Barbara's Meanderings: lea schizas

I'm Going to the MuseItUp Publishing Retreat in Montreal!!

if I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor Thursday, November 03, 2011

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Some Things You Didn't Know About Lea Schizas!

lea schizas Friday, June 24, 2011

It isn't an easy task interviewing a Goddess, but our publisher of MuseItUp Publishing,

Lea Schizas, although she is knee deep in work, managed to take the time out to answer a few questions. In this interview you might find out things about her you didn't know. I am honored to present to you my interview of Lea Schizas, who makes everything she does seem easy.:)

Questions for Guest Author, Lea Schizas

Barbara: 1. Where were you born? How has where you lived as a child influenced your writing?

Lea: I was born in Montreal and the proximity to a small bookstore influenced my writing. I was a local 'sit by the shelves and pull a book and read' type of a kid. Most of the time I purchased comic books that have helped me hone my cliff-hanging chapter endings in all of my books.

Barbara: 2. You are a writer, publisher of MuseItUp Publishing, founder of the Muse Online Writer’s Conference, author of MG and YA books. You have a radio show, two blogs, and continue to keep tabs on your Muse authors. Do you have any secrets you can share about how you do all this?

Lea: Yes, you need to be a tad nutso/crazy/psycho...or simply love what you do, and I absolutely love what I do.

Barbara: 3. Earlier in your writing career you were involved with Apollo’s Lyre, an award winning online literary magazine. Would you tell us how and why this was founded?

Lea: I have to say that Apollo's Lyre was a launching pad for my career. It helped me build my career as an editor but also taught me how to really analyze submissions and pick and choose which articles/stories to add to each issue. It was originally founded by three of us, Bret Wright, and Dr. Patricia Ferguson who has since passed on. We wanted to create an ezine that appealed to various readers, offering a bit of poetry, writing articles, fiction, book reviews, and more. And since 2003 we're still around but with new editors along to maintain the quality we've began with.

Barbara: 4. When did you begin to write? Was there anyone who influenced you?

Lea: I joke that I began to write while still in my mom's womb, mistaking the umbilical cord for some neat writing implement. hehehe Actually, no one influenced me other than the comic books but later, as I grew up, I found out my dad played a short stint as a journalist and read some of his greek stuff...very prolific man so I guess his genes were a big factor.

Barbara: 5. In your bio you say you are called Mother Hen. Would you please tell our readers about your family and how you got the name?

Lea: Mother Hen has been donned on me by writers, not my family, because I have a huge soft spot for writers who are eager to enhance their writing, who want help, or guidance, or anything else that I may be able to be there for them. I also carry a mean wet noodle with me but that's only out of love. LOL So basically Mother Hen is because I try to protect and help writers that they felt the need to give me that title.

Barbara: 6. The Muse Online Writer’s Conference has revolutionized the idea of conferences. How did you get the idea for this? What does it take to continue to bring this conference to us?

Lea: This year, in all honesty, I'm behind with the preparations of the conference, but the idea came about when a question was posed to writers: How many attend writers conferences? There were three distinct answers that came back: 1- can't afford it 2- live too far to justify expenses 3- have a disability that prevents me from attending. I thought, along with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, how sad so many can't get involved in this amazing mingling and mentoring arena. Thus, the FREE Muse Online Writers Conference was born in 2005. We host it every October.

Barbara: 7. Please tell the readers what books you have written and a little about each book.

Lea: You can go to my temporary website, The Writing Jungle where you can find all my books and a few words about each of them.

Barbara: 8. You have written both fiction and non-fiction books. Which do you prefer to write and why?

Lea: I prefer fiction because in all honesty I am not a fan of research. I allow my characters and their imagination to lead me to disasters.

Barbara: 9. Your latest book, Libby the Odd Squirrel is being published by 4RV Publishing as was Bubba and Giganto. Why have you decided to go with a publisher other than MuseItUp Publishing?

Lea: These were books submitted before MuseItUp Publishing came around. I do have two books that were accepted by MuseItUp Publishing, and yes, I had to go through the same submission assessment as everyone else, and one other story was actually rejected. LOL Nothing at MuseItUp gets through unless the writing shines, and the plot is strong, and I knew that third story was lacking but tried it anyway and very pleased to see the editors unanimously rejected it.

Barbara: 10. Are you a “pantser” or a “plotter”?

