The longer you write and belong to the writing community, the more people you get to know. The hope is that, as a new writer, you can find a mentor. Which I did. His name was Steve Carr. He was a wonderful supporter of many beginning writers. He also sparked my interest and ability to get into editing for people. I have a good eye. I notice things that others often don’t. I understand grammar and English. And I’m willing to work with new writers. But back to my friend. Steve left us a few years ago, on November 8, 2022. Still a young man at sixty-eight. He was a veteran, having served in both the US Navy and the US Army. He was a journalist in the military and wrote plays, short stories, and even a novel titled “Redbird, a Paranormal Horror Story.” It was a fabulous read:
And a great guidebook to help author’s get published: “Getting Your Short Stories Published: A Guidebook.” I’ve used it for all my publishing prospects, especially a similar Cover Letter to his:
You have to pay attention when looking for his books, as there is another Steve Carr out there. But that one writes history and sometimes writes with his wife. My Steve has several collections with titles like: Rain, Sand, A Map of Humanity, The Theory of Existence, The Complete Works of Steve Carr, Vol. 1 – Stories From the Zines, Part 1. This last book contains all of his articles and stories from magazines and, honestly, is the only one I haven’t read yet. Another book is The Tales of Talker Knock, which I loved reading. He published over six hundred short stories.
Of course, he has many anthologies, all of which I have a story or poem in, or was an editor on, or both. Those are all published under SweetyCat Press. He was always a great supporter of new writers and literally helped me get my start by guiding me on where to publish my first story. I miss him every day.
All that information, because I credit him with my success, brings me to what I mentioned in my last post. I was invited to join a group of authors on a collaborative novel. While it is still in process, I can tell you a little bit about it now.
My characters are a band called Wild Embers. My MC (Main Character) is Rebecca (Becca or Bec) Mayfair. She’s lead vocals. Her love is the guitarist, Johnny Mason. There is a keyboardist, a bassist and drummer. So I ultimately write for all five characters. My two parts are completed for now until the editor puts everyone’s stories together to make everything mesh. Part of the fun of this novel was getting to write parts with some of the other authors. I know most of them and have gotten to know the others. It’s been a lot of fun! I’ve done one other collaborative novel through SweetCat Press several years ago, but it was kind of a fun take on a detective story that traveled the world, each location written by a different author. This book goes together as if one person wrote it. I can’t wait to see the end product!
And that, Dear Readers, wraps us up for this post. May you have peace in your lives, be kind always – you never know another’s hardship, and keep on keeping on! Until next time!
On Hummingbirds Wings 