My News
Want to become a published author? Start small. Get your feet wet by submitting to a local writing contest. Don’t expect to win every time, but get used to writing to a prompt and sticking to a theme. The Florida Writers Association offers unique topics each year. This year’s topic was illusions. In the time of the Coronavirus, I have a feeling imaginations went wild. Do you like the cover of the published book. I cannot wait to read it. Does it whet your interest? Hope so.
If you decide to enter a contest, start early. Write. Write. Revise. Write. Revise. Before I enter a contest, I usually rewrite my entry 25-30 times, making sure every word counts. Words and lines count. Most contests limit the number of words and lines you may write. Stick to the rules.
I know we are in a time when people have become sick of rules. But when entering a contest, adhere to the rules if your goal is to be a winner. I challenge you to enter a contest this year. Write, revise, write.
Submit. Win!
Visit My Page
Hi,
I’ve added a few new books to my website. Please follow this link to see the books currently available. https://www.melodydeandimick.com/books.html
Rough Outline
Good Evening,
A former student and Facebook friend asked me how to begin a novel. Some novelists, put their pens to paper and write stream-of-consciousness style (as thoughts come to them). Others write detailed outlines and/or plot steps.
I use a logline and rough outline.
Consider beginning with a logline:
Logline: In a (SETTING) a (PROTAGONIST) has a (PROBLEM) (caused by an ANTAGONIST) and (faces CONFLICT) as he/she tries to (achieve a GOAL).
Logline examples:
My logline for No Parents Allowed:
A confrontation with her mother in the guidance counselor’s office forces a high school sophomore to join a virtual reality chat room, or be forced to attend therapy sessions.
My logline for Blame:
To save his parents’ marriage, the co-captain of a high school soccer team must come between his father and his father’s irrational mistress, his co-captain’s mother.
A logline for THE WIZARD OF OZ might read: After a twister transports a lonely Kansas farm girl to a magical land, she sets out on a dangerous journey to find a wizard with the power to send her home.
If you plan to write a novel, consider using this simple outline as its backbone.
MY SUGGESTED ROUGH OUTLINE:
Main Character:
Antagonist:
Supporting Characters:
Setting:
Quest:
Theme:
Complications and choices:
Plot Steps:
Catastrophe:
Conclusion:
Change:
Thank you for visiting My News. Stay safe.
Happy Mother’s Day! My three-act play based on Backpack Blues: Ignite the Fire Within is available today on Amazon. When we finally get back to producing plays, consider Ain’t It a Shame. It is a microcosm of schools across America.
A question many are asking. Why stay inside? To protect the health care workers and keep from spreading the virus are two reasons that make sense to me. Stay safe.
An Interview with My Agent
Woohoo! As I’ve been touting, I have an agent. I love her. I’m praying she can help me reach my publishing dreams.
Others love Joyce Sweeney. If you follow this link provided by the Mixed Up Files of Middle Grade Authors, you can read a little about my agent. Please click here: https://fromthemixedupfiles.com/2020/04/new-agent-spotlight-joyce-sweeney-of-the-seymour-agency/
By the way, I was one of Joyce’s magic beans.
Choosing a cover is no easy step. My publisher sent this potential cover to me last night. See a problem on the front page? If you said my pen name is incorrect, you are correct. I write under the name Melody Dean Dimick. I didn’t notice the missing portion of my name until this morning.
This is the play version Dr. Mary Custureri asked me to write based on my RPLA-award-winning Backpack Blues. Taylor and Seale Publishing asked me to add a second part, so it could be used in the classroom to teach poetry, and it became Backpack Blues: Ignite the Fire Within. That version won a Daytona Writers Guild Excellence in Arts award. The screen shot is of the newest version of Backpack Blues, a three-act play with the title Ain’t It a Shame. This version will be published soon.
My publisher is still working on the back cover. The picture of me she wants to use hasn’t been accepted. I’m thinking it’s pre-coronavirus hair. Have a safe weekend. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Lesson Plan: No Parents Allowed
As soon as I am able to meet with my graphic designer, I shall have this in a better format on my website at www.melodydeandimick.com
Stay safe!
It’s official! I have acquired an agent. Joyce Sweeney of the Seymour Agency will be representing me. Joyce was previously my content editor. When my copy editor, Beth Mansbridge, told me I needed a content editor, I turned to Joyce. In the picture above, Joyce is presenting me with a magic bean. One earns a magic bean by being published by a traditional publisher. I received my contract from Taylor and Seale Publishing.
This magic-bean ceremony was held at a conference at the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) in Orlando. My husband Barry Dimick is with Joyce and me.
I’m super excited to be represented by Joyce Sweeney and the Seymour Agency. Updates will be posted soon. Have a great day.
Lesson 2: Backpack Blues
OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES:
Students will be able to identify with characters from the book and write their own epistles.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Copies of Backpack Blues: Ignite the Fire Within.
SUGGESTION:
Parent or teacher, if you wish, you may choose to omit poems you do not feel are about a theme or subject matter appropriate for your tween or teen. A very few of the poems may be about edgy topics, but they are handled in a manner which will enable you to discuss the theme as you would like to address it.
PROCEDURE:
Ask students to define the word epistle. Explain that the epistle or epistolary comes from the Latin word for letter.
1. Read “Dear Mama” by Langston Hughes. Ask for student reactions to the poem.
2. Read page 122 of Backpack Blues: Ignite the Fire Within.
3. Turn to page 65 of Backpack Blues: Ignite the Fire Within. Read “Shannon Traynor.”
4. Discuss the poem.
5. Have students write an epistle or epistolary poem. They may address it to their mother, their father, another family member, a classmate (Never Allow Real Names), a teacher, a first responder or first responders, a former boyfriend or girlfriend, a grandparent, someone they miss, or another person of their choice.
6. Share poems.