The answer to whether you can hear me now is . . . Yes. Not only can you hear me now, but authors Janette Rallison and Brock Booher as well. The three of us are part of the Typeractive author group that has published a collection of clean fiction and hosted the annual Ready-Set-Write writing conference for the last two years. Apparently that wasn’t enough for us and we have put together a podcast to help writers succeed in their goal of becoming published authors. We call it the Ready-Set-Write Podcast and all you have to do is click on the link and you will be magically transported there.
            Well, what are you waiting for? Aren’t you enticed by the sage advice that Brock Booher offers? Then what about the chance to spend time with the talented and funny Janette Rallison? If you close your eyes while you listen it’s just like hanging out with Janette in person—in a pitch black room where no one can see anything. I’m on the podcast too. There must be a reason they let me participate. You can listen to the podcast and try to figure out why.
            Just in case that doesn't convince you to check out our podcast we are giving away books. Ah, ha. I see that caught your attention. Janette is giving away books on her website. You can find out the details of her giveaway at http://janetterallison.com/blog/podcast-launch-book-giveaway/.
            Wait . . . I’m not done. If Janette is going to have a giveaway then so am I. The rules are simple. We currently have four episodes available. At the end of the month, I am going to pick my favorite comment for each episode and send a book to the person who wrote it. For episode one I am giving away My Loving Vigil Keeping by Carla Kelly. The prize for episode two is An Uncommon Blue by R.C. Hancock. The episode three prize winner will receive The Shapeshifter’s Secret by Heather Ostler. And the person who submits the winning comment for episode four will receive an autographed copy of my first book, The Gathering: End’s Beginning.
            Feel free to leave comments on all four episodes. We would love to have questions about writing that we can use in future podcasts. As you can probably guess, comments that include details about the actual episode are more likely to be chosen.
            That’s it. Go win some books.
 

Since I bothered to put a News and Views section on my website I thought I might as well mention a couple of news items. The first is that I finished the third book in The Gathering series and am in the final editing stages before I submit it to my publisher. The tenative title is The Devastation: America Crumbles. Fans of the series should be happy to know that I think this is my best work so far.

My other big announcement is that Battlementals: The Quest for the Harmonicon is scheduled for release January 21st, 2017. This is my first effort at writing middle-grade and according to my critique group I have found my true calling as an author. I'm already working on the second book in the series and have the basic plot in mind for the third.

What's it all about? Here's the back cover blurb to intice you to check it out when it is released in January.

Chase Freeman is a boy with a heart for adventure stuck living in dull Drifter Flats. The only exciting thing that ever happens in his small town is Eclipse Day and even that isn’t enough for Chase—until he sees the strange ball of light streaking across the sky. Enlisting his best friend Jordan, her little brother Luke, and Harlan the smartest boy in school, they follow the light to an American Indian medicine circle. Drawn into the middle of it, the four friends are suddenly teleported to the Battlementals dimension along with the school bully Brendan and his friend Lena. 

Once there, they find an elemental people desperate for them to accept the grand quest to save the universe. A deadly alliance has pulled it out of balance and, soon, everything will vanish altogether. Friends and enemies will have to find a way to work together to assemble the Harmonicon, defeat the Salt Giant, and find their own undiscovered abilities that will help them complete their quest. But when dark secrets are put in the wrong hands, their mission unravels and time is quickly running out. As the universe systematically starts to disappear, Chase and his friends race to put all the elements they’ve gathered together, but will it be too late to save it?
  

