What's Really On Our Minds: Caution Radioactive

Not only do I write and research, but I've practiced healthy eating for over thirty years. When I learn something new that can help my body, I enjoy passing it along. So the reason for today's post.

Everyone should be taking iodine in some form. That should have happened, especially countries east of Japan, on the day Japan announced problems with their reactors. Now, with three of the six reactors in bad shape, we must consider what it is we will do now, not later, if these reactors meltdown.

Below, I share links of information of what is happening and how to help yourself, your families, and friends.

We found the Health Ranger, as Mike Adams calls himself, at Natural News.com. His blog keeps the people up to date on the radioactive problem. He's honest. He doesn't pull punches. The Health Ranger is blunt. You can also get his newsletter delivered to your E-mail each day.

Another site that I've found helpful is Oasis Health & Wellness Blog by Dr. Loretta Lanphier. Dr. Loretta has an informative article Fighting Radiation Exposure - Naturally. I quote Dr. Steven R. Schechter from within Dr. Loretta's article, "These foods and food substances will enhance the immune system and protect against the dangerous side effects of radiation."

We must not delay, though, because Dr. Loretta says this, "The time to implement these foods is now in order to build up the body as well as the immune system. Most of the foods and vitamins/minerals are "protective" meaning that they should be implemented before a radiation event occurs."

This makes perfect sense to me. Even though small levels of radiation are being detected in the U.S., there is still time to read Dr. Loretta's article and protect our health.

I hope you find this information helpful and timely.

Please, post a comment or question. If I don't have the answer, I will research and see if I can find it.

Until next time . . .

Publishing Terms and Explicit Genres

As an up and coming writer do you struggle to keep up with the more explicit genres? Maybe you're like me, you've been writing for years and can't seem to keep them straight.

But, before I list the genres, I'd like to give my readers a small list of the publishing lingo. We must learn this language if we're going to understand the terms within what we're reading in some of the how-to articles or, more specifically, the industries submission guidelines.

Here are the basics:

BIO: a brief author biography that highlights our credentials.

E-QUERY: a query sent by way of e-mail. Most publishers/agents prefer this rather than the postal mail of a few years ago.

MS: manuscript

MSS: manuscripts

QUERY: letter to a publisher/agent that pitches a nonfiction book you're writing or fiction book you have written

SASE: self-addressed, stamped envelope

YA: young adult

The new term you're probably already seeing is NA: new adult. Over a year ago, St. Martin's Press announced they would start this new genre and begin requesting mss. And wouldn't you know it, I had wondered when a well-known publisher would create this category and fill the empty hole for the 18-26 year-old age group. More publishers/agents will follow St. Martin's lead and request work for NA, and as they do, I work daily on my first draft for the NA audience.

Now, for the Explicit Genres:

High Fantasy: Fantasy set in other worlds involving some, or all, non humans, such as dwarves and elves.

Literary Fiction: Fiction that doesn't fit any of the popular, or commercial, fiction genres (such as romance, thriller,horror, and such). Literary fiction is often driven by character and voice rather than plot. I'm seeing successful books that straddle the literary/commercial genres. (This is the genre I aspire to hopefully publish one day).

Middle-Grade: Fiction for readers 8-11 years old, with themes that tend to avoid controversial topics such as drugs, sex, and extreme violence. The themes most usually are about what's happening within the character that springs from a moment in time when their more safe world comes apart.

Narrative Nonfiction: A factual story told while using the tools of fiction, including character arcs, three-act structures and cliffhangers.

Steampunk: A type of alternate-history storytelling in which an historical setting, usually Victorian England, includes skilled technology power-driven by steam.

Upmarket Fiction: A term given to describe women's or literary fiction that has the ability to cross over to book clubs with mainstream demand.

Women's Fiction: In this genre you'll find stories with women protagonists who have a life experience which may help the reader. I like to think of these stories as a way for women to understand better who they are as they walk this life as women.

Young Adult: Fiction for readers 12-15 years old, usually with high-school-aged main characters (MCs). This one is a bit confusing to me and for other writers, because children younger than 12 are reading these stories. And what about the more controversial topics that are written about for younger readers in MG? Sometimes those books get bumped up to upper middle-grade or YA and sometimes not. I guess it's a definition to aim for, because our book stores have to know where to place them on the shelves.

And there you have it. I've written this post for myself as well as for others.

Until next time . . . read and write.

Play By Play Narration

Agent Mary Kole's KidLit blog has done it again. Mary has the most helpful posts for up and coming authors and for those of us who need reminding.

The comments are great, also, and I plan to refer to Mary's post on Play By Play Narration as I edit my work.

Thanks, Mary. You always provide food for thought for writers.

Until next time . . . read.

Huck Finn and the N Word

I read the news in PW about the professor who changed the N word in the Huck Finn story. I have mixed feelings. On the one hand that is a very offensive word. On the other, who has the right to change the author's words later on down the road?

Well, times have changed, so it's at all no surprise. At least it shouldn't be, unless we're guilty of having our heads in the sand.

I'd say this goes to show we have come a ways in not being name callers of the worst kind. Although, you know it still goes on.

Just not in literary reading.


Until next time . . . think on it.

The Compassionate Friends

I have good news.

Recently, I've been accepted to be a contributing writer for the Open to Hope column within The Compassionate Friends E-Newsletter.

You may read my article, Overcoming Fear After Losing Son to Suicide. Once inside the column, enter my name, Jean Williams in the search box to the right. Please feel free to leave a comment to let me know you were there.

At joshua-mom, I've penned over 35 articles about the process of grieving and living after our son, Joshua, died by suicide in March of 2004. That's where most of the articles will come from, but edited to better fit the column. I am glad I did not quit writing after my son's death.

Less than a week after Joshua's memorial, I decided I needed to keep writing. I had articles and book projects of various stages, but I knew I could only concentrate on one project at a time.

First, I sat myself down and wondered where exactly were my writing weaknesses. I worked on the most completed novel and honed my skills as a writer. I took online classes from the comfort of my home. I read writing how-to books from the masters of the craft. I even got to a point I was ready to hire a freelance writer to go through my novel. When I felt ready to venture to the outside world, I enrolled and completed a speech class.

Those were the hardest three years of my entire life, and writing, researching, and studying the craft of writing gave me a creative outlet.

Agent Mary Kole wrote that you have to write a million bad words to begin to write well. I am sure that I wrote 500,000 thousand of those words during that three year period.

Until next time . . . never give up as a writer.