots of things, but how about over 100 Google Friends following my blog! I’m really close at 98 (when I first wrote this I was only at 93-thanks new followers). If you haven’t signed in yet, please do!
Fourth of July. The themes for the Fourth of July are some of my favorite – rebellion & freedom. I also like the hot dogs and fireworks. It is the time when summer is in full swing. (I know this is a US holiday, but isn’t it a holiday in the UK this weekend- those damn yankees, or banker’s holiday? What about those of you in Canada,isn’t it Canada Day?) So let’s get wild and have a big blow out party this weekend and *head out on the highway…*it all begins tomorrow.
Coffee Klatch News
Landless. Tony Noland has done something very interesting. He has published his blog, Landless, on Kindle. You can now subscribe to his blog on Kindle and it will automatically be downloaded. So cool!
If you want info about how to publish your blog on Kindle, Tony provided this info: Here’s the FAQ, but read the fine print. There might be implications for fiction to be published elsewhere later.
#SpokenSunday & AudioBoo. Benjamin Solah (@benjaminsolah) announced the creation of his new Twitter meme #SpokenSunday and has launched a new blog – spokensunday.wordpress.com. I think it is a great idea for authors to record themselves reading their books and short stories. Check out his post with all the details.
In discussions on Twitter and on blogs, there seems to be a growing interest in recording fiction. The lovely British among us have been recording with their great accents – like Barry Northern (@BarryNorthern) and his fables and CastMacabre and Emma Newman (@EmApocalyptic) is taking recording to the next level by offering recording services.
AudioBoo. I have been hearing a lot about AudioBoo lately. It started when Marisa Birns (@marisabirns) asked me if I Boo. I had no idea what she was talking about since it is a long time until Halloween. This is something I am looking into. If you want more info on AudioBoo, check it out.
Conference Season and #amwriting. Johanna Harness (@johannaharness) has offered the #amwriting community a very special opportunity to market their books. She is attending two conferences this year and has offered to hand out mini cards from Moo for authors in her directory. Johanna, what a generous offer, I hope you don’t get overwhelmed. Hurry you have to buy them by July 4th.
Resources for Writers
She Writes (@shewritesdotcom). Do you know about this site? I just found it from a blog post by Lisa Rivero (@Lisa_Rivero) and, on the same day I saw that Nicole Humphrey Cook (@simplywriting) tweeted about joining. So, I checked it out and it looks like a very interesting community. I am going to give it a try, since I already have two friends. If you want to join, look us up and be our friends.
The Roundtable. TODAY at 1pm EDT, digital book world (@DigiBookWorld) will be hosting a podcast – Roundtable: The Self-Publishing Opportunity with several guests, including Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) of Writer’s Digest. Go to the website to register for free to participate. Here is more info about The Roundtable:
The Roundtable is a live, interactive webcast gathering some of the most outspoken industry professionals to debate the hottest publishing issues of the week, as being discussed in traditional media, the blogiverse and on Twitter. From celebrity book deals to eBook rights and pricing to [insert YOUR pet topic here] — if it’s related to books, it’s on the agenda.
Best Blogs for Writers. A few lists were floating through the Twitterverse this week listing the best writing blogs. Here are a couple I found being Tweeted yesterday:
23 Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger by Suzanne Freeman (@Writeitsideways) at Write It Sideways.
Best of the Best – The Writing Blogsphere’s Major Players by @bluemaven at The Bluestocking Blog.
Contests
Dog Days of Summer. Michael Solender (@mjsolender) is sponsoring a Dog Days of Summer Contest from July 1 to August 15. All entries must be exactly 101 words (Ha, I love that). And must include the words, “summer” and “heat.” What is the prize? Michael says,
What is at stake? Bragging rights and inclusion as the lead story in the NOT’s Dog Days of Summer e-Chap Book that will debut right here at the NOT on September 1st. The winning author will also be profiled and interviewed at The NOT by yours truly. What could be better than that?
Honorable mentions will round out the Chap Book making entry a no-brainer for those inclined to try out their chops against their peers. Additionally each winning and honorable mention story will be featured solo during my fall haitus from the NOT beginning September 26.
Hmmm, a “fall haitus?” That sounds like a great idea. Anyway, head on over to his place @the Not and get all the details.
Flash Fiction Contest. Devin O’Branagan (@DevinWrites) is sponsoring a flash fiction contest for horror writers. Check out www.VampireKissed.com for all the details.
Submissions to Coffee Klatch News
Request for fiction serials. Send me your info if you write serial fiction. I plan to start listing serials that are published online by the many wonderful writers who follow Writer’s Life. I am expecting many serials, so I will list them over a few weeks in the order I receive them. This includes sites that feature many fiction series.
I have one more request, please send me as many hashtags as you can that people use on Twitter for fictional series, such as #webfic, etc.
If you write a serial, send me the following information (this will help me so I can list them easily and quickly) send the info to the email address below:
Your Name, Twitter name (with link), website (with link), title of your serial (with link to the first installment in the series), and brief description (one sentence to one paragraph long).
Do you have a contest, challenge or publication (print, ebook or online) or interviews you would like to share with our writer’s life community? Have you discovered a great resource for writers online? If you have news or announcements for the weekly Coffee Klatch (posted each Thursday) send a DM on Twitter (@Writers_Life) or email to Coffee @ AnneTylerLord.com.
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