Author & Ecologist
Just a few months ago, I was walking barefoot along the beach. Salty mists buffeted my face. Cold waves stung my toes. I had arrived here for Dollbaby Week, a gathering of women writers and friends. Once a year, the Dollbabies come together at Virginia Beach. We share stories, laughter, love, and tears. We celebrate... Continue Reading →
Hidden Heritage In my previous installment of Eolyn: Legends and Lore, I wrote about the origin of the Silver Web, including insights into Akmael's parentage. The history of Eolyn's parents, Kaie and Eoghan, is more obscure. In the series, we don't learn much about Kaie or Eoghan because most of the people who knew them... Continue Reading →
For the published author, a negative review can sting hard. We tend to confer disproportionate power on bad reviews, allowing a single sour note to negate all the wonderful things readers have said about our work. For this reason, many of my friends and colleagues resolve not to pay attention to reader reviews, but let's... Continue Reading →
My 2021 mini series on The Query Letter was a lot of fun for me, and well-received by my followers. So, I've decided to do another series for 2022, centered on a theme I haven't discussed in a long time: the mythological and historical foundations of Eolyn's world. With each post, I'll reveal hidden backstories... Continue Reading →
This month, we began our fifth (!) semester under the Covid pandemic. I still remember when, two years ago, the news of Covid19 broke in China during January of 2020. Inside a couple weeks, cases hit 80,000 - a number that seemed phenomenal at the time. I remember thinking, "This could be it. This could... Continue Reading →
This marks the fifth installment of an ongoing series on query letters. So far, we've covered: Why query?What goes into a query letter?How do I place my book in the market?How do I pitch my book? Today we will talk about the Author Bio. Most query letters finish with a single, short paragraph outlining the... Continue Reading →
EOLYN and her companion novels had a makeover in 2021. Cover design by A Raven Designs Anyone else feel like there wasn't much of a holiday season this year? Everything blasted by so quickly. That's not to say I didn't have a nice holiday. Thanks to vaccines and loosened travel restrictions, I was able to... Continue Reading →
I'm participating in a number of writer challenges on Instagram. One recent challenge asked: Why is my story important? To answer this question, I focused on EOLYN, Book One of the Silver Web Trilogy. What drew me into Eolyn’s story was the immense courage and strength she demonstrates when confronting a brutal system intent on... Continue Reading →
So far in this brief series, we've covered three topics: Why Query? The Basic Structure of the Query Letter Placing Your Work in the Market Today, I'll talk about the pitch. The pitch consists of a few sentences that describe the central conflict of your novel in a compelling manner. The pitch is distinct from... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, I promised more posts on the topic of the query letter. Previously, I discussed why an author should query and went over the basic 3-paragraph structure of the query letter. One paragraph of the query letter is typically devoted to placing the manuscript in the market. Let's dig into that today.... Continue Reading →
Karin Rita Gastreich 