REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN!

The Kidz Lit Conference offers workshops covering a variety of subjects in multiple youth and young adult genres. We will post the workshop schedule before the conference so you can study the descriptions and make decisions as to the best for you to attend. During the conference our faculty will describe their workshop, giving you, the conferee, an opportunity to decide which works best for you.

The conference will have many workshops to choose from, One-on-One 15-minute appointments with members of the faculty for feedback on YOUR writing (included in the registration/conference fee), Advanced Mentoring one-hour appointments for deeper feedback on your writing as well as guidance in your writing career (these are an extra cost), and also table talk with faculty and authors at each meal.

Come and join us—let’s talk Kid Lit!

Getting to Know Your Presidents?

Today we meet Jennifer Odom

1. Where do you live?  I’m a native of central Florida, where my dad’s grandparents migrated from South Carolina right
after the Civil War. I love the beauty of central Florida and the most places in the South.

2. How long have you been a Word Weaver? I’ve been a Word Weaver since 2013 when
Delores Kight and I started the Ocala chapter as co-presidents.

a) What chapter are you President of? Ocala

3. How long have you been writing—or when did you feel God was calling you to be a writer?
About 15 years ago. That’s when the idea for Summer On the Black Suwannee came to me early
one morning. I was still teaching elementary school, and it never occurred to me to write a book
myself. Being naive, I just thought the book idea would be a good one for a favorite author of
mine, Frank Peretti, to write about. But when I mentioned it to my pastor, he said God gave that
idea to me, not him, and I ought to write it. The light came on and though I enjoyed the task, I at
first tackled it out of simple obedience. The task was fun, but it took a long time before the drafts
were anything more than pathetic. Despite conferences, my self-help, and study, the education I
gained from two patient editors, Johnnie Donnelly Alexander and Fay Lamb, was my best
investment ever.

4. What do you like to read? I like to read a lot of things, historical novels, mysteries, thrillers,
but not horror.

5. What do you write? I write suspense for young adults in the Black Series; Then there is my
sweet book for middle graders, Peanut Man. One of my favorites, Peanut Man includes some
puppy love, and is the tale of a desperate young runaway, her survival adventures, and her
recognition of her true friends and helpers. It also contains a twist of mystery (but is not out yet).
For new adults I have my WIP, Under the Mango Trees, set in Fort Myers. A young neglected
girl is rescued by an elderly neighbor woman and an unexpected romance develops with the
woman’s relative.
a) If you are published:
1. First book? Summer on the Black Suwannee
2. How many written? I’ve written four, with one in the works. I also love
writing flash fiction and short stories with a punch. Along the way I did some correspondence
work for the local newspaper and have written some magazine articles.
3. Newest book? Summer on the Black Suwannee released in July of 2019, and
Secret of the Black Case is due out before Christmas, 2019.

6. Where’s your favorite place to write? At my desk.

7. If you have a dedicated writing space, describe it for us. I’ve adopted my grown son’s old
bedroom as an office. It’s sunny and bright. I keep my back to the palm tree at its southern
window so I’m not distracted. (I love working out in the yard and being outside). An array of
current files leans against its right corner, and though I try hard to get the stacks off my desk, I
have a series of “to do right now” piles arranged around the keyboard and monitor. Sticky notes
cling around the edges of its shelves. On the left corner sit the six copies of 1500 words from my
last Word Weavers meeting waiting for members’ comments to be evaluated for edits. A folded
list of ideas (in duplicate) lays in front of the monitor for me to study and weave into Secret of
the Black Case...today! And always, over there on the right corner where it stays out of trouble
stands my big styro-cup of unsweet iced tea!

8. What’s your ideal writing routine (time of day, with or without a beverage, snack to get to the
finish line, etc.) All times of the day. I try to turn off the computer by 8:00 pm or I won’t
ever get to sleep at night. I tend to work during the hot part of the day so I can save the cool part
of the day for any gardening. The tea keeps me alert. I don’t like to sit still very long, and I get
up and down a lot. I’ll go put something in the crock pot or throw in a load of laundry, but all the
time I’m thinking about that last edit. Then I hustle back and type some more. This editing, or
combing through material, is all very enjoyable. The challenge is new material, and I like to
work on it from a roadmap, not exactly an outline, but a series of notes or index cards revealing
main events, story arcs, etc. I bite the story off in chunks to write. One chunk a day or more.
These are very intense sessions. This is not a time to get up and down, it’s a time to really
visualize, to feel and to sense, and I don’t like to interrupt that thought process. It always amazes
me how time can simply disappear while I am writing.

