EYE ON ~ TWISTED SHORTIES II ~ A.F. Stewart and Pam Brittain by René Allen

+René Allen
EYE ON…

TWISTED SHORTIES II ~ An Anthology

A.F.Stewart, Formatting Editor and Publisher

Pam Brittain, Chief Compiler

An Anthology is a collaborative work that involves putting together short stories and/or poetic works for publication.  Bringing together a collection of creative Authors and Poets to create a published work requires the hand of a very talented Editor, and a gifted Chief Compiler.  We all know what the job of an Editor is.  There were three additional conscientious Editors, Len Maxwell, John Beck and Greg Schiller, who all assisted with the editing of TWISTED SHORTIES II, in addition to A.F. Stewart.

What is a Chief Compiler? -- you may ask.  A Chief Compiler is a person who with the cooperation of the Authors involved and at the direction of the Editor involved, collects, reviews, assists with edits, and compiles the literary works ensuring that they are made ready for publication.

One such Anthology that I was asked to participate in, along with many other very talented Authors and Poets from the Gather Community, is entitled TWISTED SHORTIES II . . .

The Formatting Editor, and Publisher for TWISTED SHORTIES II, A. F. Stewart has an impressive collection of published books.  She is a very inspiring Author, whose books are well worth the read.  You can find out more about her by visiting her BLOG:  http://afstewartblog.blogspot.ca/  and you can also take a look at her BIO PAGE:  http://about.me/AFStewart

A. F. Stewart BIO:  A. F. Stewart was born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, and still calls it home.  The youngest in a family of seven children, she has always had an overly creative mind and an active imagination. She is fond of good books (especially science fiction/fantasy), action movies, sword collecting, and oil painting as a hobby.  Ms. Stewart is an indie author with several published novellas and story collections in the dark fantasy or horror genres, with a few side trips into poetry and non-fiction. She has a great interest in history and mythology, often working those themes into her books and stories.

The gifted Chief Compiler for TWISTED SHORTIES II, Pam Brittain, is currently working on many other projects.  Pam Brittain was a key person who brought all of the Authors and Poets from Gather together to do this project.  Pam is a very interesting and inspiring woman of great passion for helping authors to stay focused and on track.  She is a lot of fun, and she is a very creative Writer, (even though she’ll deny it) ~ smiles Pam… Take a moment to read Pam Brittain’s BIO, and you’ll know what I mean about how much FUN she is…

Pam Brittain BIO:  Pam Brittain grew up with a family that often sat in the backyard mentally calling in UFOs.  Pam says, ‘I was thinking, don’t come in UFO.  Heck, I didn’t want to have my belly poked with alien needles!’

As Pam grew older, she became a Real Estate Foreclosure Specialist, Founding President of the Association, and she worked on various other projects.

Later, at the age of “over the hill and older than dirt”, as Pam says, she shares how she began to write and post on a Site called, Gather.  Within a few months, Pam became one of the Editors for “Gather Writing Essential”, which is a Gather Group that she had joined within the Gather Site.  Through this Group, Pam developed a new passion -- editing books!

“Drather read and edit than write” ~ Pam Brittain

We give Connie C. (Gather Writing Essential Group Owner on Gather.com) accolades for all she does to keep the Writing Essential Group inspired and motivated to be a lively place for Authors, Writers, Poets, and those who would like to learn more about writing.

From the very beginning, this collaborative work on the publication of TWISTED SHORTIES II was a joy to participate in.  Each and every Author and Poet who participated in the TWISTED SHORTIES II Anthology offered very unique styles of writing.  Their backgrounds and literary accomplishments vary and are individually impressive.  Those other talented Authors and Poets who provided interesting short stories and poetry for the publication of TWISTED SHORTIES II are as follows:

René Allen

Michael David Anderson

Joann B

John Beck

Pam Brittain

Barbary Chaapel

Jeanne Clarke

Bernard M. Coldwell

Stirling Davenport

Sheila Deeth

Irina Dimitric

Elsie Duggan

Michael Robert Dyet

William Earl Estes-Dotani

Kevin A. Ewing

Tracy Fabre

Janice Farnsworth

Michael B. Fishman

James Fox

Patricia Gilliam

Boris Glikman

Lord Gregory

Alice Grimes

Liz Husebye Hartmann

Jan Hersh

Jennifer Lafferty

R C Larlham

Aaron Paul Lazar

Vicki Lynn

Richard Lynn Livesay

Magi

Len Maxwell

M. Bradley McCauley

Terry McDermott

Pat Moore

Clifford Neal

Franklin Newman

Ms Lee P.

