The Ninja's Blogfest - UNDERRATED TREASURES - Have you heard of these gems?

Hi everyone!

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As Alex J Cavanaugh says, everyone has a favorite movie or band that no one else has ever heard about (well, I question that). For whatever reason, they remain undiscovered and underrated. Now is your chance to tell the world about this obscure treasure! 

On Monday, September 22, post about your favorite unknown –

MOVIE – BAND/ARTIST – TV SHOW – BOOK. Post about one or all four – dealer’s choice! 

Here's my entry. I decided to go with Australian, as there's more of a chance you'll not have heard of it/them...: I haven't included youtube clips, as they slow down the upload for many bloggers. I'm sure you're capable of checking them out if you like the sound of the band/singer...

UNDERRATED BAND: INXS. 
OKAY, this Aussie band had the world by the ears for awhile, until lead singer Michael Hutchence died. The recent telemovie brought this amazing band back into the spotlight over here in Oz. Not sure if it played worldwide. Oh, boy, their music is amazing,especially their ballads, and the words and music never leave you. They were '80s, but over the years have tried to replace Michael and have never quite made the cut. Their song, 'Never Tear Us Apart' from the album, Kick, is one of my favourite songs of all time.

UNDERRATED ARTIST: Jessica Mauboy. 
JESSICA was the runner-up for the 2006 season of Australian Idol.  An Australian R&B and pop singer, Jessica is also a great flag waver for Indigenous Australia. A guest appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest this year brought her worldwide attention. She's also appeared in two movies, one being The Sapphires, the story of an Indigenous pop group entertaining the troops in Vietnam. 

UNDERRATED TV SHOW: 'Offspring'. 
MANY of our TV shows are imported/based on overseas' shows, but Offspring is Australian. Quirky characters, quirky storylines, quirky families. I avoided the first season as I knew I would be hooked, but I did watch this season and it was great. Makes you laugh and cry. Not exactly 'feel good' like some US comedies--the comedy here is darker and more realistic. Great show. Can't wait for the next season.

UNDERRATED BOOK: 'EYRIE' by Tim Winton.
WINTON is a fabulous Australian writer of literary fiction. Some of his earlier novels are favourites of mine also -- such as Breath (surfing in the '60s, but so much more...) Eyrie is his latest and, kapow... a superb novel: a novel of disillusionment and redemption in modern society set in Fremantle, Western Australia. Loss and beauty, the taking of responsibility and the overcoming of disappointment. I found myself re-reading passages for their unbelievable writing. The ending is the best I've read in awhile. I'm still reeling from it.



Continuing with the UNDERRATED theme, I'd love to see more writers, poets, artists etc joining the Write...Edit...Publish blogfest. Great feedback for your work. In two days' time we have CHANGING FACES as the theme. Be lovely to have your support. You can sign up in my sidebar.



Thanks for calling! And thanks to all of you who wrote a cancer story for Melissa Bradley. She needs our on-going support. Her GoFundMe campaign is here.

And you can now buy the book, How I Found the Write Path, a collection of letters over sixty authors have written to their past selves. There are so many buy links I will send you to Pk Hrezo's blog for them all. It's supposed to be FREE, but I had to pay 96c on Amazon. Smashwords appears to be FREE. 

How I Found the Write Path

Click here if you're looking for my Write...Edit...Publish post, but I hope you'll check out my letter to my newbie-writer self before moving on.

Hello everyone!

My post this week is for the How I Found the Write Path blogfest. Go here to learn more.

Letter to ten-years-younger Denise

(((Happy dance)))

After years of carrying your dreams around in your pocket, it's time to get pen to paper!

Well, Denise, when you started out on this writing gig, you had a dream of eventually writing a novel, didn’t you? But who realised it was going to be such a long and difficult journey! Remember how confident you felt at the outset that the world was waiting on tiptoe for the beautiful prose that would drip off your quill! How many years had you spent reading books? You could do that, right? Wrong! 

Your first victim was New Woman magazine. New magazine; surely they’d be looking for new writers? Wrong again! What to do with that first rejection? Well, hide it in a drawer and try not to think about it too much of course. How embarrassing to be turned away on your very first submission. It was time to think a bit harder about that dream.

Give up? Not an option. So, what to to?

Do a few more courses on writing. 

• That Diploma of Journalism was pretty handy for learning how to pitch. 
• Those creative writing courses helped get other opinions on your work. 
• How-to books opened your eyes big time. Who knew there were so many books to nudge novices along the writing journey? You read a heap, but your go-to, can’t-do-without book is, was, and ever will be ‘Writing the Breakout Novel’, by Donald Maas. The first time you used one of his writing prompts, you hit pay dirt. You entered that short story into a competition—and came second! 