Lea: Oh, a pantser for sure. The characters whisper or yell or scream or drag my writing pen in the direction they want. I have to allow them to lead me otherwise the funny farm won't give me day passes.

Barbara:11. With MuseItUp Publishing expanding, how do you keep up with the amount of work this entails?

Lea: Like in any other business where one cares to make sure the product and satisfaction of all involved maintains at a high degree, I have to be on the computer 24/7...so to speak. I allocate an hour here, an hour there for various jobs, like editing, reading submissions, formatting, uploading to vendors, maintaining websites, answering emails, etc. This past month, however, I've had severe internet woes that has backlogged me so now scrambling to catch up.

Barbara: 12. Do you have any hobbies? How have you incorporated them into your writing?

Lea: I used to crochet dolls and sell them at craft fairs, or give them away to charities. It's an art form that has helped me tweak my writing because each stitch is similar to a tweak on a page--you perfect each stitch like we perfect each scene with clarity and precision.

Barbara: 13. There is a standing joke between you and another writer that you want to know if any other writer has a notebook in the john. Do you really have one there and how important is it to you?

Lea: I have notebooks all over the house because while cooking a splash of oil from the stove might remind me of a scene in a WIP so I need to write it down right away. As for the john...hey, what do you want me to say...the john is a place of escape where I can stay a bit longer without being a 'mommy' and answering questions and yes, I have a book in the john and jot down notes as they come to me. LOL

Barbara: 14. How do you manage to promote your own books while promoting all of your Muse authors? Have you ever run into any conflicts while doing this?

Lea: I need a wet noodle because even before I was a publisher I spend more time promoting other authors than my own books. The only conflict I run into is that when asked to be a guest, I procrastinate only because I know I need to promote others. Otherwise, promoting is simply part of being a writer/publisher. While I'm out on the social networks promoting Muse authors I try to promote my own work, too.

Barbara: 15. Where do you see MuseItUp Publsihing in five years? How many authors do you plan to add?

Lea: Naturally, my goal is to see MuseItUp Publishing as one of the top five ebook houses. This takes a lot of work, consistency playing a major role, and what do I mean? Consistency to make sure I am there for authors, consistency to make sure the quality is there for readers/buyers. Without authors there wouldn't be a publishing house, and without satisfied readers there would be no need to maintain a house. So authors, staff, and readers are the top three things of importance to me and Litsa, my partner. As to how many authors we plan to add...that's a hard question because we don't go by a set number but by the quality of submissions we receive and like and contract. Muse is geared to go more toward hosting our authors works and opening up to new authors during certain periods of the year. We'd like to help our authors grow in-house.

Barbara: 16. There are three divisions now for Muse, MuseItYoung, MuseItUp, and MuseItHot. Are you planning on adding any new ones?

Lea: That's it for now. MuseItUp hosts our mainstream, MuseItYoung all of our tween books, and MuseItHOT hosts our erotica romance books. If there will be any in the future there's one category I'm looking at right now but will be for specific themes--non-fiction.

Barbara: 17. Do you have a WIP? Will you be publishing it?

Lea:I have about 30 WIPs and at this point my goal is and has been to get an agent. But first I need to finish my WIPS.

Lea, it has been a pleasure spending time with you and I'm so happy I was able to drag you away from your work to speak with us. You deserve an agent and I don't know why they aren't begging you to become their author.

Until the next time, thank you for continuing to follow my meanderings and hope to bring you more excellent guest authors. I will be doing a guest spot on Viviane's blog (link later) and my next guest author is Marva Dasef, whose book Missing Assumed Dead is being published in July.

Please leave a comment for Lea. She hasn't said if she is giving away anything free, but I'm sure she would love to answer your questions when she can.

For those who are following the saga of my husband's wound, he is going for hyperbaric treatments starting next week. He is also walking much better on his own and should be back to normal soon. Thank you to all who have prayed and continue to pray for him. Your prayers have meant a great deal to me.

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My Great News and Guest Author Sandro Isaack

Barbara Ehrentreu Monday, November 01, 2010

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The Muse Online Writers Conference and We Have a Winner for the free copy of Nature Girl by Jane Kelley

4rvpublishing Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Lea Schizas, who founded the conference and is the publisher of MuseItUp Publishing

As promised I kept the blog post up for two weeks so everyone could comment or ask a question. I want to thank all of you who have commented and I wish I had ten copies for everyone. But I only have one so I did the drawing and the winner is:

Susanne Drazic

So it is up to you, Susanne to send me your address so I can ship your copy of Nature Girl by Jane Kelley to you!!! I will also announce this on Facebook if you don't get over here to the blog to see this. You will have only three days to contact me. If you don't contact me by then I will do another drawing and pick another winner.

