New Blog Series: For Example…
It’s been a while, but I’m finally starting another blog series! This one is called “For Example…” and it’s inspired by my recent teaching online. I’m looking for writers who want to submit posts that look at one craft concept—take, for example, voice—and talk about that concept using only their own work as the examples. These posts don’t need to be long, but they can be—anywhere from 300-1,500 words is great! Through these blog posts, we’ll both 1) learn from you about how you use a certain craft element and 2) get to read some lines from a great book! This isn’t a paid opportunity, but rather intended as a stop on a blog tour for a book or other promotional plan.
If you’re interested, please reach out via my “Contact Me” page on this site. We’ll figure out a good craft element and an appropriate date (always a Monday, sometime right after your book launch or other publication date) for your post to go live, and you’ll send the info to me a week beforehand (or earlier of course!) so I can get the blog post ready to go. I’ll also need a third person bio, headshot or other photo if you want, and cover photo and buy links.
I’m excited to learn from all of you and read some wonderful excerpts of your works!
-Kelly
Dear Kelly Ann:
I would be interested in doing a post for your “For Example” blog series. I think that the story “Mistaken Identity, which opens my collection called Wanderers (see link on website), would be well-suited for that purpose. The story is set in Kenya and revolves around the misunderstandings of an Amerian participant in a quasi-traditional Kikuyu engagement ceremony called a ngurario. In the post, I could discuss how I began drafting with a conventional third-person narrator, found that wasn’t working, and started over with the story being told by a somewhat detached Nick Carraway-style first-person narrator. That narrator serves a dual purpose in the story. While not himself one of the principal characters, he is close enough to them to offer insights into, and occasional sardonic commentary on, their motivations and behavior. He also serves as a guide to readers who are unfamiliar with the ceremony and Kikuyu culture more generally.
Thank you.
Yours very truly,
Edward Belfar