Story Crafter: A Twitter Chat for Writers

As I mentioned in yesterdays post, one of my favourite Twitter chats to take part in is Story Crafter hosted by Faye Kirwin from @Writerology.

You can find detailed information about the chat and how it works at https://www.writerology.net/admin/resources/the-writerologists-guide-to-twitter-writerology.pdf. If you're interested in using Twitter and taking part in twitter chats make sure you grab a copy of the file.

The hashtag for the chat is #StoryCrafter and it starts at 8pm GMT on Sundays. Follow @Writerology and you'll see tweets like this one below to remind you about upcoming chats.

Friends new and old, come join us for an hour of writerly chat from :00! New to #storycrafter? Get the details here: https://t.co/mdA5o7oPNA pic.twitter.com/78mfQFJjI2
— Faye Kirwin (@Writerology) February 26, 2017

Sunday's topic was "A Writer's Search History" and asked the following questions:

Q1. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever researched for a story?

Q2. If someone looked at your search history, what would be their immediate response? Justified or not? ;)

Q3. What’s the most random research tangent you’ve ever gone off on?

Q4a. What’s the most eyebrow raising/incriminating thing you’ve researched (or might research) for a crime or thriller novel?

Q4b. Okay, what’s the most outlandish/alarming thing you’ve researched (or might research) for a fantasy or sci-fi novel?

Q4c. What’s the whackiest/weirdest thing you’ve researched (or might research) for a romance/contemporary novel?

Q5. Let’s have some funny Google auto-completes! Start asking Google a research question for your WIP and share what it says!

Here's a few of snippets from the chat:

This is a good example of why I enjoy this chat so much. Chatting with awesome people like @KSekouM

@Writerology I can go from ways to kill people to historical clothing in a flash. #nolimits #StoryCrafter
— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017
*moves to the other side of the room and places a bundle of corsets between us* #storycrafter https://t.co/K6Ym4225jx

— The Black Pantser (@KSekouM) February 26, 2017

@KSekouM actually corsets can be turned into great weapons. Could use just a piece e.g. Strings or the whole thing 😳 #StoryCrafter

— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017

@jolinsdell I CANT MOVE ANY FURTHER!!!! #StoryCrafter

— The Black Pantser (@KSekouM) February 26, 2017

@KSekouM it's ok. I scare myself sometimes #storycrafter pic.twitter.com/xDZ0WKN69n

— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017

Then there was this bit discussing escaping from crocodiles...

@Writerology how to escape from a crocodile 🤔 Was going to search for from car but crocodiles are always fun 😉 #StoryCrafter

— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017

@jolinsdell @Writerology I may actually need to know this! #Storycrafter

— Kelly Phillips (@OtterGoddessKel) February 26, 2017

@OtterGoddessKel @Writerology Google is your friend. Soooo much info about crocodile attacks and escaping them 🐊

— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017

@jolinsdell @Writerology #plottwist #makeitreal

— Katja Rammer (@KatjaRammer) February 26, 2017

@KatjaRammer @Writerology 😃 pic.twitter.com/ZF0qKgbxeq

— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017

Now need to come up with a scene where someone escapes from a crocodile...

And then there were little gems like this one:

#storycrafter A5: lmfao! The contrast... pic.twitter.com/WEfN6cdc5i

— Leigh M. Lorentz (@LeighMLorentz) February 26, 2017

The chat was great fun and branched off into loads of conversations. It was also good to know that I'm not the only one with questionable search history...

A4a Torture techniques, assassination strike zones, where to hurt w/o damage, poisons/toxins. I'm sure I'm on watch lists. #storycrafter https://t.co/UMcf6FXF5M

— Kaelan Rhywiol (@KaelanRhy) February 26, 2017

Thanks to @Writerology and everyone who took part in the #StoryCrafter chat. It's been fun... & and nice to know I'm not the only weirdo 😜

— Jo Linsdell (@jolinsdell) February 26, 2017

Do you take part in Twitter chats? Which are your favourites? Are you a Story Crafter regular too? Share below.

Want to know more about using Twitter? Check out my book How to be Twittertastic.

How to be Twittertastic by @jolinsdell http://amzn.to/2m2Tmw0 #TwitterTips #MustRead

Life Update and Writing Challenge Progress

Time for a general update...

This video is good place to start:

Story Crafter Twitterchat

Being ill has slowed me down considerably but, as I'm a workaholic, I haven't stopped completely. Last night for example I took part in the weekly #StoryCrafter chat on Twitter. The chat is hosted by Faye Kirwin from @Writerology (if you don't already follow her, you should). I try to take part every Sunday.

Moving on... last nights chat was about search history. It was loads of fun, insightful, and nice to discover I'm not the only weirdo out there ;) I'll do a separate post to cover the chat in more detail tomorrow.

More Twitterchats

StoryCrafter isn't the only Twitterchat I regularly take part in. I have a few favourites, and will be doing a post soon to share them all with you. Not only are they a lot of fun to do, and great for meeting other writers/readers, they are awesome resources. Packed with tips, advice, and suggestions. If you know of a great Twitterchat for writers/readers please let me know the hashtag and I'll check it out.

