Review: Mahogony: A Love Letter To Black

I've decided that I want to start writing reviews of local writers or books that I really enjoy. I'm going to kick off this series with the chapbook "Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black." Written by Heather "Byrd" Roberts, a poet, performer, and teaching artist in Chicago, this chapbook tells a very deep, emotional story. It is a journey through her life, echoing both the tribulations and the joys she's experienced.

Heather graduated from Cornell College and received a Bachelors in Special Studies in Performance Art. She also received a Masters in Organizational Leadership from St. Ambrose University and a Certificate in Spoken Word Pedagogy from Concordia University-Chicago. Currently, she is the Programs Associate at Young Chicago Authors (YCA). YCA is a literary non-profit in Chicago that focus on cultivating more than 10,000 young peoples' voices through writing, publication, and performance education. She is also a member of the Poetic Forum Collective that has reoccurring shows at Stage 773 in Chicago.

I met Heather at Cornell College in Iowa, and I have always been impressed and amazed by her writing. After I helped found Wordsmiths, a creative writing group on campus, she founded Lyrically Inclined, a poetry/performance poetry group. She has carried on with her amazing talent to create "Mahogany: A Love Letter to Black."

I absolutely adored this chapbook, and I had the honor and pleasure of being one of her editors. The poems are raw, honest, and powerful. I grew angry at the injustice that she described, and it made me understand more just what she has gone through over the course of her life. Her language is beautiful and tantalizing. It's easy to hear the heartbeat in each line of poetry, her heart beating to the rhythm of her words.

I highly encourage you to pick up this amazing piece and check Heather "Byrd" out on her facebook page. You can also visit her website to learn more about her and her journey.

To purchase "Mahogany: A Love Letter To Black," you can find it here on amazon.

Congratulations on your success, Heather "Byrd"!

Tips: Writing Query Letters

A few months ago I decided that I wanted to try out for the Zebulon contest through the Pikes Peak Writing Convention in Colorado. The goal is to submit 2,500 words of your story, write a mock query letter, and create a synopsis. Up until that point, I hadn't tried to write an official query letter. I had made a draft of one when I was a student at the Denver Publishing Institute, but that was more a trial and error attempt. It was very, very real for the Zebulon. They even created a mock agent that you had to address. I don't claim to be a perfect query letter writer, but after that experience, I do have some tips I would like to offer to those of you who are trying to get your novels published. You can try to go through a publishing company without an agent, but from what I've read, you'll have a better shot if you have an agent at your back. So, here are just a few tips:

• Research your agent: Know what he/she is looking for. You don't want to send a fantasy query to a person who only accepts non-fiction stories. Look at some of the stories he/she has already chosen. That might help you decide if you have the right fit.
• Include information about the agent in your query. This makes the letter more personal and lets the agent know that you've taken the time to research her. This may include mentioning the books she's acquired, or the types of things she likes to read.
• Understand the query guidelines for your agent. One mishap can cause your letter to get thrown in the garbage.
• Make your query letter only a page long, or follow the word count guidelines on the agency site.
• Be confident, but not cocky. Make the agent believe that you have confidence in yourself, but don't be arrogant.
• Be professional.
• Sell your book. Create a strong attention getter that makes the agent want to keep reading your query letter. Depending on what resource you go through, you might include the hook at the beginning of the letter, or right when you discuss your story.
• Don't talk too much about yourself. If you've had work published, then include that, and the numbers too of how many books were sold. If you're a beginning writer...don't say it. Just show that you're confident in your book.
• Include word count in your query letter. Agents can often tell just how much revision you might need by the amount of words in your story (i.e. 300,000 words might be a red flag for a first time fantasy book).
• Know your facts. If your book falls under a very popular genre that's sold millions of books, say it. This means that your book might be easier to sell, and therefore the agent might be more inclined to look it over.
• If the agent asks for money upfront, RUN AWAY. This is not a legitimate agent. An agent should not be paid until your book has sold, and she'll take commission from that.
• Spell check. I can't emphasize this enough. One misspelling is a good way to get your query letter thrown out.

These are just a few things that I learned. If you want additional guidance, you can check out How to Write a Query Letter.