             The Time Out for Women conference was this weekend and I’m thinking that ANWA should really be AN-WOW. The organization provides a safe environment for LDS writers to pursue their craft. Those of you familiar with ANWA might notice that I did not state that it provided LDS women with a safe environment and that is because the members voted to allow men to join this wonderful organization. Marsha Ward gave a inspiring speech about the decision that not only made me feel welcomed, but helped me to realize what an honor it is to join forces with these spiritually-guided women.
            Over the weekend, I managed to make several new friends. The speculative fiction table at the Thursday night workshop had a brilliant group writers gathered together. It was my job to act as “mentor” for the table, but these folks certainly didn’t need me to guide them. My thanks go out to the following people for making it so much fun: Dustin Thompson, Tamara Thompson, Christine Walter, and Sean.
            Then there were the friends that I made during lunch and dinner. Matt Peterson, DeAnn Huff, Kathy Cowley, and Chanda Simper. What many of you may not know is that I’m a shy person and it is difficult for me to put out the energy to meet new people in a social setting. However, at this event lunchtime became an enjoyable opportunity to make new friends because everyone was so kind and approachable.
            Last year I attended the ANWA gala and left early. Not because it was boring or the people made fun of me, but because that sort of environment is my kryptonite. Lots of people I don’t know, in costumes that I do a horrible job of guessing correctly, and having conversations that I hesitate to interrupt. Also, all of the background noise makes it difficult for me to hear what people are saying and I feel stupid when I’m not sure how to respond. But this year the friends I mentioned above made the event enjoyable for me. That includes the part where I didn’t recognize Kathy Cowley and she totally dismissed my gaff as inconsequential. Thanks, Kathy.
            The wonderful Janette Rallison introduced me to Brad McBride and my life is already better for it because of a discussion we had while waiting in line for dinner. Then there are the wonderful ladies who were an integral part of the conference who we all get to meet and know better as they do their job; Nan Marie Swapp, Deb Eaton, Bonnie Harris, Melinda Sanchez, Kari Pike, Lisa Crandall, and Nikki Wilson.
            Before any of you have a chance to accuse me of name-dropping because I know all of these super cool writers, let me say that I had fun presenting the classes I presented and learned helpful tips on how to improve my craft in the classes I attended. More importantly though, the conference as a whole put together several pieces of a puzzle that has given me direction in my writing career. The keynote speech from Jeff Savage, my lunch conversation with Chanda Simper, and a combination of what Brad McBride taught in his class and the subsequent discussion I had with him about it all came together in a powerful way.
            My thanks go out to everyone I mentioned. In one way or another you have helped me along my path as a writer. And for those of you who didn’t attend the Time Out For Writers event—I hope to see you there next year.
 

            If you live in Arizona, I have good news for you. The Time Out for Writers conference is only two weeks away. I am excited to be part of this event. ANWA does an excellent job of putting on a friendly and instructive writing conference. If you have never been to a writing conference then this is definitely the event for first time attendees.
            Just follow the link above to register. If my words of encouragement haven’t been enough to convince you to attend then please check out all of these great classes which are part of the conference.
 
Anika Arrington with Crafting the Siren’s Song: Deep POV and Narrative Voice
  

Aprilynne Pike with Writing (Un)Realistic Dialogue
  

Melanie Jacobson with Push Her Off the Roof: Escalating the Stakes
 
* Warning * Melanie has advised us that she plans to torture characters during the class and for attendees to expect a rather brutal experience. (I’m so going to attend.)
 

Melanie Jacobson with Fast Drafting: The One Thing That Will Boost Your Productivity Overnight (and a Few Others That Help)
 
(No mention of torture in this class description.)
 

Bradley McBride with Taking Over the World, One Friend at a Time: Building a Loyal Community via Social Media
 

Katherine Cowley – Optimizing Your Author Website for Google, Facebook and Pinterest

 
Katherine Cowley with Rule-Based Worldbuilding for Fantasy, Steampunk, and Science-Fiction

 
J. Scott Savage with Am I Writing a Middle Grade Novel or a YA Novel?

 
J. Scott Savage with Four Part Pacing

 
J. Scott Savage with From Idea to Marketable Pitch (Two-Hour Intensive, Thursday Workshop)

 
James A. Owen with Why Eggs Benedict is Crucial to Your Success as an Author (Two-Hour intensive)
 

Annette Lyon with Self-editing and Revision: Dig Deep to Learn the Nit-Picky Stuff—And Make the Best Impression (Two-Hour Intensive Workshop)

 
Annette Lyon with How Scrivener Totally Rocks & Will Make Your Writing Easier & Faster

 
Jennifer Lunt Moore with Research: What’s the Point?

 
Jennifer Lunt Moore with Elements of Swoon-worthy Romance

 
Matt Peterson with Copywriting: The Perfect “Day Job” for Writers

 
Dr. James Blasingame with Doubling Down on the Resolution: How to do the Best Young Adult Authors Create and Interior and Exterior Conflict Resolution?

 
Catherine Jones Payne with The Indie Dream Team: Choosing Your Self-Publishing Team

 
Heidi Taylor with Elevator Pitches: Take Them to a Higher Level

 
Heidi Taylor with How to Craft a Query Letter

 
Patricia Nelson with What’s Working in YA Now?