Ideas, ideas, and more ideas.

Slowing down with my workload is always a risky business. The main problem being that my brain relaxes just enough to let more ideas to get in. Seriously ideas are like rabbits. There's no stopping them once they start multiplying. My brain goes into hyper-drive!

Anyway, I've added several pages to my ideas swipe file of ideas for articles, books, and webinars. I'll be putting together some new free resources soon too so make sure you check back to the free resources page.

#PromoDay2017

I've been organising things for this years Promo Day event too. Find full details about this awesome FREE online event at www.PromoDay.net. Hope to see you there :)

Writers and Authors

I've been doing some updating over at www.WritersAndAuthors.info too. New graphics, and scheduling blog posts for the coming months. If you'd like to be featured on site please check out the submission guidelines on the website.

Book promotion

With the KOSMOS series releasing a new book each month, I've also been busy finding hosts, filling out forms, answering interviews, writing guest posts, etc... I'm touring all year through so if you'd like to host me on your blog, or even on your social media channel, please get in touch.

Book Cover Designs

I've also been working on some new book cover designs for clients. I can't share them all with you yet but will as soon as the official cover reveals are in place. If you'd like to know more about my cover designs, pricing, etc... check out http://www.jolinsdell.com/p/premade.html. Feel free to email me about custom designs.

Reading

And last, but not least, I've been catching up with my TBR list. I finished reading Seven Days to Goodbye by Sheri Levy (will film and upload my review soon). I also made progress on Sparks of Light by Janet B. Taylor, and now wish I'd read Into the Dim first.

I'm also been working my way through How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Loads of great tips and info!

Well that's me in a nutshell. Good job I'm taking it slow ;)

Book Club Discussion Questions for The Pendant #BookClub #Books #KOSMOS

Reading The Pendant with your book club? I've got you covered ;) Here's a few questions you might want to think about:

1) What does the following excerpt tell us about the relationship between Matt and his mum?

Matt was torn between wanting to let her hug him and wanting to run away. There was something about a mum hug that always felt so right. The safety, and warmth of her arms was so inviting. He wished he could stay there forever. Then he remembered all the reasons why he was upset and pushed her away. "What do you care anyway?" he said."That's not fair Matt" said his mum."Life's not fair" said Matt, slamming the dishwasher door. He leaned against the white, flat-level cabinets. Pushing his hands into his pockets, he narrowed his eyes at her.

2) Is Alex right? What small changes do you think Matt could make to make his life better?

"Well what do you want to change?""Everything" said Matt."Start smaller" said Alex smiling at him. "You need to change the little things first and then the big changes just kind of happen by themselves".

3) Should Matt have gone with Alex to help Andrew? Do you think he was a coward for not going? What would you have done in the same situation?

"Alex, don't" he said trying to grab his friend by his shirt sleeve but he was too late. Alex was already heading over to where Eric was pointing down at Andrew and laughing. This is not going to end well, thought Matt. He didn't know what to do. Sure he wanted to follow his friend and offer back up as they valiantly defended poor Andrew. He knew it would just mean more trouble in the long run though. Eric already had it in for him. The last thing he needed was to annoy the guy more. He felt like a coward, and knew that Alex would hate on him for not having his back, but fear made him stay where he was. Alex could hold his own when he wanted too. Oh God, please don't get beaten up, begged Matt as he watched the scene unfold.

Is your book club reading The Pendant? What questions did you discuss? Leave a comment below or drop me an email.

Books

The Pendant (KOSMOS Episode One)

Today is release day for The Pendant (KOSMOS Episode One). I'm so excited to kick off this serial fiction ☺

In this post you'll find all the info about the book, and a variety of ways you can be involved in the launch.

Be part of the Virtual Book Tour:

To be part of the Virtual Book Tour for The Pendant all you have to do is pick the content you'd like to use from this post and create a post of your own on your own blog. Then you just post the link to your post in the linky below.

You just pick and mix from the selection here to create the sort of post that you think works best on your blog. I've included a variety of different graphics, a sample interview, all the book info, and even a rafflecopter giveaway. You can even schedule a series of blog posts if you want e.g. post the interview one day, and the next day post a book showcase with the giveaway. Which ever you prefer.

The book cover:

About the series:

KOSMOS is a serial fiction of 12 episodes. A new episode of this time travel adventure will be published on the 1st of each month.

About the book:

Teenager Matthew Smith feels like his life is a mess. Since his dad died he keeps arguing with his mum, and is being bullied at school. Worst of all he has a crush on a girl who doesn't seem to know he's alive. Just when he thinks things couldn't possibly get any worse he finds a strange pendant that changes his life forever.

Where is the book available?

The Pendant is currently on sale in kindle format from all Amazon sites.