There are a lot of resources on the internet, but your best bet is to go through the agency website to see what they require. Good luck!

Creating God Systems

Long time no write! I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to the blog, but I'm hoping to post regularly now that I'm leading a Fantasy/Sci-Fi group in Iowa City. I'll post more information about that later. For now, I would like to talk about the art of creating a God system. Many fantasy/sci-fi stories present different forms of higher powers. But how do you make them? It's really up to you, but I can give you some ideas on how to get started based on what I've done in my own writing and what I've seen.

Gods based on mythology

One way to introduce Gods into your book is to look into mythology. For example, what Gods appear in Norse mythology, Greek mythology, Celtic mythology, etc.? Each one of these Gods has a purpose, an appearance, a reason to be in the story. If you're rewriting mythology, you can freely use these Gods to your own desire. Maybe Thor makes an appearance, or Odin, or Apollo and Athena. Perhaps you're writing about vikings and you want to keep true to Norse mythology.

My advice to you is if you're stumped, read different types of mythology and see if you can create Gods that way, or reinvent those Gods. It's okay to take something that's already known and apply it to your writing, just try to put an interesting twist to it!

Symbolic Gods

My favorite thing to do is to create Gods based on symbols or elements. For example, I have five Gods in one book. Each one is based on the seasons: Fall, Winter, Summer, Spring. The final God, however, is the Goddess of balance, neither light nor dark, life nor death. Each God represents a compass location, have particular colors, and are said to provide particular gifts to mortals.

One example is my Goddess Ren. She is the Goddess of Death and Night, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Her followers say that life cannot come without death and death can bring life (reincarnation/dead bodies bringing about new earth). She is celebrated during the Autumnal Equinox. Her avatar is a black serpent or a black dragon. And her governing colors are red, orange, and black for the changing leaves and fire. She is also the Goddess of the West (a call out to the Wicked Witch of the West).

Using symbols helped me understand my Goddess. It also made me realize that I needed other Gods to balance her, so I have one of fertility to counter her power of death. This is a really fun way to create Gods and mess with your characters' lives.

Gods based on character needs

Sometimes the best way to build a God is determined by the needs of your characters. You may start writing and realize that your character believes in some higher power. What higher power should she follow? Well, what does she need? Is she looking for strength, guidance, answers to questions? In the Catholic faith there are patron saints that are meant to protect people in certain ways. Think of your character's needs and decide, who is her patron saint, or her patron God? From there, ask yourself if one God is enough or if you need more Gods.

The funny thing that I didn't realize about my book is that part of it revolved around my character losing her faith then finding it with the aid of a certain God. It helped give more depth to my character, and also made her more interesting. She was able to relate to me as well as to my readers. So, focus on the needs of the character and you might be able to figure out your God or Gods.

Gods who influence characters' lives

To go along with character needs, you have to consider if the Gods get involved with mortal life. Are they intangible, or do they actually walk among mortals? Do they treat mortals as equals or beneath them? If you're going to have Gods walk with them, then what should they look like? Is it hard to tell them apart from mortals? Or is it very obvious that they're big, blue, and powerful? Perhaps they have a spell on them to make them look like mortals.

You need to ask yourself these questions and see how big of a role your Gods play in the world. How little or how much they appear will determine how in depth your God system needs to be. If they're only there for the sake of basic beliefs, then you may only need names. But if you want them present, you must think how they're going to influence the world.

A final piece of advice, don't make Gods for the sake of making your story complicated. Make them have a purpose so they can move the characters and the story forward. If their presence slows down your writing, then consider cutting their appearance out.

How you make your Gods can be as complicated or simple as you want it to be. Just remember to have fun!

Iowa Writers' House: Calling for Submissions

The Iowa Writers' House is a non-profit organization that is focused on helping new and experienced writers in their career paths. This organization is new but powerful and has already successfully hosted its first travel writer workshop. Now, the Iowa Writers' House is looking to you for submissions.

“This is our cry. This is our prayer. For building peace in this world.”                                                                                       -  Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima In August 1945, the world was forever changed when atomic bombs detonated on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Seven decades later, these two cities exist as steadfast beacons of peace, forever a reminder of the price of nuclear warfare.