(((Happy dance))) 

That dream was getting so close you could feel it, couldn't you? You were getting the idea of this writing gig. Here's where you adjusted the plan. You were going to keep writing short stories to learn your craft until you were ready to begin the Great Australian Novel. Might even help to earn a few dollars along the way to pay for all those books you were buying.

Was it easy getting short stories published? Uh uh, not at all. You learned the hard way, didn’t you, that you have to read the magazine that you’re pitching to. Then chances are they’ve just accepted a story like yours…or something along those lines. About this time you stumbled across 'How to Write and Sell Short Stories' by Della Galton. She taught you how to target specific magazines, taught you the wealth of genres to explore, taught you how to submit after making your story sparkle. The more you wrote, the better your stories became, and finally short story publication could be ticked off your to-do list. 

(((Happy dance)))

And then you discovered blogging. That proved to be a good way to practise writing and to learn about writing from all those author gurus out there. Following a gazillion writing blogs was a fabulous idea, especially Karen Woodward's. Those excellent craft posts - writing scenes, writing short stories, writing novels! What more could a writer ask?

Blogging meant finding Critique Partners. Blogging meant writing at least once a week. Blogging meant sharing what you've learnt and offering opportunities to both established and newbie bloggers through writing challenges.

Now your dream of writing that novel is coming to fruition. After practising your craft by writing several novels during NaNoWriMo each November, you’ve finally finished one to publication stage. It's back from the editor and after re-writes it will be good to go. 

So, what has ten-years-older Denise learnt so far?

• Write a lot, but don't beat yourself up if you don't write every day. Chill time can re-ignite that fire.
• Read a lot, both in your genre/s and out.
• Don't be daunted by best-selling writing. Learn from it. You too can write a best-seller.
• Don't rush into publication. It's not a race, it's a long-term goal.
• Remember, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression.

Denise Covey

Writer of romantic fiction - flash fiction, short stories, contemporary novels

Website – http://laussieswritingblog.blogspot.com

Permission granted for the e-book compilation. 

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HELP!! Pay it forward - Carrie Butler and Pk Hrezo need bloggers' help to compile an e-book.

Hello everyone!

Here's a very useful blogfest which will culminate in a free e-book. You can post anytime in the week beginning May 19th. I'll let Carrie Butler explain...

I Need YOUR Help!

Hey, guys! To celebrate my third blogiversary (coming up in May), I want to do something different—something to pay it forward—but I need your help. It involves a blogfest, new writers, and pretend time travel. Intrigued yet?

I want to compile a free e-book for writers who are just starting on their road to publication, using advice from the most brilliant, up-and-coming voices in the industry: you guys! Here’s what it would involve:

THE PROMPT: 

Please write a letter/note to yourself when you first started writing toward publication. The only thing I ask is that you keep it under 800 words, including as many (or as few) of these elements as you like:

   - A lesson you learned the hard way

   - Something you didn’t expect about the industry (positive/negative)

   - A writing-related resource you could never do without now

   - One thing you’d change about your journey

   - One thing you’re glad you did

   - Your number one tip for pursuing publication

   - Anything else you feel is worth passing on

INFORMATION: 

   - The name you wish to be credited as
   - The title (if any) you wish to follow your name, i.e. author of the series
   - One major link where people can find you, i.e. website, blog, Twitter, etc.

PLEASE INCLUDE:

   - Whether or not you give me permission to use your entry in the e-book compilation. Don’t feel bad if you don’t want in. We’d still love to read what you have to say!

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Please note: I won’t be editing the entries, other than to proofread for misspellings or duplicate words. Try to have it pub-ready when you post it. :)

    **UPDATE**    

The lovey and talented PK Hrezo is going to be joining me as co-compiler! As it turns out, she had a similar idea awhile back, but didn't have time to plan it out. I took it as a great opportunity to work together!  

Anticipated FAQs

Q: Do I have to be published in order to participate?

A: It may be easier to answer the questions if you’ve been published (either independently or traditionally), but it’s certainly not a requirement. We’re just looking for friends with experience navigating the authorial waters. You do not have to be published.

Q: Do I need a blog to participate?

A: No, you do not need a blog to participate. Feel free to e-mail me your letter directly or post it via a social media like Facebook or Google+.

Q: How will the book be available?

A: I will format it in PDF, MOBI, and EPUB, and then I’ll make those files available for us all to share. If you guys want, I could also make it a freeEPUB on Smashwords, and then distribute it to a few other retailers that accept free titles.

Q: When should I post my letter?

A: Anytime during the week of May 19th!

Q: What can I do in the meantime?

A: Kindly spread the word! You can do this by posting, utilizing your social media channels, rocking the button in your sidebar with a link to this post, etc. Also, I'd really appreciate it if you used the link-up below to sign up. It will help me compile everyone's posts the week of May 19th. I would hate to miss anyone!

Thank you so much! ♥

I hope you'll join me in this project!