US http://amzn.to/2j4lL3e

UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N32IN1N

CA https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01N32IN1N

AU https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01N32IN1N

IN https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01N32IN1N

IT https://www.amazon.it/dp/B01N32IN1N

ES https://www.amazon.es/dp/B01N32IN1N

DE https://www.amazon.de/dp/B01N32IN1N

FR https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B01N32IN1N

NL https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01N32IN1N

JP https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N32IN1N

BR https://www.amazon.com.br/dp/B01N32IN1N

MX https://www.amazon.com.mx/dp/B01N32IN1N

ASIN: B01N32IN1N

About the Author:

Jo Linsdell is the author of numerous books, including; How To Be Twittertastic, Virtual Book Tours: Effective Online Book Promotion From the Comfort of Your Own Home, Italian for Tourists, A Guide to Weddings in

Italy

, Out and About at the Zoo, Fairy May and The Box. She is also the illustrator of the A Birthday Clown for Archer series (written by Kathy Mashburn) and the Jasmine Dreams series (written by Maria Rochelle).

She is the founder and CEO of Writers and Authors and Promo Day. Linsdell studied A-levels in Business Studies, History and Art and has won several awards in her career. She was named the Who's Who in the writing industry in 2009.

Connect with the author:

Website: www.JoLinsdell.com

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2kR52Sa

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/jolinsdell

Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JoLinsdell

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/JoLinsdell

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jolinsdell

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jolinsdell/

Pinterest: https://it.pinterest.com/jolinsdell/

Author photo:

Click to tweets:

Grab your copy of The Pendant (KOSMOS Episode 1) by @jolinsdell http://amzn.to/2kEVxBJ #Books #TBR

Check out The Pendant (KOSMOS Episode 1) by @jolinsdell http://amzn.to/2kEVxBJ #Book #NewRelease

A boy finds a pendant that sends him on an adventure through time in The Pendant (KOSMOS Ep. 1) by @jolinsdell http://amzn.to/2kEVxBJ #TBR

Sample interview:

Tell us about KOSMOS

KOSMOS is a serial fiction of 12 episodes. Each episode is a bite sized story about a teenager who finds a strange pendant that sends him on an adventure through time. A new episode will be released on the 1st of each month.

Where can people get a copy?

The Pendant is available at http://amzn.to/2iGvHMY

What made you want to write serial fiction?

I have a huge list of ideas for books I want to write but never seem to find the time to get round to. The story of KOSMOS was one of them. In 2016 I read a serial fiction called Remade and realised that my idea for KOSMOS would work perfectly as a series of short stories. It's also a fun way of experimenting with new genres.

Writing a full novel is a big task that takes a considerable amount of time. Writing short stories is much more manageable. I'm a big fan of writing challenges like NaNoWriMo and find they do wonders for my productivity. This year I decided to take part in the A Story A Week challenge, during which I'm writing the episodes of KOSMOS.

Tell us a bit about the main character?

Matthew Smith is a sixteen year old boy with a lot of emotional baggage. Since his dad died a few years ago life has not been good. His relationship with his mum has become strained, he's being bullied at school, and has become a bit of a loner. He has a crush on a girl but she doesn't seem to know he exists. He feels like nothing is going right, but everything changes when he finds a strange pendant. As he travels through time he learns a lot, and not just about history. He learns a lot about himself too, and grows as a person throughout the series.

Did you do a lot of research for the series?

Yes. KOSMOS is a fictional series but it has lots of historical information in it too. In each episode Matt travels to a different period of time. In episode two, for example, he finds himself in London in 1605 and gets caught up in a plot of assassinate King James.

It was important to get the details right for the time period he finds himself in to make the story believable. I therefore, did research into the Gunpowder plot and Guy Fawkes, the type of clothes people wore back then, and other elements to help bring the story to life.

When will episode two be released?

A new episode will be released of the 1st of each month. Episode two, Gunpowder will come out on 1st March 2017.

Extra graphics:

GIVEAWAY:

Win a copy of The Pendant + an ARC of Gunpowder

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Copy the code to embed the giveaway on your blog

<a class="rcptr" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/8c941db87/" rel="nofollow" data-raflid="8c941db87" data-theme="classic" data-template="" id="rcwidget_ky7y32b1">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script>

I've also set up a Facebook event page for the tour so hop on over to https://www.facebook.com/events/1397216433643392/ and join in the fun there too. There will be exclusive giveaways and content for those who attend ;)

Join the linky:

Want to be part of the tour? Just post the link to the blog post you created here:

If you'd like to host me on your site but would prefer to send your own interview questions drop me an email with the details. I'm also happy to do live Twitter chats, Facebook wall chats, etc... so just give me a shout if that's your thing ;)

Story Crafter: A Twitter Chat for Writers

Here's a few of snippets from the chat:

Story Crafter Twitterchat

More Twitterchats

Ideas, ideas, and more ideas.

#PromoDay2017

Writers and Authors

Book promotion

Book Cover Designs

Reading

Books

The Pendant (KOSMOS Episode One)

Be part of the Virtual Book Tour:

The book cover:

About the series:

About the book:

Where is the book available?

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