What changed in my life are my eyes. I had my second cataract operation and it went very smoothly, though not so much psychedelic stuff. The eye is almost completely healed and my vision without glasses is now 20/20 to 20/15. I have to take off my glasses to watch TV and movies, and drive. I still need reading glasses for reading and computer. I don't wear glasses when I'm walking around or driving now, and that hasn't happened since I was 21. But really I started wearing glasses in seventh grade. Then I used them only for TV, movies, reading, and close work. They're trifocals, but now all I need is the bottom for reading. Everything is blurry if I look through my glasses.:)

How many of you attended The Muse Online Writers Conference last week? I wanted to do the whole thing, but I was only able to attend a few chats and participate in a few of the workshops. For anyone who has never been to this wonderful and informative conference, you must go next year. The founder, Lea Schizas, decided five years ago that not everyone can attend in person conferences and it wasn't fair to keep these people from attending a conference. So she and a few others began The Muse Online Writers Conference. You can come as you are, it is free, and though the chats are usually in the daytime and early evening hours, the workshops run around the clock. She invited publishers, agents, and editors to attend and each year writers can interact with publishers, agents, and editors in both the chat rooms and the forums.

Last year Lea added Pitch sessions for the publishers and agents who were there. Many people were able to pitch their work and received contracts. I wanted to pitch last year, but I wasn't ready. However, I received great suggestions from Margot Finke, who helped me to change my first page just enough to get the attention of the founder, Lea Schizas. So this year I decided to pitch my YA novel that you have heard about umpteen times, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, to MuseItUp Publishers and I was so excited that they wanted to see the full manuscript!!!

I can't tell you how much time I spent on this manuscript, but in five years of sending it out I have received seven rejections. After the last rejection about a year ago, I decided to leave it alone for awhile. But I had written a pitch for it and used that to get my pitch scheduled. However, I didn't think it really said what I wanted to say. So my older daughter sat with me and helped me to rewrite it so it had more pizazz!!! I felt great about using it and did I mention how excited I was when they liked it too???

Maybe you have heard this too many times, but I have to say it.:) You never know what is going to happen and who is going to make it happen for you. Last year I met Vivian Zabel of 4RV Publishing and that resulted in my asking her onto my radio show and that was how I got to know her even better. She is a phenomenal publisher and I am so honored to be part of 4RV as an apprentice editor. Networking is very important for a writer and being at The Muse Online Writers Conference allows a writer to meet a lot of people you would not normally meet. But what is really wonderful is that every writer or publisher I met there was someone who was ready to help and support you depending on what you needed. Also what is wonderful about the conference is the decorum and the rules for chats. Sometimes you're in a chat room with lots of people and the moderators keep it going making sure everyone gets a chance to speak.

Before the pitch sessions you are in a chat room where the moderators act more like crisis intervention counselors than moderators. Here are all these writers waiting for the time to go into the pitch session, which is only seven minutes.:) I'm reminded of that kids' game we played at boy/girl parties, "Seven minutes in heaven" where you had to go into a closet and kiss a boy for seven minutes. When we played it at my birthday party before going into seventh grade, I had no closet in the living room. So we turned off all the lights and instead of spinning a bottle we just kissed for seven minutes. Hard lips against mine were not my idea of heaven, but I figured there had to be something good about kissing a boy so I didn't judge kissing by that or I would never have kissed anyone again!!

Anyway, back to the pitch session, when it was our turn we had to leave the chat room and go into the pitch chat room. While we were waiting, people chatted with each other and the moderators, and it was comforting to know that everyone was really nervous. We were hyperventilating (like my heroine, Carolyn) and the moderators kept telling us to blow out and not hold our breath. Everyone wished everyone good luck and congratulated anyone who got a bid to send their work. I know that I wish I had had someone to do that for me the other times when I had to send out my work to a publisher at the post office or from my computer. The nerves creep up on you and before you know it you're so nervous your hands can't type anything on the keyboard! That would have been difficult, because pitching online meant cutting and pasting your pitch into the chat room with the publisher and whoever else was there with them. Unlike querying a publisher, you learn your fate almost immediately. Then you go back to the holding chat room where people congratulate or commiserate with you depending on your outcome. But Carolyn is out there now and I hope they treat her with the love and affection I have felt for her.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. As I mentioned to another writer friend today we all need the Good Luck Fairy in our lives. After this half year I really need her or him to raise a wand over my life and make everything all better.:) Good luck to all of you who have your work out there with publishers and editors. For the others who have worries about trying to publish your work, send it out!!! If you don't send it out you don't have a chance of publication ever. But if you do send it out there is always that possibility it will be published.

