Maria's Journal

Family/Friends, Happy Memorial Day to you! Hope you are all enjoying the day off and spending quality time with loved ones. I myself have had a quiet weekend at home playing catch up with housework, and of course writing. As of last Friday I submitted four short stories to three different publishers and as usual it'll be a few weeks before I hear back. In the meantime, however, I started revising the Welcome to Miami  'tale' because the publisher who's interested in the story stated that I needed to invest more time in making the protagonist/s likable.  Working on that will keep me busy for sometime :-) Well folks, that's all I have for now. Until next time! Maria

Family/Friends: For many Americans this is the first big holiday since New Year's (not many people get Civil Rights or even President's Day off for that matter), so I hope you have fun plans and enjoy the time outdoors with  family and friends. A quick update about my writing, I have received feedback from three publishers and although all of it has been positive it will require me to revise 75% of my work (each story  is >6K words), needless to say the task at hand is somewhat dauting.  I have, however, taken a couple of days just to think about the best approach and plan on implementing some of my ideas this weekend.  To those of you who keep up with me (Twitter, FB, this blog, etc.) I truly appreciate it.  You keep my spirits up when the 'doubt bug' creeps in. Take care and 'til next time! Maria

Family/Friends, Just in the last week I've received three rejections and although these are rarely easy to take, they're important learning opportunities especially when the rejection is accompanied by constructive criticsm.  I'd like to point out that as a result of recommedations and suggestions from two publishers and a few writers, I have made immediate changes to: my writting style, my website, even my reading material.  In short I am revamping myself. In closing folks, I'd like to invite you to participate in my Blogging Contest (ends on 5/28).  Please visit my site www.mywritingden.net and click on Contest Guidelines from the top menu for details. Until next time. Be well! Maria

Family/Friends, I received my second critique yesterday from another online publisher.  This one however, is far more conducive to my overall improvement than the first. I share this with you because I believe that her feedback will in no doubt bring me to the next level in my writing career. I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's participated in the Blogging Contest so far, it is due to this interaction and that I've received invaluable information.  I want to point out that as a result of the feeback (from publishers and fans alike), I will be making changes to my website in the weeks to come. In closing folks, I want to remind you that the contest ends on 5/28, so gets those comments in and make sure you refer people my way, you get 30 points a pop for those! That's all for now. Take care and be well! Maria

Family/Friends, When Secret Cravings Publishing first reached out to me (2/23) for a manuscript I was excited, elated, nervous (I can probably come up with another ten adjectives, but I'll spare you) at the prospect of writing for a major publishing firm, I would soon discover, however, that writing a full manuscript would be somewhat more challenging than anticipated.  I say this because in writing a story that you envision to be read by hundreds if not thousands of people it needs to have all the right elements. And gathering by all the books I've read this past year (romance and otherwise) the most important elements are: good tension, interesting plot, engaging characters and humor. For now the story is in the publisher's hands and it'll be up to him/her to decide whether or not the story is worth publishing.  I, for now, need to move on fast and furious to the next project. I could however use some good vibes though, so please send me karma.  As a matter of

Family/Friends, As this week comes to an end I can finally exhale...pheww!  It was a very busy productive week and I must admit that it wasn't even planned, it just...happened.  I'm starting to think that the solar phenomenon we experienced Tuesday/Wednesday may have some weird cosmic effect on my energy level. I say this because as of this morning I have submitted four different stories to five different publishers this week alone, that's a record for me! Not to mention the other blogging I do in between stories and Twitter and YouTube...you get the picture?? Even as I'm writing all this I'm thinking imma crash soon...LOL! All joking aside though, I am concentrating all my available time to mastering this writing, which has to improve lots if I am to be taken seriously by any reputable publishing firm.  I can at least say that I'm enjoying the ride :-) In closing, I want to say to all the mother's out there reading this, for goodness sake don't

Family/Friends, I understand now why some companies/celebreties hire people to tend to their Social Media networking, it is very time consuming, not to mention mentally exhausting. Point in case, just today I spent over an hour on Blogger and YouTube working out some kinks with my profile/settings. My head's spinning and I'm pooped. On the topic of Social Media, I'd like to take a moment to thank my daughter, Pamela for acting as a consultant on the topic. Pamela works in the field and has actually helped launch my first AdWords campaign. Although it is progressing slowly, I have seen an increase in site ( www.mywritingden.net ) traffic and Twitter - 10 new followers in a week. I've also been receiving sporadic emails from 'fans' telling me how much they enjoy my stories...so this keeps me going. Ohhh, and a VERY notable mention to Linus Ly who gave me the idea to use a 'new' slogan Erotica, She Wrote . Liked it so much I'm already using it. T

Family/Friends, As you all know I've been diligently submitting writing samples to publishing companies the past six months; received two rejects and two maybes (working on manuscripts now).  Adding to the list of possible companies is an Adult Erotica Publisher that has contacted me back today.  I will be chatting with them sometime this week, as you can imagine I am thrilled!! On a side note, the first week of the Blogging Contest has gone well, the influx of traffic (post and other) happened over the weekend.  I will announce the winner of the 1st Week's Contest tomorrow on my site  www.mywritingden.net under the Maria's Corner section of the Home Page. That's all for now. Until next time! Maria

Family/Friends, I am so very excited to inform you that just today I submitted my very first short story to Woman's Day Magazine (WDM) for consideration.  Before I get off course, I want to say a give a big Thank You' to Dixon Hills who told me about the Romance Fiction section in the first place - and yes this is the newspapery type of magazine you see at checkout stands at the supermarket :-D For those of you who read my stories on www.mywritingden.net , what was submitted to WDM is a "very vanilla' adaptation of the  Seven Year Itch story I posted months ago.  I have to say that the main challenge in redacting the story was not having to take it down from a heat level (scale 1-10) of 5 to 1, but having to condense the story from 2.5K words to 800...800 happens to be WDM's requirements. I DID IT THOUGH! Now I have to wait and wait and wait.  Estimated time of review at WDM is 1 to 6 months, so I'll be fiddling my thumbs until then...yah right! I have

Family/Friends - Hello and happy Tuesday to you! I am taking a quick break from writing my manuscript for Secret Cravings Publishing as I've been doing little else for approximately three days. If you recall the last time I provided an update I had given myself until 5/1 to submit the story...WELL, that won't be happening - revised deadline is 5/8 for now.  In addition to that story, I'm also working on next week's Erotica Tale and a Call for Submission for Women on Writing (WOW) organization.  I need to start taking vitamins to keep up with all this writing...lol! On a side note, I'd appreciate it if you were to stop by www.mywritingden.net and provide comments on any of the Erotic Tales posted.  Remember that the Blogging Contest started yesteday and posting comments will earn you points that in turn will earn you chances at scoring a $25.00 gift card. Read the rules :-) That's all for now folks. Take care! Maria