Whoo hoo bloggers!
Almost Christmas, ain't it great?
I have returned from a very succesful trip to Key West, and as you might know, from doing research regarding my book about pirates. Pirate lore and pirate customs abound in Key West. I visited pirate costume shops, museums and historeums. If you ever go there and have any interest in pirates, check out the Pirate Soul Museum and the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum. While you're at it, tour the Ernest Hemingway House Museum and play with his six-toed cats that live in Hemingway's house and move about freely. They're the only "people" who can sit on the antigue furniture. Also, seeing Hemingway's study should be an inspiration enough for any writer. Now I'd just like to figure out how to write off the whole trip on my taxes....

As for my latest accomplishments, thery aren't many at this time, as I am busy buying presents and preparing for Xmas. A review editor from Dark Wisdom magazine has asked me to rewrite my vampire book review. She said if I do, she'll include it in the next issue. Of course, I said "yes, right away!"

Until next time, and don't forget to write despite of the holiday rush! And watch this space for some great pics from my vacation.

Hello writers, and Happy Thanskgiving!
I'm gonna enjoy my husband's home-cooked turkey, with green bean casserole, cheesecake and other tasty scoff tomorrow. Yes, hubby is a cook and a great one at that. Speaking of cooking, I've been exploring that side of writing. There are a lot of publications that will pay you for original recipes and simple how-tos when it comes to cooking. Lots of women's publications accept food queries, cooking ideas, and even profiles of different restaurants and famous cooks. Check out Food Network for the recipes that are popular right now. Publications usually follow trends, even in food making. Recipes with ethnic flair are quite popular now, and a lot of mags use them. Thumb through a copy of Woman's Day, or any other major publication that has a cooking section.

Pretty soon I'll be heading to my vacation in Florida to do a research on my pirate book. It'd be nice to get away from the hustle of work, responsibilities and family for a few days. I can't wait, that's for sure! Hopefully I'll get a lot of writing done while I'm there. Happy holidays and don't forget to write!

Hello scribes,

how is it going? Long time no see, well, I've been busy. Recently when I was browsing the Internet, I happened on a cool magazine for women called Sasee. For those of you who like to write about women and women's issues, this mag is definitely beneficial. Check it out on www.sasee.com and pound out some queries.

I also recently placed another book review with Sage Woman magazine. I am so excited! Check me out in the latest issue of Sage Woman in the reviews section. I reviewed a poetry collection called Binary Star. Pretty cool whimsical poetry if you ask me. My pay will only be $12.00, but hey, for a beginner, that feels like a lot, plus I'm getting clips. Hopefully as I get more experienced, I'll be able to land better-paying assignments. Right now I am grateful for what I accomplished.

I also placed another article with Shebytches.com. Check out an article by me on the horrors of birthdays, as I recently turned 28 and have trouble dealing with it. It's called "27 Going on 90."

Don't forget to write!

So here I am again. Better later than never, huh?
It has been quite a while since I last posted anything, but life goes on, right? I met a cool writer the other day, even though it was only on email. Her name is Ilona Hegedus, from Hungary. I read some of her poetry in the Dark Wisdom magazine, and I must say that I was impressed. Check out her site at http://ilonahegedus.topcities.com. I am thinking about subscribing to her newsletter for EU writers.

This is what we writers are all about, meeting and networking with other writers. That is how we get to know people, get the best assignments and possible writing jobs. So, don't underestimate networking!

On Friday, Nov. 4, I turned 28 to my ultimate dismay. Heck, I hate birthdays. They're totally ridiculous. However, in honor of my birthday I published an article on how I hate them on www.shebytches.com. It's called the Birthday Blues, and for those of you who hate birthdays I recommend that you read this article. Hubby designed a B-day card for me. Check out his little cartoon that he did of our pets. I told him to submit it somewhere-it's so hilarious, it'll probably sell!

Hello writers, here I am again.
After a relly bad experience at the dentist, that's all that I can think about and gripe about. But since this blog of mine is about writing, I'll keep it at that.

On the brighter note, this past week I queried Dark Wisdom magazine with one of my book reviews. Guess what? They wrote me a day later, saying that they're interested in receiving my vampire book review. I was ecstatic, as I always am when somebody wants my writing and wants to pay for it. It is due tomorrow, and I have the first draft written. That Friday deadline is looming, so no excuses tonight, not TV, I've got to finish that review.

For those of you who are wondering what book I am reviewing, it is "Vampires" by Dr. Bob Curran. I mentioned this awesome book in my previous post. I will let everyone know when it's published. By the way, check out the afore-mentioned magazine of dark fiction at www.darkwisdom.com.

The most important thing is, don't forget to write, even if it is about a bad dental experience. Writing is writing.

Boo writer friends,

I am excited about Halloween-it's my favorite time of the year. Not only because of the ghouls, ghosts and all that candy that comes with it, either. I am also excited about writing, people!

During Halloween there's so much to write about. Here are some article ideas that you can market in almost any community-oriented magazine or newsletter. Watch me brainstorm here:

1) How to protect your kids during Halloween
2) Halloween origins and traditions
3) Pagan roots and Halloween
4) Protecting your pets during Halloween
5) How to recognize candy that has been tampered with
6) How to make a perfect Halloween costume
and more!

Check out my article on protecting kids during Halloween on www.loose-ends.net. You can find me under the name "newsscopp." You would have to sing in/register to read my article, but if you have small kids, it's worth it.