THE EVENT:     On August 8th we join together in solidarity by "Sharing Our Peace" through a 70th anniversary commemorative musical and literary event presented at Uptown Bill’s in collaboration with the Iowa Writers’ House. To accompany the event, the Iowa Writers’ House will present its first literary book to share these passionate stories.

SUBMIT YOUR PEACE:     Local artists, musicians, and writers are invited to contribute to the program with their own gifts.  The Iowa Writers' House is accepting submissions for a compilation book: This is Our Peace: Iowa Writers are asked to submit poems, haikus, mighty tankas, and short essays that speak to the importance of maintaining peace. The theme of peace can be of all angles, from nuclear peace to peace between races to everyday peace of mind.

Entries should not be longer than 750 words. Along with your entry, please submit a short biography to be included in the book. All submissions that adhere to the guidelines and follow the theme of peace will be included.

SUBMISSION DUE DATE:  Wednesday, August 5th at noon

SHARE YOUR PEACE: Join us for the event and read a selection from your work. Presenters will be introduced as part of the event lineup and have their photo featured on the Iowa Writers' House Facebook page.

If you have questions, please contact  Erin Casey through this blog page and Andrea Wilson at andrea @ iowawritershouse.com

Visit: http://www.iowawritershouse.org/share-your-peace  to submit your Peace.

"The End"

One of the exciting things about being a writer is watching your world and characters come together. For weeks, months, years, you work with the plot of the story, sometimes hating your writing, and sometimes thinking it's the most brilliant thing you've ever done. It all ends the same, though. One day, you find yourself penning those last words onto the page. Your characters have finished their journey, your world is complete, and the story that you've spun together has finally reached its end.

That's what happened to me today.

Four years and five months ago, I had an idea to write a short book that would consist of 23 chapters. The story was based on a dream that I had, and I thought it would be a great way to get my foot into the door at a publishing company. At that time, I had been working on another series, and I was quite honestly burnt out. I needed something fresh to spark my interest and get my muses working again. So, I started TOTC. I spent months writing the outline and researching. I knew my plot and my characters. I knew the world. I just needed some research about medieval history to help me along the way. Over the years my bookshelves filled with more and more volumes about medieval life, fairies, dragons, Celtic names, and so on and so forth. My search engine was consumed by the same things, and sometimes creepier searches like how long it takes for a body to burn on a pyre. I'm not joking...sometimes you have to research some weird things.

Fast forward to a few years in, and I started using National Novel Writing Month to write more chapters in my story. It was invigorating to sit with fellow writers and develop the story to my own satisfaction. Only once did I truly hate using NaNo to write the book, but I was also going through some personal problems at that time. During my darkest moments, I always had my story and my ideas.

As I continued working, I started to realize that this single book was not possible. If I wanted to give all of my characters their voices and really make the story mean something, I would have to split it into three books instead. I can't express the amount of relief I felt when I finally made that decision. I was able to write additional scenes that gave my characters more depth. My simple plot line twisted and twisted again until I found myself immersed in a war.

The most interesting thing I noticed was that the simple theme of the story had changed. It wasn't just about a woman trying to protect the people of the land, but it was about her finding herself again, as well as her faith in the Gods. I watched my protagonist grow from a frightened little girl to a powerful woman. And I grew with her. I found my voice in my writing, and even when I had moments of doubt, I always knew I would finish, no matter what the cost.

This past year, I used two Camp NaNos to try to complete the trilogy. I kept thinking, only 50,000 more words, only 50,000 more words. Actually, an additional 51,000 did the trick. I put the final words on the page today, and I felt a stirring in my stomach. Right now, I think it's relief, but there's a prickle of sadness as well. There's so much work left in the trilogy, but for now, the story is done. The characters have come as far as they are going to go, and it's time for the adult side of me, the editor, to step up and rip apart my whimsical world to make it even better.

I don't plan to do this right away. I'm going to put TOTC off to the side for the time being to give myself some separation before I tackle the editing process. For now, I just want to bask in the fact that I finally completed the trilogy. This journey has been a roller coaster ride, and I can't wait to see what's in the future.