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We ask that you click on the author’s RWISA Profile below and visit all of her profile pages – some offering more insight into the member and others showcasing the author’s talent.
Lastly, we ask that you support this member as well as the host of this blog, by sharing this page and the author’s profile pages across all your social media platforms.
Now, we’d like to give you a chance at some of this awesome promotion for yourself!
Have you written that book or short story you want the whole world to know about? Are you looking for a great way to promote your creative endeavors? Perhaps you’re seeking to add some prestige to your body of work! If this sounds like you, we invite you to come on over to RAVE WRITERS – INT’L SOCIETY OF AUTHORS, otherwise known as RWISA.
At RWISA, we invite and accept into membership only the very best writers the Indie community has to offer.
If your work is exemplary and speaks for itself, stop by the RWISA website today at RaveWriters.wordpress.com and find out how you can submit your sample of writing for consideration.
We’re an exclusive bunch but we’d love to have you join us!
NOTE: If you’re looking to improve your writing while taking another route to membership into RWISA, while you’re at the site, visit RWISA UNIVERSITY!
Thanks for dropping by and don’t forget to leave us a comment below!
In honor of the five-year anniversary of breaking my foot and its significance to my writing, I’m sharing a slightly revised blog from last year.
This writing anniversary always gets me reflecting on my journey. It’s not that I started writing five years ago, I’ve been doing that since I was a teenager, although I took it more seriously in the 90s. I wrote a couple of children’s books and many children’s short stories. “Mega Veggies” was published in a children’s magazine, and I was sending out my work to publishers with “nice” handwritten rejections. Also, during this time frame, I educated myself further. So, I took several writing classes and later found myself back in college, where I focused on English, Photography, and Yoga. It was in a college English Class I discovered my love poetry and worked on more “adult” short stories, but then after I graduated all my work just sat. I’d stopped sending my books to publishers and hadn’t submitted an article, short story, or poem to a magazine in a while. I had a family to raise, relatives to take care of, and health issues. The writing wasn’t a priority.
Here is where a strange accident changed my life for the better. Five years ago, on a cold February night, it was Friday the 13th. I had just finished reading and was about to go to sleep. I had to use the restroom, so I threw the covers back and raced to my destination. I didn’t make it. On a large throw rug was a picture of a black bear, and our black cat Coco was sleeping on top of that. In my rush, I didn’t see him, and my foot caught underneath him. I tried to grab the dresser to balance, but I kept falling. I remember my cat watching this with interest, but not moving either. I twisted to avoid landing on him and heard a loud snap. Next thing I knew, I was on the floor next to my unmoved cat. Not that he was stubborn either, he trusted I wouldn’t hurt him, and I didn’t. The other cats that I’ve accidentally stepped on know to move when I walk near them. That came later with him. Now he gets out of my way, most of the time.
I lay there wondering what to do. I tried to pull myself up with no luck. The pain was too intense when I tried to use my foot. My husband had slept through this entire event.
When I finally called out to him, he sat up and asked, “Why are you lying on the floor? You should get up.” Then his head was back on the pillow again.
It took a bit of urging to wake him up, but he finally got me into the bed, where I waited the night out.
After a long night of trying to get comfortable, morning came. I knew I needed to see a doctor. It was the weekend, so ER was our only option. After a long process of getting dressed, my husband and I made it to the car and the hospital. The hospital staff enjoyed my Friday the 13th story, and my husband said he was glad to be with me on Valentine’s day no matter where we were. I was diagnosed with a high break on my left foot. They wrapped it up; I had crutch lessons, and we headed home.
Being laid up with a broken bone, over being sick was a new experience for me. I had a lot of time on my hands. I did some projects I had wanted to do, like go through all my grandparents’ old slides. I filled the hours watching all the seasons of the TV show, Supernatural. Finally, though, I needed something else to do. So, one day my youngest daughter was visiting and suggested I publish my work on Amazon. I thought… maybe.
The “maybe” quickly turned into a “why not.” Spending so much time immobile finally gave me that time to research and do what I needed to do. I quickly realized I needed to have my work edited, along with starting a website, a blog, and getting on social media, which was a bit overwhelming. So the next time my daughter visited, she jumped right in to help. I soon had my writer’s name, because my Italian last name is impossible for most to say or spell—and I also wanted a bit of privacy. D.L. Finn was born out of my love for dolphins (sound it out). Then I got the domain name for my website, created the site, started social media accounts, found an editor, and a company to publish my book.
Next on my list of things to do while “Elizabeth’s War” was being edited, was a book cover. Fortunately, I knew of a designer and got her to work on it. During this time, I also copyrighted the story and got a Library of Congress number for the print. I purchased my ISBNs, so I’d have full control of my work. Then all I could do is wait while I continued more seasons of “Supernatural” as I healed.
Soon everything was back to me. I was ready. With a shaking hand and racing heart, I uploaded my work and cover. I was published, thanks to tripping over my black cat on Friday the 13th!
Embrace your inner child and read a good book! D. L. Finn
Forrest Robert Stepnowski is an advocate, writer, social worker, and performance artist in the Pacific Northwest. He has been writing poetic works and prose for most of his life. He realized how important it would be to share his work with others, who may have tread similar paths of self-hate, self-deprecation, and self-loathing, in the hopes that they find they weren’t alone. Helping others who have been deemed as “different” because of varying sexual orientations or identities to realize that they are not deviants nor are the “against human nature” has always been of grave importance to him. He wants this group of beautiful people to know they are part of a collective, on an island where being different is embraced and accepted.
“Reflections: Inspirational Quotes & Interpretations” is precisely what the title says and more. There are fifty quotes from various sources that Mr. Fioravanti explores the meaning of in thoughtful, detailed short essays. Many Ifound myself nodding in agreement. I enjoyed each quote, but I had my favorites that hit home for me. I was not only inspired but provoked to take a more in-depth look at life. I read this on my Kindle, but I will buy the physical copy because it is a book, I will enjoy reading many times. I highly recommend this.
“Scenes of a Reclusive Writer & Reader of Mumbai” is a fascinating collection of essays that bring the reader into the daily life of Ms. Pathan. It’s a blend of the books she’s read and how they affected her and her personal life. I loved her trips to the different bookstores and libraries and how she interacted there. It was a place she felt so comfortable, and the thrill of finding that special book was something I could relate to on many levels. When she spoke of her personal life, it was heartbreaking that she carried her father rejecting her because she was born a girl. Her education, love of reading, and drive to write were the best response to that. She discusses many subjects including body shaming, health, rape, religion, political climate, and LGBT and women’s rights through the books she’s read or personal experience. I plan to read more by Ms. Pathan and look forward to seeing what life offers her in the next thirty years. I highly recommend this collection—especially if you love books and reading.
“Love, Lattes and Mutants was a fun YA Sci-Fi story. Eighteen-year-old Piper was living with her grandfather and a senior in high school. She did all she could to blend into the background so no one would find out her secret that she had dolphin DNA. Two new popular students, Holly and her twin brother Tyler, befriended Piper while the school bully targeted her. Until then, she’d maneuvered through school in her baggy clothes and big sunglasses, avoiding getting close to anyone. I enjoyed watching Piper unwillingly become friends with Holly and falling for Tyler, but I have to say it was her relationship with her grandfather I loved the best. Relationships aside, the most significant pull on Piper’s attention was the ocean. This is when she could ultimately be herself swimming with the dolphins. Although her secret was catching up to her which took the story from how she was dealing with high school to saving dolphins and herself. This is the first book of the series, and I can’t wait to see what happens next! An excellent quick read for YA and adults, especially if you love dolphins like I do!
