The 7th annual Northern Colorado Writers Conference, held March 30th and 31st, will hand out it’s first annual Top of the Mountain Book Award. The contest is open to unpublished novel-length fiction (any genre) as well as book-length nonfiction. Winners will receive $100 and recognition at the conference and four honorable mentions will receive $25. Entrants do not have to attend the conference.

Check out the Northern Colorado Writers website for full guidelines. The deadline is February 15th, so hurry and get  your submission in!

April Moore and Kerrie Flanagan, director of the Northern Colorado Writers collaborated on a 2012 Writer Planner.  The planner is especially designed for writers to help keep them organized and on-task. Writing is a journey, thus, the theme of this planner. Each illustration portrays a different literary journey, such as The Road Not Taken, Alice in Wonderland, and the Odyssey, to name a few.

The planner will be available November 15th, but you can pre-order one for $13.95, $18, with shipping.

If you’d like to pre-order your planner (and ones for your writing friends . . . ) visit Northern Colorado Writers and order online. Thanks in advance for your support!

After finishing the novel, I entered it in the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Conference contest. I was shocked when it made the finals. But I knew in my heart that I could do better, and so I decided not to market the book. Instead, I started working on another novel. Then something happened that made me reconsider my position on short fiction. We had a visitor to one of the local writer’s groups I belong to and as the leader of the group went around the table introducing everyone, he gave a brief history of their publishing credits. Of course, when he came to me, there was nothing to say. Self-doubt took hold. If I was any good at writing, why didn’t I have anything published? I felt challenged to get a short story accepted. My goal was to have six stories published within three years.

The first thing I did was sign up on the website Duotrope. I spent several days researching various publishers. I concentrated on publishers of horror/paranormal stories, with the idea that I would branch out into mainstream later. In January of 2010, I was still working on a novel, so I decided to make the weekends my time for writing short stories. Toward the end of January, I received my first acceptance. 69 Flavors of Paranoia wanted to publish my story, “Dark Justice,” a detective story in which the detectives are actually vampires investigating the murder of another vampire by a priest. Maybe, just maybe I told myself, I am not a bad writer after all.

To my surprise, more stories found acceptance. In June, I read about Justin Cronin’s novel, The Passage, a vampire tale set in the future. I noticed that Mr. Cronin had some success writing mainstream novels. I read an excerpt from one of these, “The Summer Guest,” which takes place on a lake. As I read the excerpt, an idea came to me for a short story about a vampire who retires at a secluded lake. That evening, I wrote the first five pages of “Mr. Howard Retires.” I finished the story the next day, and after giving it a quick once over, submitted it to three publications. The following morning, I received an email from one of the editors at Bewildering Stories. He thanked me for sending the story and said that it could take up to eighty-four days for them to make a decision. Two hours later, I received a follow up email from Bewildering Stories saying they had accepted “Mr. Howard Retires” for publication.

The rest of my year followed a similar course. I submitted a mainstream story to a literary website, Amarillo Bay. I received an email from one of the website founders saying he liked the story and had forwarded it to their fiction editor who would make the final decision. He ultimately rejected the piece. This only made me more determined to get a story accepted by Amarillo Bay. I came up with an idea for a story about a transgender cowboy who now worked as a waitress and struggled to find her place in the world. I targeted this story to Amarillo Bay and was overjoyed when they accepted “Amsterdam” for their November issue.

By years end, I had thirteen short stories accepted for publication by thirteen different publications, including three based in England. Do I recommend writing short stories for novel writers? Absolutely. My short story success has restored my confidence while giving me something to write about in that dreaded query letter.

 First, Take Care of Distractions

I’m easily distracted, whether it’s something shiny or a pile of laundry. Sometimes, no matter how determined I am to get several pages written, even small things can veer me off the creative path. Working from home poses a plethora of distractions that can keep you from settling into work mode. Combat them by dealing with those things before you flip on the laptop. Wake up early and take care of that load of laundry, pile of bills, or a sink full of dishes. Schedule your chores and writing time. Perhaps designating one day to household tasks can enable you to work the rest of the week. Another distraction is the internet. Aren’t you curious about your blog stats, Twitter updates, or Lindsay Lohan’s latest court appearance? If you don’t need internet access to write, then turn it off. What about noises? One word: Earplugs.

Get Organized

Treat yourself to a shopping spree at an office supply store. They say if you buy great workout gear, you’re more likely to get your butt to the gym. Same goes for writing. If you want that fancy pencil holder, get it.  Do what you need to do to create a productive work environment. Organization is critical for me since I have 93 dead guys to keep track of. I bought a few file boxes with hanging folders and together, my label maker and I went to town. Each inmate has his own folder containing absolutely everything pertaining to him: transcripts, newspaper articles, and even critiques from my writers group when I’ve submitted his story to them. If your work is disorganized, you may not feel motivated and driven. Get the right tools to help you.

Go To Your Room

If I had known how much I could have accomplished as a kid when my parents sent me to my room, I’d have a seven-book series by now. Today, I treasure alone time in my room where instead of plotting revenge on my sister, I actually get quality time to write. Claim your own space, whether it’s a room, a corner, or a table. Your area should also consist of only what you need to write. Don’t work at a desk where you pay bills, or do other hobbies. You need to focus on writing. My area is the guest bedroom. I found a small desk at a flea market, painted it and parked it by the window. The closet, situated behind the desk, houses my weapons of writing: reference books, research, and all those extra office supplies I stocked up on. (You can never have too many Post-Its). Make the space inviting—but only to you. You need to be left alone, so politely inform your spouse, your kids, and your dog (who’s holding the leash in his mouth) to not bother you while you are in this special space of yours. I’m one of those who needs a change of scenery every once in a while, so sometimes I’ll work in the sun room, out on the deck, or on the living room couch. But inevitably, I find that I’m most productive when I go to my room.

Break it Down

I tend to freak myself out thinking about the amount of work I have ahead of me. Nothing like a bit of fear to kill your motivation. I must remind myself to take baby steps. Luckily, Folsom’s 93 can be broken down into roughly 93 steps. So, I tackle one at a time, sometimes two. If your project feels like deciphering the Dead Sea Scrolls, then break it down. Work on one scroll at time—or half a scroll. Don’t put more pressure on yourself than you need to. Shoot for a certain number of pages a day to get done. Maybe it’s one chapter at time, or one article a day, or the introduction of your book proposal. You will feel more accomplished and productive if you take on only what you can handle that day. When I applied this method, I had those scrolls deciphered in no time.

Reward Yourself

What does your little heart desire? (Think small for this, okay?) Maybe it’s a new book, a nice bottle of wine, or going to the theater to see a movie. Now, choose the task or project you need to do and set a deadline. When you meet that deadline, reward yourself. I know this may sound simplistic, but it works. Yes, you could give yourself the reward anyway, but show some willpower, because trust me, that reward is way less satisfying if you truly didn’t earn it. Write your deadline and reward on a board or post it on the refrigerator to keep you motivated. Get the family involved to help support you on your journey because it’s even more rewarding when others can share it with you.

With a bit of creativity, it’s possible to be a productive writer without fleeing to deserted beach house, or a lonely cabin in the mountains.