My name is Mark Penstone. I am originally from Toronto, Canada. Sixteen years ago, I moved to Atlanta, Georgia to work with Coca Cola at their head office. Despite all this time around the Southern drawl, I still pronounce my distinctive Canadian “outs” and other sounds. I have been with the Bookrix.com team for about a year and have been privileged to watch it grow from a small group of writers and readers to one of the most popular online community for those who love the written word.

  Some of you might know me as Bookmix and the host of BookRix Radio. I started BookRix Radio about four months ago. The BookRix Radio show has helped me meet a lot of very cool BookRix members, contest winners and knowledgeable industry professionals who assist us in teaching our members the “ins and outs” of the book publishing industry. My goal at BookRix Radio is to “explore, entertain and inform”. This would be impossible without the active participation of our members.

  You may also recognize me from the BookRix “how to” videos. The purpose of the videos is to make navigating around BookRix a lot easier and it has turned out to be a great way for our members to learn what BookRix has to offer. If you need help, just let us know and we will consider developing a video.

  My goals this year are to develop the radio show to include live call-in shows. I want to test this concept with an industry professional who will be able to answer our members’ questions live on the air. I promise to keep you informed. I also want to bring on new partners to BookRix who will be able to provide our members with not just their knowledge and experiences, but prizes that will help our members with advancing their careers.

  Let me know what you’d like to see on your online writing community!

  By: Jatana Williams, author of “In My Prayers with My Legs Wide Open.”

   I enjoy getting emails from readers after they’ve allowed their minds to be taken to another place by something I’ve written. I believe one of the best compliments I can get as a writer is “I saw the words come alive on the page” or “I pictured the scenes in my head.” As one who writes what many label as “erotic literature” (I label it “sensual tense”), I enjoy this feedback.

   My purpose in writing is to take readers’ minds to another place. Not only do I strive to take their minds but I also want to take their bodies as well. Yes, I said it. I want the body to go there as well. When reading a sexy scene in my writing, I want a reader to imagine he or she is the character being touched, kissed and caressed. I want them to see themselves in place of my characters. This is no easy task for any writer. Writers must be comfortable in their own skin when it comes to writing about sex.

  I assume if you have made a decision to write this genre, you already have a sensual inner being you want to release. One of the biggest challenges to writing in the “sensual tense” is learning to be open with your own sexual desires. In order to write sensually or sexually suggestive story lines, a writer must be willing to let go. You have to tap into the part of you that wants to be stimulated. If you are aroused by what you have written, then most likely so will your reader. If readers continue reading after the first few pages, it is because they want to receive gratification from the story you are telling. So let yourself go.

  When writing stories of strong sexual content, you are setting the readers up to be voyeurs. They are taking a peak behind the red curtains at the video store or looking over their newspaper at the couple kissing on the bus. You will want to draw the readers into your story. Everything from the room color and furniture to what the characters are seeing, smelling, touching or tasting needs to be descriptive. How far is one to go with being descriptive when it comes to sex? It all depends on the story you want to tell. Is your focus to be more romantic or to have a raw approach? You can be sexually suggestive, stimulating or get straight to the point. It all depends on your story. Just because you’re writing sexual content doesn’t mean you don’t need to tell a story. The most important thing to remember when it comes to writing in the sensual tense is not to write about sex for the sake of writing it, but to entertain your readers.

  Now, what do you think is important when writing erotic literature (sensual tense)?

  Hello, my name is Ayelet and I’m the new Community Moderator for BookRix. Many of you may have seen me around and already gotten to know me a little through my postings. I wanted to take a moment to properly introduce myself to everyone.
  My professional background is in writing, editing, social media and marketing for nonprofit organizations. While I enjoyed my previous work, I always missed talking directly with people and being involved in a community.

  Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a book in one hand and loved discovering new authors and styles. When I first heard of BookRix and the Community Moderator position, it was so exciting to me that my two loves, books and social media, were coming together.

  My greatest aim at the moment is to help this community become everything you want it to be. As a Community Moderator, I’m here to listen and talk to you all. The BookRix community is so helpful and kind to one another; it’s been a delight to interact with everyone. I look forward to getting to know you all very well!

  Now, it’s your turn: please tell me a little about yourself! If you’re not sure what to write in the comments section below, you always can start with what got you started with writing books or how you came upon your love of reading, and a random bit of knowledge most people don’t know about you.

  Best,
  Ayelet

  p.s. I happily welcome messages to my account here with rants, raves, questions, suggestions or comments. I’ll also be active on the forum and in the groups, if you’d rather open up the discussion.

  There is currently running a free-to-enter short story contest on BookRix for writers and readers. The theme is “Family Stories”.

  Prizes on the line include $1.800,00 in prize money for writers, “fame!” and Amazon vouchers (each worth $20) for voting readers.

  The 10 best-rated stories will be given to an independent jury consisting of BookRix and the Georgia Writers Association.