 
Patricia Nelson with Rookie Submission Mistakes

 
Janette Rallison with Scene Structure: What it Takes to Make Your Writing Work All Novel Long

 
Michelle Wilson with Getting to the Heart of Non-Fiction

 
Michelle Wilson & J. Scott Savage with Conquering the Devils in the Writer’s Mind

 
Randy Lindsay with Jumpstart Your Creative Juices Workshop
 
(Woo-hoo! That’s me. Should I be worried that my titles aren’t longer?)

 
Randy Lindsay with Keep ‘Em Reading
 
(Here’s your chance to heckle me with a workshop I’m still getting used to presenting.)
 
 
Heather Flaherty with Action Over Expository Workshop
 
 
C. J. Anaya with Guerilla Marketing: Launching Your Book to Bestseller Status
 
 
Tamara Passey with Friends Don’t Let Friends Publish Junk
 
 
Agent/Editor Panel with The Inbox
 
 
Indie/Hybrid Author Panel
 
 
            That is an amazing amount of great information for writers at any point in their personal journey with the written word. Come on out and learn some new skills, network with other writers, and make some new friends. Hope to see you there.
 
 

         Fans of The Gathering series will be happy to know that I am making great progress on the third book and I think it will be the best yet. If you have even half as much fun reading book three as I am writing it, then you are in for a treat.
            For those of you who have read book two, Call to Arms: Nations Fall, there is an opportunity to help me generate some interest in the title and thusly increase the chances of Cedar Fort publishing then next book in the series. The best part of it is you have the chance to win some books at the same time.















            New LDS Fiction is hosting their annual Summer Book Trek contest. You can hop on over to the website for full details, but the basic idea is that participants read any of the books on the list and help spread the word about the book you read. The first part is super easy—you read a book by an LDS author. Then you get points for posting reviews of the book and mentioning it on your social media, which is also pretty easy. This is a chance to help your favorite LDS author receive the exposure we need to continue writing the stories you love. Please, help us out.

             The second item I wanted to mention is the Time Out for Writers conference in September. If you are an author or an aspiring author this is a chance to learn more of the writing craft and spend some time networking with individuals in the publishing industry. I personally believe that this is the best conference for Arizona authors.


            Did I mention that I will be presenting two classes at the conference? If not, I have now. I will be teaching the popular Jumpstart Your Creative Juices where I will show how writers can use writing prompts to generate original story ideas. My second class is Keep ‘Em Reading which is new to my teaching list. The class discusses cliffhangers and how to keep your readers hooked throughout the entire book.
            The Time Out for Writers website has been posting spotlights on the conference presenters. I am the spotlight this week and had the opportunity to answer a few questions about my writing journey. Check it out.

              I can’t believe that Phoenix Comicon has been over for a week and I haven’t posted a report on the event. Not to worry—I’ll take care of that little detail right now.
            Phoenix suffered record high temperatures during the convention and then dropped down to the normal warm summer days as soon as it was over. It didn’t seem as crowded this year as it was last and the heat may have had something to do with it. There were still a lot of people in attendance and a lot to do. On the positive side, I didn’t see any vacant artist tables this year.
            The convention was a different experience for me this time. I went with the perspective of an author hoping to participate in the event next year. In the vendor room, my eyes were drawn to artist’s tables and the possibility of having them design the cover for the Battlementals book. Several of them had art that fit my sense of what the cover should look like. They include Adrew Bosley, Spencer L. Brinkerhoff III, and Travis Hanson.
            I also stopped to talk with several authors in order to get a better idea of how I should approach the event as an author/vendor. The best information of the day was from Howard Tayler who writes Schlock Mercenary. Howard participates in the Writing Excuses podcast. I was able to get some valuable insight that should help when I start a podcast of my own later in the year. 

            But the highlight of the convention was the horror panel I sat on Sunday morning. Even though the first two stories I sold were horror, everyone seemed surprise that I write horror. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that my friends know I’m really wimpy when it comes to gore. The panel was Suspense vs. Gore and I’ll leave it to you to decide which side of the argument I came down on. The event had a surprisingly good turn out for Sunday morning. I expected most of the people to still be asleep in their rooms after a late night of revelry with their friends.
            After the panel I went and sat with my friends and fellow panelists T. M. Williams and Ray Torres III. The chemistry between the three of us during the panel was wonderful and we talked about doing more events together. Will that mean more horror in my future writing? You never know.
            Mostly, I gathered ideas for what to do with a table/booth of my own. If I go the indie-publishing route, I will have The Land of the Battlementals: Quest for the Harmonicon published in time for Comicon next year. And I am super excited about all the panel ideas, booth decorations, and promotional events that I have in mind.
            Hope to see you all there next time.

