What's New...
• Sitting Duck and The Pen Pal Murders are available here!
• Look for James Falk's third book, "Bow Wow. Why We Love Them From Head to Tail." coming out later this winter!
• James Falk is busy doing seminars when not writing. His program, “So You Want to Publish,” deals less on what he does, or what other authors have done or are doing. Instead, he discusses the practical side of writing – the things that are so important that writers need in order to succeed. That includes “how to get started, attitude, organizing time, space for writing, researching, queries, overcome writer’s block, costs, professional help sources and other important aspects. Then it is wrapped up by a question and answer period.
James was the guest speaker in April for a Kiwanis Club in the Garden City, Michigan area, and there were plenty of questions and answers. And there were some who had aspirations of writing.
• Falk’s story, A Special Baseball Game, recently won a first place award in a short story contest at a writer’s conference in Toledo, Ohio. The contest was sponsored by The Maumee Valley Writers Group. He won a third place award the year before for one of his short stories
Copyright ©2009 James Falk. All rights reserved
A realistic first person narrative propels this exciting and gritty gangster story forward quickly and expertly, with a surprise – or downright shock – on every page.
Sitting Duck Is In Stores
Falk’s latest novel – a gangster thriller “Sitting Duck, is now available at most booksellers, online booksellers or direct from SterlingHouse Publisher, toll free 1-888-542-BOOK. Don’t forget his nail-biting murder/mystery, The Pen Pal Murders, also available at the same locations.
A New Column in Writers News Weekly
“Falklore”, a column written by Falk, appears in “Writers News Weekly”. His columns along with articles by publishing authors are full of information for writers hoping to get their works published. Click on to writersnewsweekly.com.
Coming later this year from James Falk!
Falk has changed the pace in his thrid book from slam-bang murder/mysteries to a story about dogs in his life: “Bow Wow. Why We Love Them From Head to Tail.” It will be available in November. Bow Wow is a poignant tale of his life (79 years) with dogs. You won’t want to miss this. Look for it in Winter 2009!
Don't Pass Up a Golden Opportunity
If you are an aspiring writer, join a writer's group -- not just any, but make sure it has experienced, legitimate members. I was in one where there was always a conflict on how things should be done and who would do them. I dropped that group quickly. I now belong to THE PEN TO PAPER WRITERS GROUP in Tecumseh, Michigan. We meet twice a month. Our group is small, five members at this time, all of whom are creative, imaginative, and excellent writers, and we could go with a few more, but we want to stay small, compatible and professional.
Besides myself, members are:
JAN RICHARDI a graduate of Boston College and The University of North Carolina. She's a retired instructor in literature, composition, English, and it is evident that she helps tremendously with plottng, grammar and punctuation.
JENNIFER BECHTOL has a degree in English from Central Michigan University. She works in Marketing and New Business Development for a global consulting firm in Ann Arbor, Mi.
PATRICIA KENNEDY ST. GEORGE, Educated on both sides of the Atlantic. Pat is a British expatriate. She began to write as soon as she could hold a pencil. She majored in business and after college she began a 26-year career at The University of Michigan where she held leadership positions in finance, human resources, alumni publications and assistant to the dean. She retired early a few years ago.
JILL KEMERER graduated from Saginaw Valley State University with a BS in Electrical Engineering. She worked as a system engineer until she had her first child. Jill is specializing in romance novels and has one being seriously considered by a New York publisher at this time. She has lent a great deal to the group.
Following are but a few activities of the group at its meetings:
• A Roundrobin story (each person adds his own chapter.}
• From randomly selected words from a JumpStart Jar, write two
paragraphs using as many of the words as you can.
• Cutouts from a magazine, pick one blind and write three inspired
paragraphs - 15 minute limit.
• Write 500 to 1,000 words on a yard sign that read: Wife wanted,
inquire within.
• Write 200 words on winter without mentioning snow.
• Write what red feels like.
• Write five Haiku poems. Stick to 5-7-5.
• Discuss exemplary writing (Passage review). Share a piece of high
quality, effective writing from a book, magazine or newspaper.
All these, and many other activities are intended to improve member's writing.