  Perhaps you want to submit your own family story into the competition or become a judge and vote for others to win great prizes. If so, please go to the following contest pages:  http://www.bookrix.com/precontest.html?show=BX_1261137553

  Good luck to you!

_______
BookRix – your place to read, write and network free literature on the Internet.

  By:  Carmen Ana

  Many people confuse being [a] great [writer] with the fact that you have to be published. No. Being great involves that your readers live through your work, that it becomes real and convincing to them, even when it is fiction.

  Writing a great story involves many things.

  1. Your work must be convincing and real to you first.

  This means that you must live your characters in order for you to give them life in your tale. Let me get clearer in my meaning: You MUST become your character, feel and act like them. When you are in tune with that character, then you will write with their passion, personality and feelings. You’ll be writing from your heart with your character in mind and your readers will sense it also.

  2. Write a background for your characters.

  Yes, I know, there are times I don’t need one to make my story flow. But! There are times when secondary characters can become very important to the story, but when we don’t make a background for them, we end up going back to rewrite and fix our glitches we could have avoided. Background also helps us get to know our characters better, making them more real to us.

  3. Analyze your plot and storyline.

  Have someone read your work. If you or they can see how your story is going to end before the fifth chapter, be humble to accept you have a weak plot. Give twists to your story, stump your readers and make them work hard in guessing your ending. If you don’t do this, I guarantee you will have unsatisfied readers.

  4. Check for inconsistencies.

  This is one that we need to be very careful [about] when overlooking our work. I have seen characters change their personalities with no reason. For example, if you have a strong-headed independent woman in the first few chapters, then have her become weak and dependant without something happening in the tale to trigger that change, you are being inconsistent. If you’re writing a tale about someone who’s never seen the outside world and you’re using similes with modern things the character has never seen or heard of before, you’re being inconsistent. If you have your character speaking with an accent, then later on he’s not, uh-uh you’re being inconsistent. If you have a character in a party getting it on and then he/she appears somewhere else without an explanation, then you have another boo-boo to fix.

  5. SHOW, don’t TELL.

  It’s not a sin to tell a little in a story, and it even happens to the best of us. And if we never told at all, that would great! But too much telling kills the story. For example, instead of telling your readers your character is mad about something, portray it by the use of descriptive actions and dialogue. Your readers have a brain, and believe me, they like to use it. So, show your readers how your character thinks and feels about something by using the above method, without telling them every little detail. It can be annoying to find too much telling in a book.

  6. In fiction and fantasy anything goes, as long as there’s a logical
explanation to it.

  When inventing the use of technology and sci-fi gadgets, don’t become the scientist who wants to explain the slightest detail of their invention nor who invents things that make your readers roll their eyes and say, ‘Yeah right, whatever.” Nowadays almost everyone knows how time travel, teleportation, laser guns, space ship, identification scanners, etc. works. All you want to do is show your readers what your new device looks like and what it does, without going overboard with your explanations. This also goes with new mythological creatures — please do not overdo it.

  7. Writing skills.

  You can have strong characters, one heck of a plot and story idea, but if your writing skills are poor or terrible, then you’re getting the boot. I personally have improved tremendously, but I still have my misusage of words and awkward sentence structures to deal with. But I know that without going through them tediously and fixing it, my writing would get nowhere toward getting published. So if you’re one who needs help, take writing classes, be determined to work hard and learn how to get better and better. Be humble to accept constructive criticism to heart and apply it.

  My fellow writers, it is good to see you all working hard to share your work and improve. I want to thank BookRix for having me here and for giving us this wonderful site that presents our work professionally and beautifully. May we all continue to grow as writers and human beings.

  Always remember, the future of your writing depends solely on you. So don’t give up!

  We are proud to present the first free-to-enter BookRix poetry contest: December 1, 2009 to January 15, 2010

  Prizes on the line include $1.600,00 in prize money for poets, “fame!” and Amazon vouchers (each worth $20) for voting readers.

  The 10 best-rated poetry books will be given to an independent jury consisting of the Georgia Writers Association and BookRix.

  Perhaps you want to submit your own poems into the competition or become a judge and vote for others to win great prizes.

  If so, please go to the following poetry contest pages:

http://www.bookrix.com/precontest.html?show=BX_1259321737

  Good luck to you!

  Los Angeles…a city of high-rises, palm trees and sunsets that melt you on the inside. I first set foot here in the early 1990s and instantly fell in love with the place. During one of many visits, I was staying in an inn for young travelers. It was a wild place, with fascinating characters coming and going by the van-load and parties that never seemed to end before the dawn broke. The names and the faces of some of these curious people have long since been forgotten. But the conversations I had with them are imprisoned in my memory for good. I recall being shown how to use the Ouija board in a drafty dining room at two in the morning. I recall being instructed on how to astral travel…and how to lucid dream.

  After deciding to stay in L.A. permanently, I moved into a third floor apartment with a view of the Hollywood sign through the bedroom windows. The past-its-prime building had creaky wooden floorboards and poorly lit corridors and a roof that would leak every time the rain fell. It was the perfect setting for a mystery story. The perfect abode for a carefree, young college student named Sloane, the main character in my novel, ‘Lucid’.

