The Writer's E-Zine Home

Writers' Village University - F2K: Free Fiction Writing Course - ePress-online
Writers' Village University Membership Information

Recognitions

Joan McNulty Pulver

Welcome to Recognitions, a column designed to celebrate the writing successes of Writers' Village University members!

This month's column will focus on members from Writers' Village University who won the National Novel Writing Month competition and/or who achieved other writing accomplishments.

Don Hurst, author of Return to UKOO, submitted his manuscript to Writopia’s own ePress-online. It hit the airwaves as an electronic book in December 2004 and will later be published as a trade paperback at Lulu. The story revolves around homicide detective Dale Hern’s life in the alternate world of the United Kingdom of Otheroff, UKOO for short. He is transported there through a mirror and discovers the first 18 years of his life, which he cannot remember. Along with King Malcolm, Dale must go forth and save the queen. You will remember this adventure for a long time.

To find out more about Don and his book, visit Return to UKOO at http://ukoo.org/returntoukoo.

Excited to find out that ePress-online had accepted his manuscript for publication, Don said, "All it took me was fifty plus years of writing, discovering WVU, and receiving feedback from fellow members. Evaluation by the staff of ePress, headed up by Margaret I. Carr, Editor in Chief, editing by 'slash an cut' Donna Sundblad (Birdie) and 'Goof catching' Joan McNulty Pulver, plastering my walls with signs like MAKE IT HAPPEN and BE YOURSELF, writing every single day, bouts of displeasure with spell and language check, endless sessions of self-talk, and hardest of all, turning off the TV once in a while.

"Writing was my hobby but now that I'm retired, it is my vocation and hobby. That and seeing how many grocery clerks I can make smile. I also paint abstracts, which are not completed until viewed.”

Don joined WVU about three years ago. Now a lifetime member, he belongs to The Write Stuff, Flash Fiction, and Colin R Onstad study groups. “It's made all the difference in the world. I'm talented, I know that, but I've never been able to find a way of presenting that talent. The members of WVU have enabled me to learn how to present my quirky cleverness. They've read my chapters even when the subject matter bored them. Why? Because they were there to help me, and all I had to do is help back. Neat, huh?”

Maggie Eaves wrote a personal essay titled, “Tough Love,” which appeared in YOU Magazine, a national magazine in South Africa, and its Afrikaans sister magazine called HUISEGENOOT on September 6, 2004 in English and October 4, 2004 in Afrikaans. “Suddenly, I wondered if it was really ready to go out there… probably like letting a child go or something. Would it ever be ready?”

One of Maggie's favorite authors is Torey A. Hayden because of her "incredible gift of being able to make non-fiction breathtakingly beautiful and her ability to put her soul into her words." Maggie appreciates Dean Koontz' style. "He has a matter of fact-ness about him that makes his work so believable. His imagination is not limited by the stars; he goes beyond that." Add John Grisham to her list of favorite authors, too, as he "places his readers right… THERE!”

Maggie started writing down her hurts and inadequacies when her youngest was born with cerebral palsy. She found that writing had a healing and restoring ability. Reading what she had written, Maggie became braver, realizing that not too many people were prepared to write down their thoughts—that takes guts. “Then I discovered I had the kind of guts it takes. I also found that I could write.

“I am also an artist. I paint colors onto blank canvasses and watch art emerge in the same way words flow from my heart onto blank paper. What happens there can only be described as magical. I love it.”

Maggie became active at WVU about a year ago. "It's given me wonderful encouragement. I have made many friends, learnt so much and have had an unbelievable amount of fun in the time I have been here.”

Nikki Leigh has completed National Novel Writing Month for the third year in a row. “It has proven to be a wonderful way to get a jump on a new novel. My NaNo novel from 2002 is under contract with Wings Epress. My 2003 NaNo novel was submitted to another publisher, who has now requested the full manuscript for consideration.”

Nikki's 2003 and 2004 NaNo novels are part of a historic trilogy set in her fictional town of Misty Cove, MA. “In these novels, the history of the Cape Ann coastline and lighthouses in general are featured parts of the stories. Feel free to visit my website, Nikkileigh.com, for additional information and pictures of the area in the novels.

“I am fascinated with history, the ocean and lighthouses. What better combination of interests could I use to create a series of novels set on the coastline? I am looking forward to visiting the coast of Massachusetts and North Carolina to promote my book. The third book in the trilogy will offer the main character a chance to roam near her home in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.”

In 2003, Donna Sundblad joined the study group Word Slingers. At that time, the posts roiled with talk of BIAM. “I asked what they were talking about and learned about a group effort to commit to writing a Book In A Month. I wrote 17,000 words and was thrilled.