Priya Patel

Peter Rogerson

Douglas Raymond Rose

Greg Schiller

A.W. Sprague II

Ashleigh Spurgeon

A. F. Stewart

Karen H. Vaughan

David Wainland

Doug Westberg

Debbie Whittemore

(Authors listed in Alphabetical order)

Cover Designer: James Terrell

Editors:  Len Maxwell, John Beck and Greg Schiller

MAIN EDITOR & PUBLISHER:  A. F. Stewart

Look forward to more upcoming interesting stories on Book Publishing, Editors, Authors, Poets, Artists, Photographers, and Book Cover Designers.

You are invited to BOOKMARK this BLOG, and you may press the G+ button to pass this BLOG along.  You are invited to “Follow” my BLOG by clicking on the G+ button, or adding your email address where it says, “Follow by Email”.  If you are a G+ member, you may become a “G+ Follower”.

Be sure to visit the links listed above for A.F. Stewart and Pam Brittain, you’ll be glad you did!

A.F. Stewart’s publications inside TWISTED SHORTIES II:

Two stories: The Paranormal Assistant Agency and A Tale Told in Winter, plus three poems: In the Mirror, The Rising, and Song

Pam Brittain’s publications inside TWISTED SHORTIES II:

Mary Fairy

Gramma and the Skunk

The Dawning of the Aged

Catlin

My short-story, published in TWISTED SHORTIES II is entitled, “HouseCapades” by René Allen.  You are being offered a free gift from all of us...You may read the entire TWISTED SHORTIES II Anthology (featuring short stories and poetry by all of the Authors from Gather.com listed further up in this BLOG post) Online for free by clicking here ~ TWISTED SHORTIES II - Free Online Read (Smashwords).

Have a wonderful and enjoyable 2014!

Thank you for reading ~ Lots more to come!

René Allen ~ Author

© Copyright - René Allen - 2014 - All Rights Reserved

It is a brand new year glorious year, and a great time to get your Noveling ideas rolling.  If you are an Author, an Emerging Author, or an aspiring Author, this year is the year for you to create something that has been percolating in your mind.  It is time to stir up your "gift", pick up your pen and start writing.  And, if you are like me, then you'll just decide to sit yourself down at your keyboard and start typing.

If you participate in National Novel Writing Month each year, then you are already familiar with creating a Novel in thirty (30) days.  It is possible to do so you know, and it gets easier if you take on the challenge every year.  If you really want to write a Novel, then you'll at least give it a try this year.  You have until November to get yourself in gear for the challenge if you've never done it before.

This year, I plan to participate in Camp NaNoWriMo once again.  In 2012, I managed to complete two Novels in the Camp.  And I was pretty happy creating two Novels that year versus just one.  Although, if I had pushed a bit more, I would have created three by participating in regular NaNoWriMo in November.  But, as we all know, two is better than none.  And, you don't really realize what kind of Novel you have inside of you until you create it.  I was pretty pleased with what came out in the Summer of 2012.

For some of us, writing comes easily.  And, some of us get Writer's Block every now and then.  Not to worry though.  If you have spells where you can't seem to get the ink flowing, just relax your mind and meditate a while in silence.  You'll find that the scenes for your Novel will appear before your eyes.  Maybe you'll even dream about your characters.

Take a little time to think of what Genre you'd like to work with for your Novel this year.  Fiction?  Romance?  Mystery?  Or maybe you'll even come up with a Genre that is brand new!

In November 2013, I created "UR" during National Novel Writing Month.  The Genre I chose was Historical Fiction.  It was a joy to create my intriguing Novel.  I took a moment to create a Cover before I started typing away.  That always seems to help to get the writing flowing in the right direction...

UR by René Allen

"UR" turned out to be fascinating.  Once the first paragraph was put on the page, the Novel took off running ~ so, needless to say, there will be an "UR II" created.  The cover that I'm showing you here in my Author Blog is the first cover that I created.  I tweaked it a bit more, and then more...

I made the cover fatter, then thinner, changed the height, changed the width, and then I kept playing around with different fonts...

UR by René Allen 

At any rate, the visual just seemed to focus my mind for where I needed to start out.  It is like flying overhead, and then landing to get your characters on the page.  And just like a travel adventure, you never know where you'll end up.

There's a bit of editing to do yet.  This novel, more than any of the other Novels that I've written, just didn't want to end.  Sooooo ~ I just need to look at it afresh this year, and make it travel the route I'd like it to.  That way, "UR II" will pick up right where I'd like for it to.

When you come back to visit again, and I do hope that you will, I'll share more about this Novel, all the others before it, and so much more!  My Author's Blog is meant to be a place to share insight about the Author's life, and to serve as a literary therapy of sorts.  Writing is very therapeutic, even when you don't plan for it to be.

Until next time, may this year be a joyful adventure.  You can even practice making sure it turns out that way by creating a Novel laying out your 2014 vision.

Peace, Love & Light,

René