9. We all have several authors we love to read so I won’t make you pick a favorite—but what has
been your favorite book this year and why? (Great story, impactful, educational, etc.) For
suspense, I’m very fond of many writers. On top of the list is Frank Peretti for great writing,
content and spiritual inspiration. Similarly, I appreciate Mark Mynheir. Other favorite authors
are not necessarily Christian, but are great writers and can teach me a lot. I enjoy plowing
through all of a writer’s books at one time in chronological order. But I do hate to have to wait
on that next book...from my favorite authors. In a different genre, my most recent favorite books
this year have been an old series I’ve just discovered. They are the My Folks books, full of
simple narrations from everyday people of stories their ancestors have passed down to them.
Examples are My Folks Rode The Rails, My Folks Back to the Basics, My Folks Came in a
Covered Wagon, etc. I’ve had to search the internet for each new title. I’ll be sorry when I am
finished with all of the books, it’s been quite a relaxing educational vacation reading them.

10. What’s one piece of writing advice you’d like to share with other Word Weaver members?
(Maybe something you wished you would have known as you began writing.)
Here’s my advice-cluster:
1. Get out of the house. GO PLACES, even small simple places. Learn about the places.
MEET PEOPLE. See and observe. You will always have material.
2. Study the craft of writing! (Read and go to conferences). You can always improve.
3. Read other things. Feed your imagination.
4. Don’t think you know it all or can write it once and edit it twice and be done. Comb,
comb, comb. Let it incubate for a few days or weeks. Read it again. Then read it aloud.
Comb some more.
5. Wait until you have polished it as much as you can, then get someone else to read it over.
You’ll probably still be surprised at what you missed, or what is not clear or completely
misunderstood by the other person. That’s one of the beauties of being part of a group
like Word Weavers. Iron sharpens iron.

Are you ready to start your NaNoWriMo project tomorrow? Or maybe midnight for those of you diehard Nano-ers?

For those that wonder what is NaNoWriMo?
“National Novel Writing Month began in 1999 as a daunting but straightforward challenge: to write 50,000 words of a novel during the thirty days of November.

Now, each year on November 1, hundreds of thousands of people around the world begin to write, determined to end the month with 50,000 words of a brand-new novel. You may know this mass creative explosion by the name National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo—but that's not all that NaNoWriMo is!”

Check out more about it: https://nanowrimo.org/what-is-nanowrimo

My first year of NaNoWriMo was 2012. My hubby and I were sitting in a Panera in Ohio where we lived at the time. It happened to be November 1. He noticed a couple people sitting at a group of tables and on the end was a little paper tent that said: “NaNoWriMo writers here!” He said they looked to be writers, and asked if I’d heard of it. I hadn’t. So, after eating, I went over and asked. The nice young lady told me about it and gave me a little handmade card with the website on it. Of course I checked it as soon as we got home.

I signed up and decided I was going to do this. And I did. On November 28, I logged in my word count of 51,060, threw up my hands and yelled, Done! 

In the years that followed, I’ve started and stopped a couple of times. Life got in the way and ailing parents took my husband and I away from the house often. So, I was never able to claim NaNoWriMo Winner a second time—yet.

I have a couple story ideas flying through my head, so I thought this would be the perfect time to get at them. I’m doing my NaNo prep work and getting ready for the November 1 start time. I can’t say that I’ll be starting at midnight, but November 1 is circled on my day planner for sure. 

What about you – are you going to be a NaNoWriMo Winner this year?

You’ll find Tammy Karasek seeing humor and causing laughter in every aspect of life. Her past, filled with bullying   and criticism from family, is the driving force of her passion to always encourage others and give them The Reason to smile. She’s been married to her college sweetheart, Larry, for 38 years, a mom to their grown daughter, Kristen and wrapped around the paw of a little dog named Hattie. Born and raised in Ohio, her family now resides in South Carolina. She is the President of Word Weavers Upsate SC, Word Weavers Blog Editor, member of ACFW, Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference-Conference Assistant. She’s a contributor in the 2018 Divine Moments Book, Cool-inary Moments.

Connect with Tammy:  Blog: http://www.tammykarasek.com     Email: [email protected]