Also, for those of you who are into the things that go bump in the night, check out a copy of Dr. Bob Curran's book Vampires; a Field Guide to the Creatures that Stalk the Night. It's an awesome read for the Halloween night. Like I said before, Boo! Get to writing.

Hello bloggers,

aren't you glad it's Friday? I definitely am. The funny part is that the works is never really over for us writers.

Lately I've been submitting a ton of queries to many different magazines and then waiting, and waiting and waiting. The wait is something that many (if not all) writers have to deal with, be it waiting for rejection, for the acceptance of your proposal or for a kind word from the editor, saying that she cannot accept your material at this time, but she likes your work and you should to submit again. These responses are worth the wait, I think. They let you know where you stand in the writing process and what you might need to work on. They let you know that at least you're trying, right?

Let me know what your ideas are on this issue. Do you hate to wait for responses from editors? Do you like it and why? How long are you willing to wait before contacting the editor? Hmm. I'm sure there'll be as many responses as there are writers.

Just briefly today, I am spent. Have a good weekend. It's ok to not write sometimes and rest instead.

Here it is, Sunday, and I'm writing again. Thanks to all of you, who commented on my postings, your feedback is always welcome. There are so many topics out there to write about from how technology affects youth to personal experiences, and so little time. For those of you who have full-time jobs, I'm sure you'll agree with me. And it is great to have little accomplishments happen along the way so that you'll keep writing. Like the other day; I got a letter from one of the magazines that I send some submissions to from time to time. Usually I get a rejection, but this time, to my complete surprise, it was a letter of acceptance. They're going to publish my book review which I submitted several months ago (yes, magazines usually take their sweet time answering you), and I am going to get paid as well. Even though it's not very much money, I was still very happy with this little accomplishment.

So, I dare you: send one query every day to a magazine, a newspaper, or other publication that uses freelance writers. You'll be feeling really good about yourself, and even better when that letter of acceptance comes! Start small; magazines like Byline always accept queries and they also have contests going on a regular basis. Check out www.bylinemag.com. Happy writing!

Hello writers, here I am again.
This and past week I've been extremely busy writing a short story which I intend to enter into the annual Writer's Digest short story competition. Since my story is set in the Caribbean and it's about pirates (watch out, Jack Sparrow!), I've been doing a little research about pirates in general. My heroine is Rosa Marie, an only daughter of a rich French plantation owner in New Orleans. Rosa Marie is very sick and tired of her stifling life at her father's house and longs for freedom, love and adventure. When she turns 18, she gets betrothed to a French nobleman whom she does not want to marry. As she's crossing the Caribbean in a ship bound for France, the ships gets taken by pirates, and Rosa Marie (you probably guessed it by now), becomes one of them. I am still in the process of figuring out the story and completely fleshing out the characters, so all this is preliminary. I'm not quite sure whether this story wants to be a romance or historical fiction, but I guess I'll leave it up to Rosa Marie to decide. To get a scoop on pirates and their murdering ways, I've been taking a pirate class. Cindy Vallar, the teacher, is a retired librarian and a expert on pirates. Check her out on www.cindyvallar.com. Quite a good class, conducted through email, definitely worth checking out. Until next time!

Hello writers! Here it is, the second day of my brand-new blog. Let's talk about this thing called writer's block (I'm rhyming, hee hee). Does it exist? Or does it?

In my opinion, writer's block really does not exist. Usually, what we call writer's block is usually anxiety, created from the enormity of the task ahead of you, or perhaps from the looming deadlines on articles and/or book proposals that are due. Lot of the times when I cannot make myself write, it's usually the first or the second of the above.

How do you beat this beast that keeps you from writing? Lot of times, I turn to writing exercises. There are no deadlines on exercises, and following the given guidelines usually helps me open up and later work on the projects that need to be worked on. I recommned about 10 minutes of any given writing exercise when you have a "writer's block."

One good book I can recommend is Leslea Newman's Writing From the Heart. It contains exercises of many types, related to observation, description, action, character development and many other things. I welcome your comments on this topic!

Caroline

This a picture of little old me with my cat Cici. 

Hello and welcome to a brand new blog being born, called the Write Time Blog. I am very excited to be a part of the blogging community and finally have more of a presence on the Web. A little bit about me: My name is Karolina (Caroline) Blaha-Black, a a 27-year old freelancer based in Denton, Texas. I live for writing, martial arts, animals and women's issues. However, in this blog I want to concentrate only and exclusively on writing, which is my biggest passion in life so far. I've been freelancing now for about 3 years and my articles have been published in many smaller online and printed publications. I am still to make it to the "glossies" like Woman's Day, Redbook and others who pay about $1/word. I am also a regular columnist for Shebytches.com, a wonderful site based in Canada, for women to speak their mind. I've also written two children's books that I'm currently shopping around to publishers.

Now that I introduced myself , I want to talk about what I will be posting in this blog. If you're a writer (and I assume that you are if you're reading this), you can look forward to me listing the coolest writing-related newsletters, writing sites, writing contests, the latest books for adults and children and all that other cool stuff that we writers care about. I will be reviewing new books on this blog, listing what other fellow writers are working on and last but not least, my own accomplishments. I welcome any tips, suggestions, comments and writing advice from any of you, since, after all, I have still a lot to learn as a writer.

Yes, this is the Write Life!
Caroline