            In January, I signed up for the LDStoryMakers conference. The event has been an important part of my journey as an author and I have attended six times during the last seven years. Against all logic, this year I didn’t want to go.             Fortunately, my wife urged me to go and I’m glad she did.

            As always, the conference revitalized me. There’s something infectious about spending the weekend with hundreds of individuals who have the same drive to create that I have. It helps that the event organizers and the attendees are amazingly friendly. By the time I return home, I’m ready to plop myself down at my computer and crank out the next blockbuster novel. (Okay, I’m still waiting for that to happen, but at least I’m eager to work towards that goal.)
            This year I pitched my first novel, Hellathon, to Marlene Stringer. I’m feeling good about my chances with Marlene because I believe there was a connection with her. Having an agent would take my writing career to the next level and that’s exciting.
            Networking is a key aspect of any writing conference and thanks to the awesome Janette Rallison I was able to connect with several people in the industry. I don’t know if I can tell you how incredible it felt to hear her tell people, “Why don’t you publish Randy’s books? He’s an awesome writer.” Thanks Janette. With support like that I feel as if there are no limits to where I can go in this industry.
            One of the most incredible things about the conference is that there are classes for everyone. No matter where you are in your career path you can learn something new and helpful here. And most of the time you’re going to be entertained during the process. I focused mostly on marketing since I intend to self-publish if I can’t land an agent. The instructors for my classes included Julie Wright, Annette Lyon, DeNae Handy, Dan Wells, Robison Wells, J. Scott Savage, James Dashner, Rachelle Christensen, and Dennis Gaunt. I learned something from every class I attended. My thanks go out to all of the instructors.       
            There’s much more that I could discuss, but I think I will finish with a few comments about my new business cards. From previous trips to LDStoryMakers I have learned about branding myself as an author. What I decided to do is incorporate the colorful shirts my wife has made for me into an image I hope people will find friendly and accessible. The back of my business cards has a cartoon image of me wearing one of my shirts. It worked. When I handed out my business card during the conference it received a positive result as soon as the person saw the cartoon and then a second even better response when they realized that I was wearing the shirt in the image.
            That’s enough chatting about the conference for now; I have some writing to do.
 

  
            The Tempe Book Festival is set for April 16th, from 10:00 to 3:00, at the Tempe library. A veritable host of authors will be on hand to entertain the public with readings, books signings, and panel discussions. Bring the entire family and meet the creative minds responsible for writing some of your favorite fiction. A fun time is sure to be had by all.
            Or is it?
            For fans attending the event a panel discussion provides them the opportunity to ask authors all sorts of questions related to the writing process and specifics about the works of fiction the authors have created. The Tempe library was kind enough to invite me to sit on the Building Worlds panel. I currently refer to this upcoming event as—the Great Unknown.
            While this isn’t my first time speaking in public or even participating in a panel it will be the first time I’ve gone into this sort of event without knowing what to expect. My previous author panels were all setup by me and I knew exactly what questions I was going to ask the rest of the authors.
            I feel a bit like a duck in a shooting gallery, waiting for audience members to lob keenly insightful questions in my direction. A bright and inquisitive audience is all good and well as long as I manage to respond in a way that doesn’t make me look like the Rain Man. Memories of my first experience on live radio come to mind and the excruciating seconds of dead air as I attempted to answer an unexpected question from the host.
            The radio program had thousands of listeners to experience my stumbling attempts to form coherent answers, making the panel discussion less stressful. That is until you consider the fact that the audience will actually be on hand to see any potential failure. There’s nothing like an all-eyes-on-you experience to rattle a speaker’s nerves.
            This will also be the first time I’ve spoken with the other three authors on the panel. Not being the only one in front of the audience will certainly reduce the amount of audience terror that I feel, but how well will I get along with these other world-builders? Will the brilliance of their answers leave me in a shadow reserved for second-rate authors? What’s the possibility of a Jerry Springer moment where I get into a name-calling, hair-pulling, shirt-ripping exchange that lands us on the front page of the society section of the newspaper, with a heading of Writing Outcasts Ruin Peaceful World-Building Discussion?
            Oh, sure. I can hear you out there now, telling me nothing of the sort will happen and that it’s just a matter of my imagination going places to where no man has gone before. You might be right, but then again what’s new? I’m an author. My imagination is always going places it has no right to go.
            If you are in the greater Phoenix area, please consider stopping by the Book Festival. You can even try to stump me during the Building Worlds panel.

A NEW DIRECTION
 
 
            One of the great things about life is that it takes you places you didn’t expect to go. I’ve learned to let go of old plans, move forward with new plans, and enjoy the change of scenery. When the Typeractive authors joined forces over a year ago I thought it would be a matter of sharing marketing opportunities with one another. And it has, but with everyone pitching in their ideas of what an author group can do when they set their minds to it I find myself on the brink of a new adventure.
            Okay, I call it an adventure. You might think of it as something less romantic and more insane. In either case, the Typeractive authors have decided to do a writing podcast. Our weekly brainstorming session will be intended to help authors generate exciting and original ideas for stories, characters, and settings. We are even expecting it to be fun.
            Part of our format will involve looking at elevator pitches for story ideas that are generated from our brainstorming sessions and awarding prizes for the best ones. In order for that to work our audience will need to know what we want in an elevator pitch.
 
 
            ELEVATOR PITCHES
 
            An elevator pitch distills the essence of the story into one or two sentences. Anything longer than that and you are missing the point of having a quickly delivered sales tool for you story.
            The elevator pitch has three elements:
 
1. Who is the protagonist? The name is not as important as choosing a couple of quick words that can paint a general picture of the protagonist. For instance, Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz can be described as a lonely, young small-town girl. That’s all we need to know to determine if this is the kind of story we want to read.
 
 
2. What force opposes the protagonist? This is the source of the conflict. Once again, a name isn’t as important as the general image that is placed in our imagination. For Dorthy it happened to be a magical land full of surprising and dangerous encounters. I tend to pick forces that have a little more intimidating, like an army of flesh-eating mutant zombies.
 
 
3. What is at stake? What happens if the protagonist fails in his/her goal? If you happen to be Dorthy then the opportunity to return home is at stake. My novels tend to pit the fate of humanity, the destruction of the world, or the consumption of all chocolate on Earth by a mass of super insects.
 
 
There is a fourth element that can be substituted for the “Force” which opposes the protagonist.
 
4. What choice does the protagonist face? In the case of The Bridges of Madison County an Iowa housewife has to choose between true romance and the needs of her family.
 
 
Here is a sample elevator pitch for The Wizard of Oz.
 
A lonely young small-town girl is swept away to a magical land in a tornado and embarks on a quest to see the Wizard who can help her return home.
 
 
            The Typeractive team will also be taking a look at first pages submitted by our audience and giving valuable feedback on what works and what doesn’t work. Here’s your chance to have the world-famous Janette Rallison comment personally on your writing. How exciting.
 
 
            Obviously, during the first few episodes of the podcast we aren’t going to have any entries from the previous month. I plan to rectify that situation here. I’m going to post the shows first writing prompt and ask that submissions be sent through the Contact Me page of this website.
 
 
            WRITING PROMPT - TITLES
 
            I used this writing prompt to generate the idea for my first novel. It was a great idea and eventually I will get it published. For this particular prompt you look to titles for inspiration. It can be the title of another book, a movie, a song, or even the headline from the newspaper. Write down several and then spend some time imagining what a story with that title might be about. Look at the title figuratively. Then look at the title literally. Look at it with whimsical eyes. Keep looking until an idea sparks.
            For the first challenge I have supplied six titles and ask that you authors out there turn them into an interesting story of your own. Then send the elevator pitches to me via the Contact Me page.
 
            1. They Might Be Giants
            2. The Long Goodbye
            3. Angels Die Hard
            4. You Only Live Twice
            5. Walk, Don’t Run
            6. A Song Is Born
 
           
            Here is an example of an elevator pitch I created based on the They Might Be Giants title.
Jared and Sally have been asked by their father to take a pair of shoes to a customer in the next town. They are the most enormous shoes either of them have ever scene. Could it be that the people living there are giants? And if so, what will happen to the children when they arrive?
 
 
            Ready!  Set!  Write!
 

     I hadn't planned on posting another article about the Tempe Library Comicon, but sometimes things happen that you just have to tell everyone about. When I returned home from my weekly meeting with my critique group I had a message waiting for me. Channel 12, the local NBC affiliate, was doing a promo for the event on their morning show and the library wanted me to represent the local authors.
     All I had to do was say yes immediately and then wake up at 3:45 in the morning and drive down to the library with all my books. Of course I said yes. And here is a clip of my experience.