VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

Quote: “ There are thousands of thoughts lying within a man that he does not know till he takes up the pen and writes.” ~Wm. Makepeace Thackeray   I wanted to share some changes happening with me and SFC Publishing. Some of you may have already heard about some or all of these changes through my newsletter, blog talk radio shows or via email, but beginning January 2012, SFC Publishing and its many divisions will be moving to a new network server/host. This means our websites will be going through a change over so if you try logging on and get a message, know we are just in the middle of a website move. We are hoping everything will go smoothly and readers will not even notice the switch, but I just wanted to make you all aware of it. Also, SFC Newsletter for Writers and Stories for Children Magazine will be cutting back to 6 issues a year. A choice I, and the rest of the SFC Team, did not make lightly. We hope you can understand and support our changes here at SFC Publishing.

 Read everything! You're bound to get ideas from the most unlikely of areas/sources. Write about things that matter to you. If the passion is missing, the writing won't be any good, so make it count. Write whenever you get the chance. Got a spare minute? Write a poem or thought! It keeps you in practice and gets the creative juices flowing. Be clear in what you're trying to say. Floral language is more likely to put people off reading your work than clear, concise language. Put your idea on paper before you begin to write. A quick outline or a couple of bullet points are useful as they help to keep the piece on track. Don't edit as you write; do it after the piece you're writing is finished. Stopping to edit interrupts the flow of your thoughts. Become familiar with writing styles. For certain publications, editors may ask you for references in your work. A working knowledge of APA, MLA, AP and Chicago styles is always an advantage. R

Frank Scully was born and raised in a small town in North Dakota and received a Bachelor’s degree in History with Phi Beta Kappa Honors and a Juris Doctor degree in Law from the University of North Dakota.  He then served more than five years as a Judge Advocate General Corps Officer in the U.S. Army in the U.S., Vietnam, and Thailand. After that he attended the prestigious Thunderbird School and received a Masters in Business Administration with honors. In his professional career he has worked as an executive with large aerospace and defense manufacturers and also owned his own small business.  Depending on the vagaries of the universe he has been well off at times and broke, but never broken at other times. Blessed with an understanding wife who gave him twin sons, he has remained through it all a dreamer whose passion is writing stories that will entertain readers.  Empty Time   is his latest release. VS: I want to thank you, Frank for being my guest here on The Writing Mama tod

I recently had the pleasure of working with Sal Richards on his book trailer for his autobiography BEHIND the LAUGHTER, HIDDEN TEARS. While working with Sal, I was not only able to read his book and watch the documentary the book is based on, but I was also able to meet the man behind the name personally. Sal Richards was born in Brooklyn, New York and in Sal´s words, "They ultimately poured the foundations for my successful career in show business." However, he didn´t start out as a Hollywood or Broadway Child Star. No, this man had to work from the bottom up and his climb to fame was met with many struggles, bumps and roadblocks. Sal in his biography said, "My father loved to make people laugh and often put on shows to entertain sick children at neighborhood hospitals." Unfortunately, his father died at an early age when Sal was only 7. However, the seed was planted and as a young boy, Sal started doing shows in grammar school and for the kids in the

What time of day do you write best or are most productive? Here are some tips to help you determine when your best time to write: What's your writing power? How long can you write without draining yourself? Are you able to write more when you write for two hours each day without taking a break or do you find that you're able to churn out a good article or finish a chapter in your novel if you write for say, four one-hour periods with three fifteen-minute breaks? What's your alert level? This is simply determining what time of day your mind is most creative, imaginative and alert. Is it in the morning? mid-morning? afternoon? mid-afternoon? middle of the night? What are your distractions? If you're a mom with kids to take care of, when's the best time that you can write? When they're at school? When the kids are napping or watching TV? If you're still single, when can you write without being distracted by family obligations or work? Pick

Although her background has been in business, K.S. Krueger has always loved to write. She has written poetry and several children’s stories originally for her eldest daughter. Kim enjoys the idea of seeing the world through the eyes of her imagination and finds herself submerged in the worlds she creates. Imagination has never been in short supply ever since she was a child. Because her series rides a fine line between fantasy and reality, it calls each reader to decide for themselves if they BELIEVE!   Kim has always believed that when you find something you truly love to do, even if you think it is just a dream, find your passion, the gift that is within you, believe in yourself and follow that dream. “Let yourself be open to the possibilities that await. You never know where they might take you.” Kim is a wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. She is a writer, businesswoman, Reiki practitioner and spiritual person. She loves animals, nature and kids. Kim has lived in the Su