“This year I learned WVU would have a forum set up at the NaNo site and I signed up for the first time. I’d just put together a skeletal outline for a fantasy novel based on a series of writing exercises I’d put together for a book titled, Pumping Your Muse, which will be released by ePress-online.com early this year. The groundwork prepared the way and this time at NaNo I wrote just over 50,140. The working title of this novel is Fortress of Stone.” Visit Donna’s website at The Inkslinger.

A J Dryna writes, “For one thing, I've never heard of NaNoWriMo before joining WVU so I have y'all to thank for that. In addition, all the encouragement and tolerance from my study group members kept me motivated. Thank you all in Middle Earth and SF&F [Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers study groups, F251 [Fiction 251: Independent Writing Challenge] for that. I couldn't have done it without y'all!

“I've never written a novel like this before and I'm only half done. It’s going to be a 100K+ by the end. NaNo really taught me how to open up and let my muse talk without my constant interruptions. I'll be a better writer for it. Right now, though, I'm tired, I wanted to finish tonight so I woke up early and wrote all day. Thanks for sharing this wonderful experience with me. It's something I'll never forget.”

Roy Berman: “I had been posting the beginnings of my first novel at Word Slingers, and I was bogged down with questions and over my head with it. I considered NaNoWriMo for established and published writers, but two folks in the group encouraged me to try it anyway. I thought that if I wrote an unusable story, at least I'd cultivate a daily writing habit and see if my first story draft could get written this way a lot faster.

“Now I sit in awe, because I wrote most of a novel I had no planning on, a viable story that never occurred to me until characters I never met ‘wrote it for me.’ A goal I thought impossible was exceeded four days less than the allotted month. It was a breakthrough of firsts for me—the first time in NaNoWriMo, the first dedicated novel writing experience, the first real free writing, I have ever done, and the first time I was faithful to my own daily writing regimen. I plan to free write my first story as soon as possible. I now can say I'm a writer—and exude some degree of confidence when the time comes to submit my work for publication.”

Leanne Johnston, known to her friends at WVU as Zakgirl: "NaNoWriMo was a virgin experience for me this year. Using the alias of Zanysbear meant no-one at WVU could put me under any undue duress or pressure; yeah right! Not half!

“Nano is somewhat like living through puberty all over again but without mother to help. By the end I suffered a severe case of PMS. (Post muse'll sufferance).”

Elise Langman: “I heard about NaNoWriMo from a posting at WVU last year. It was too late to get started then, but I looked forward to November 2004 all year. I like challenges and this one seemed made to order. It's taken me over two years to write 30,000 words on my ‘real’ novel, so 50,000 words in 30 days seemed almost impossible. Almost. I loved the idea of no pressure except getting the words down. No critiques, no revisions, no internal editor. I padded shamelessly at times but, much to my surprise, my plot developed organically without a whole lot of effort. One of the big benefits of writing at this furious pace for a month is building the habit of writing. My fingers are itching to type more story even as I'm writing this. I'm hoping to take advantage of that momentum and work harder on my other writing now that I've got the hang of this.

“The only person participating in NaNo that I knew before was Birdie, coordinator of The Finish Line group at WVU. Since I'd already gotten used to goals there, NaNo was just another part of that. I can't say that I was very active in the NaNo WVU forum, but it was nice to know it was there. I'm looking forward to seeing other NaNoers around the halls of WVU in the future.”

Sharon Walker: "In All Birds Go to Heaven, my nanowrimo novel, I made discoveries as I did in one of my classes at WVU journeying through the past. When I told my mom the title, she asked: ‘How do you know?’”

‘Well, that will be for the reader to decide,’ I replied.

“I learned that at WVU. On the 30th of November, it was nearing the deadline, and it seemed there was a problem with the Internet connection. ‘I knew this was going to happen,’ I said, as I walked out of the room, and then under my breath I added, ‘I'll have to deal with it.’ When I walked back into the room, my son told me I was a winner, and I had to see for myself, the purple bar with the white letters: Winner! I have a year before the next nanowrimo and though I'm getting older, with WVU in my life, I know I'll get better.”

Congratulations, Don, Maggie, Nikki, Donna, A.J., Roy, Leanne, Elise and Sharon. We wish you continued success in all of your writing endeavors and thank you for sharing your information with us.

We look forward to reading about your writing accomplishments in this column. If you or someone you know received recognition for writing, please send the information to recognitions@wvu.org. Let us know!


About the Author
Joan McNulty Pulver, mother of five and grandmother of five, works as an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers her writing and editing to be her vocation. She is a columnist for T-Zero: The Writer’s E-Zine, a course developer and facilitator at Writers’ Village University and the Acquisitions Coordinator/Editor for ePress-online. Joan has had two short stories published and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel.