VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

There are many different methods to get and collect ideas. Every writer has their way of coming up with ideas, but where do these ideas come from? James Patterson says, "The more you know about, the more likely you are to combine things to make an idea that’s striking." I found this to be a fascinating thought as many of my ideas come from my life as I have moved more times than my age. I have experienced many things for only being 40 years old. Yep, I just told you how old I am. However, my ideas don't only come from my experiences in life. I also talk to and ask questions of loved ones, family members, friends, etc. For example, my first published short story was inspired by my dad's childhood. I took three different stories from his youth to write the short story "Flying Upside Down" for the former Fandangle Magazine (see below), which was later republished in Stories for Children Magazine. Story ideas can come from other sources too like a wr...

Today's post comes from Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ, WriteSparks! creator Write Possibilities We writers are a powerful lot. We control time. We dictate actions. We control destinies. We can make two completely opposite people fall in love with each other, and we can create family feuds that can last for centuries. We can make our heroine travel back in time to rescue her soulmate, and we can give the most villainous person the punishment she deserves. We can take our characters to the most exotic places and give them their own adventures. Simply put, we writers can create our own possibilities. In our world, nothing is impossible. Try creating your own possibilities using the given prompts below. There are 4 givens: theme, setting, character and key object. Randomly pick 1 from each and use these to start off your piece. Themes : deception, irony, love lost, infidelity, rejection Characters: chemist, divorced woman, doctor, teacher, singer K...

Jaclyn Weist is an Idaho farm girl who adores reading. She met Steve at BYU and they have six crazy children that encourage her writing. After owning a bookstore and running away to Australia, they settled back down in Utah. Jaclyn now spends her days herding kids to various activities and trying to remember what she was supposed to do next.   What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? ~ I have my computer in the living room so my kids can hang out around me while I write. I let them help me brainstorm when I ’ m stuck. There are times when I do a lot more family things than writing, and other times I get caught up in my writing and forget everything around me. I just make sure that after that happens, I go find something fun to do with my kids. After school every day, I ’ m usually running around to various activities for them, so I wait until they ’ re in bed to write. Every day is a new day and a new way to work around what needs t...

Author Bio: Bruce Atchison is a legally-blind Canadian freelance writer with articles published in a variety of magazines. He has also authored three paperbacks. "When a Man Loves a Rabbit: Learning and Living with Bunnies" is a memoir of the surprising facts he discovered about house rabbits."Deliverance from Jericho: Six Years in a Blind School" is his recollection of being sent five hundred miles from home for months at a stretch. "How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity" shows how God led Atchison out of a legalistic house church. Contact him at batchison@mcsnet.ca or via Facebook or Twitter. He also posts regularly on his www.bruceatchison.blogspot.com and www.bruceatchison.wordpress.com blogs. Atchison lives in a tiny Alberta hamlet with his house rabbit, Deborah.     VS: What do you do to help balance your writing life with your family life? Bruce: What family life? I'm single and my birth family is scattered. ...

A Blog Talk Radio "Today's Pick"! Come listen to a special Writing Mama show April 23rd at 2pm EST - 1pm CT - 12pm MST - 11am PT. BTR’s World of Ink Network: The Writing Mama show with hosts VS Grenier and Irene Roth. Our guest is Kenneth Weene, a New Englander by upbringing and inclination, a teacher, psychologist and pastoral counselor by education. He is a writer by passion. Learn more about Ken on The World of Ink Network blog http://worldofinknetwork.blogspot.com The Writing Mama show will air live April 23rd at 2pm EST. You can listen/call in at (714) 242-525 Learn more about The World of Ink Network, our shows, hosts and services at http://worldofinknetwork.com Listen to the show at the link below The Writing Mama with VS Grenier 04/23 by WorldOfInkNetwork | Blog Talk Radio

I was asked by a long time friend and writer to share a bit about my past and how I started out as a writer, editor and founder of Stories for Children Publishing. I welcome you to stop by and leave a comment. “SPECIAL GUEST POST”: Virginia Grenier – From Buyer to Writer I am so excited to be finally welcoming a very special guest whom I have known,  oh gosh!, for a few years now, since she critiqued a draft of my novel (still a work in progress), after I found her on the internet.  Very green and not knowing anything about how to approach editors or agents, or about writing in general,  I remember my email asking if she would take a look and tell me whether it was worth my while continuing or should we just bin my story.   Her warm and surprising email was the catalyst to my writing life today, and I still have that email.  She is also the angel who came to my rescue with a copy of the critiqued novel, on hearing my copy had been st...

Come listen to a special Writing Mama show March 5 , 2012 at 6pm EST - 5pm CT - 4pm MST - 3pm PT. BTR’s World of Ink Network: The Writing Mama show with hosts VS Grenier and Irene Roth will be chatting with author Magdalena Ball. Magdalena Ball is the author of the newly released novel (for adult readers) Black Cow, Sleep Before Evening, Repulsion Thrust, and a wide number of collaborations, anthologies and poetry chapbooks. Grab a a free mini flip book of Black Cow here: http://www.bewritebooks.com/ mb/BlackCow/BlackCow.html The Writing Mama show will air live, March 5 , 2012 at 6pm EST. You can listen/call in at (714) 242-5259. For more information on Magdalena visit: http://www.magdalenaball.com Learn more about The World of Ink Network, our shows, hosts and services at Our blog http://worldofinknetwork.blogspot.com or our NEW website http://worldofinknetwork.com Listen to the show at the this link The Writing Mama Show with Host VS Grenier 03/05 by Worl...

Hope Irvin Marston is a member of the New York State Retired Teachers, the Greater Thousand Islands Literacy Council, the Jeff-Lewis Librarians Association, and the Adirondack Center for Writing, the St. Lawrence County Arts Council, the North Country Arts Council and SCBWI. She organized the Black River Valley Writers Club and served as its leader for several years.             In addition to writing thirty-two children’s books and several adult titles, Hope has been on staff for Christian Writers Conferences at Hephzibah Heights (MA), Montrose Bible Conference (PA) and at St. Davids Christian Writers Conference at Beaver Falls, PA. She has taught creative writing workshops at Jefferson Community College, the Jefferson-Lewis Teacher Center and the North Country Arts Council.             Her picture book series, MY LITTLE BOOK COLLECTION (Windward), has grown to eight ti...