Hear ye, hear ye!

Bears fan? Having a dreary Monday? I don’t think so; we have some news to announce this a.m.!

Allison Winn Scotch, blog mama of Ask Allison, a fantastic site for freelance writers, has agreed to bring her astute observations and wisdom to the fiction-bloggers realm, joining Writer Unboxed as a contributor. Not only is Allison a successful freelance writer, her first novel, THE DEPARTMENT OF LOST AND FOUND, will be published May 1st and has already gained a load of positive buzz. We’ll be interviewing Allison soon as well, to learn more about her book and her experience as a first-time author (and experienced writer!). Join me in welcoming her, won’t you?

In other news…

Just this weekend screenwriter Dale Launer agreed to an interview with us. Dale has penned such classics as My Cousin Vinny and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Want to learn something about crafting tight comic dialogue? I think he might have something to say. This week we publish the 2nd half of our interview with mystery suspense author(s) PJ Tracy, and next week you’ll be hearing from the Queen of chic-lit paranormal romance, Mary Janice Davidson. Other goodies: interviews with fantasy authors Sarah Monette and Jeri Smith-Ready, and noir writer Duane Swierczynski!

Unless you’ve been under a rock you’ve already heard the latest on Harry Potter, but for all you worm collectors out there, here’s the word: JK Rowling, who was recently named Britain’s greatest living author, finished Deathly Hallows on January 11th and is now editing the final volume of her seven-tome series. Release date: July 21st, 2007. Irrelevant blip: Did you know scientists are working to create a working invisibility cloak? I’ll never leave the house on Halloween again.

Writer Beware posted about an insane a unique project developed by publisher Penguin Putnam: the first Wiki Novel. You, your uncle and your dog can participate, along with about a million others. Will there be a plot? Will the story contain less than a gashmillion characters? Stay tuned; the project will run for five weeks.

Irrelevant blip 2: Did you know today is the 85th birthday of Reader’s Digest magazine? Each issue cost 25 cents back in the day, and the first feature was written by none other that Alexander Graham Bell.

Finally I just want to give a personal shout of triumph, because I’ve support-hosed then nailed the sagging middle bits of my story to the wall where they will trip me up no more. Oh, I feel so cocky this morning, so confident! How can I fail? How can the world not fall in love with my story? How many hours until this delirium wears off and I feel humiliated by this very post? That I can’t say, but at this moment I am a smiling fool and looking forward to a good write.

Hope your Monday is as Marvelous.

Write on, all!

Therese Walsh

Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.

Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.

Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.

www.theresewalsh.com/