  It was in this ancient, red-brick building that I had my first lucid dream. In the dead of night, I ‘found myself’ in the corridor outside the apartment. My mind drifted back to one of those conversations I’d had during my travels. I had been told that, if I ever suspected I might be dreaming, I should center all my attention on my hands. I later learned that this ‘reality check’ is a widely recognized technique for confirming that you are dreaming and therefore inducing a lucid dream. So as I stood there in the hallway, I raised my palms toward my face and peered intently at them until they came into focus. And as soon as they did, everything appeared to change. This was no longer just your everyday, garden-variety excursion into dreamland. This was unlike any dream I had ever had before. The world around me seemed to intensify, to liven before my eyes, and I understood instantly what lucid dreaming was.

  I continued to concentrate on my hands, not wanting to let the dream slip away. Brushing my fingertips over the uneven surface of the wall as I wandered up and down the corridor. I awoke…my dream went no further. But the character from my story, ‘Lucid’, is not so lucky. Although her first lucid dream begins harmlessly, as mine did, Sloane’s dream quickly turns into a horrific nightmare. She gets a glimpse inside her neighbor’s apartment…and a glimpse at the dirty, little secret he’s been hiding there. Is her mind playing tricks on her, or are her dreams actually based on reality? Is her neighbor as ordinary as she once thought him to be, or is he really the savage monster who haunts her nightmares?

  It was the strange and vivid dreams that I’ve been having for as long as I can remember that inspired me to write my first novel, ‘Lucid’. In fact, more than half of the dreams described in the book are based on dreams that I actually experienced.

  Lucid is out now in e-book edition and Amazon Kindle edition. For more information, please visit my website: katherineangelayeboah.blogspot.com

    There is currently running a free-to-enter short story contest on BookRix for writers and readers. The theme is “Travel Stories”.

  Prizes on the line include $1.800,00 in prize money for writers, “fame!” and Amazon vouchers (each worth $20) for voting readers.

  The 10 best-rated stories will be given to an independent jury consisting of BookRix and the Georgia Writers Association.

  Perhaps you want to submit your own story into the competition or become a judge and vote for others to win great prizes. If so, please go to the following contest pages:  http://www.bookrix.com/precontest.html?show=BX_1256740851

  Good luck to you!

  – “There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” – Alexander The Great –

  Believing in your abilities goes a long way as a writer. I posted this quote on a sticky note beside my computer. It comes in handy when the agony of writer’s block takes over. I procrastinate, distract myself and find twenty things to do other than write. The screen remains blank until my muse returns.

  This saying is also useful when I receive rejection letters from publishers. Writing the “Great American Novel” is a desirable goal. However, how many of us invest the time and effort to make this dream a reality?

 One of my first creative writing instructors told me that my work was good enough to publish. I sent out submissions to magazines and journals.

  I was having coffee with a friend who asked me how the writing was going. “I don’t think I’m cut out to be an author,” I said. “I got rejected three times from this art magazine.”

  She shook her head. “You’re giving up after three rejection letters? Go and talk to them. Introduce yourself and keep sending them your writing!”

  Soon after I was published in that magazine and other print publications as well. I also taught creative writing and began to write more complex, longer works.

  It’s great to have the talent to write, but monetary success partially depends on marketing skills. It would be a perfect world, if we all had agents and publishers looking out for our best interests. However, the reality is no one will know you as a writer unless you put yourself out there. In ways, it’s like running a business.

  So you’ve fostered your writing and found a unique voice. Perhaps you’ve shown your stories and/or poems to fellow writers and received advice and suggestions. You’ve taken writing courses and participated in writers’ forums. Now is the time to approach publishers if that is your goal.

  Make sure your work is the best it can be. Judge it not as the author, but as a skeptical reader. What makes it memorable? What is not essential? Who is your audience?

  Skill as a writer can be learned. Natural talent puts you in good company. There are good writers who aren’t published and there are not so good writers who are published. Don’t be afraid of failure but treat it as a learning experience. If you’re going to dream, dream big. Your goals in writing are within your grasp. It may take time, but nothing is impossible.

  Our free short story writing contest “Rain Stories” enters a crucial stage as we are about to reach halftime…

  More than 50 stories are in the competiton already and our discerning readers on BookRix.com started to choose who shall win. So far it’s a close race.

  Please vote for your winner.

  On the line: $1800 prize money for writers, “fame!” and Amazon vouchers (each worth $20) for voting readers.

  Your goal: To choose the best story, considering content, style and spelling. The polls close 15th of October at 3pm, GMT London.

  Check out the participants, who are allowed to register more than just one rain story, as readers are welcome to vote for more than one book: Click to see all  Rain stories in contest

  In the meantime, stay tuned to the BookRix.com forums to track your candidates’ discussions and progress.

  Supporting colleagues & fairness: Good luck to all!

  _______
  BookRix – your place to read, write and network free literature on the internet…