Carmela A. Martino

For a limited time, I'm offering a free ebook copy of Rosa, Sola for teachers to preview for possible classroom use. (If you'd prefer to receive an autographed paperback copy, I'll mail a copy to a U.S. address for only $3.99 postage/handling.) Both the ebook and paperback editions include a "Discussion Questions" section specifically for classroom discussion. If you or someone you know teaches grades 4-8 and would like more information, email me via the link in the left sidebar or use the form on the Contact & Press Kit page.

I confess, I got the idea to extend this offer from author A. J. Cattapan. She's currently giving away free ebook copies of her novels, Angelhood and Seven Riddles to Nowhere, to teachers interested in previewing them for use in their classrooms. See her website for details.

Click on this link to read a lovely BookNotes review of Rosa, Sola by Barb Szyszkiewicz at CatholicMom. The review includes interview questions with me and some of the novel's characters. Let me know what you think!

Here are links to the online resources I'll be sharing this evening at the Fountaindale Public Library presentation, "Great Beginnings: How to Hook Readers and Keep Them Turning the Pages":

* Writer's Digest magazine Jan, 2011 article by Elizabeth Sims, "8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One."
* Article by Bharti Kirchner in The Writer, Dec. 2010, “The Pleasures and Perils of Prologues."

Blog posts by former literary agent Mary Kole, who is also the author of Writing Irresistible Kidlit (Writer’s Digest Books):
• “The Promise of the Novel"
• “First Lines"
• “Fix Your Beginning"

Also, I won't be mentioning this article listing examples of some BAD ways to start a novel tonight, but it may be of interest, too.

If you have any questions about the presentation, you can post them as a comment below or email me via the "Contact" page of this blog.
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This post is for students of the fall 2016 session of my COD "Finding Your Writer's Voice" class.

To read winners of the Writer's Digest Photo Prompt contest, see this page. Remember: these are polished manuscripts--don't compare them to your freewrite story.

For info about the COD Writers at Work group see this website.

To learn about Waterline Writers, a group that meets monthly in Batavia, IL, see this website.

For an interesting article on the question of "Do I have writing talent?," see the Writer Unboxed website.

Here are two other articles you may find of interest:
a listing of some BAD ways to start a novel and
a piece called "The 'Zen' of Writing".

Finally, I invite you to sign up for my e-newsletter in the right sidebar on the News page. If you do, be sure to watch for a confirmation e-mail in your inbox--it may end up in your SPAM folder. You MUST click on the link in that e-mail to activate your subscription.

No matter what, I hope you'll keep writing!
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