Okay, so I'm sure everyone is wondering who will be my guests for October's radio show. One of my guests is Michelle McGriff who has written over 25 novels and has 3 other books as well. She is a lot of fun and I think you will really enjoy her. Also, my other guest is Jason Mayo, of Out-Numbered blog. I'll bet a lot of you have laughed at the hysterical prose Jason writes on his blog about his life with his wife and family and how he feels outnumbered. Now he has written a book that is perfect for Halloween, Do Wishes Make Fishes. The book is about a little boy whose mother cooks healthy dishes, but he wishes she weren't there and a witch replaces her. What is wonderful about this book besides the story is that all the proceeds from the sale of the books go to The Garden of Dreams, a charity that is based in Madison Square Garden. Jason's friend has cancer and there is a very heartfelt story you must read before you read any part of it. Click on the link. Sadly, Jason Mayo has decided to stop writing his blog due to his life speeding up. Tune into the show on Thursday, October 28th at 3PM Central Time to find out why he has decided to give up blogging for now.

Until the next time thank you to my new readers and as always a big thank you to all my followers for continuing to read my meanderings. There are quite a few writers who will be on this blog as guest authors. One of them is Sandro Isaack, who wrote a picture book called Stork,MIA He will be here next week. I will be posting my poems tomorrow.

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A Very Productive Day!

Costco Wednesday, January 20, 2010

"Two writers burst through the internet"

Yesterday was a great day! I met Donna McDine at one of the many Starbucks that I frequent and it happened to be about equidistant between us both. I had promised myself some time for me, since I have been exclusively with my family since the fire. When I met Donna I was hoping for an hour or two for me and stimulating conversation with another writer. But Donna was so warm and I felt like we knew each other for much longer. We had met online in several different places and she will be a guest on my radio show this month. Our meeting was so much fun and I know that we will meet again. We have so much in common and the great thing is that the feeling is mutual between us. It's so great to have a writing friend who lives so close!! As you can see in the picture we had a great time!!! Donna wrote about this on her blog, Write What Inspires You! too.:) It's a true admiration society between the two of us. And we owe it all to the internet.

On some days you feel like you are on an airport conveyer walk. Today was one of those days. There was hardly any down time at all! After two weeks of procrastination we finally got my daughter's TV and DVD player out of her room. We put them all in my husband's car. Today we brought them back to Costco and here is the amazing thing. They were both on the three month warranty so Costco gave back the entire amount to my daughter. I wanted to hug the Costco employee and it was such a short and wonderful experience. If you buy anything from Costco as long as you have all the parts they will take it back if it's within three months of the date of sale.

Then today we went over to the smokey house and got our TV and Blue Ray DVD player out of the house! The smoke smell seems to have gotten worse, but we were able to transport the 37" TV down our steps and into my husband's car that is sadly starting to smell like the inside of a busy ashtray. We brought it to Stanton Electronics, which is giving us an estimate.

Here's the thing about this estimate. When I called them to ask about it they said that we could bring in as much as we wanted. The guy on the phone said that it would be a free estimate. But when we got there we had to have a sidewalk conference, because the guy then said that it would be $75 for the three pieces that we brought in. We also brought the Breville toaster oven that I wrote about with such love a few weeks ago before the fire. With the TV and DVD player he said each one was $25 apiece. So I reminded him that they said free. Then he said it was only free for one. I chose the TV and we had to pay $50. That was not cool! I mean when you say free it should be free. It even says free estimates on the website.

But we were worried about all of them and hope that we don't have to replace them. I will be especially sad about the toaster oven, since we only got to use it for about a week.:) Stanton will open them up and check if they are still working. Hopefully all they will need to do is clean them and they will be good as new. You should have seen all the TV's and small appliances in this place. The guy told me that a lot of people use them for the huge TV's and I saw quite a few there too. It's like a treatment center for sick appliances. I wonder if they take health insurance.LOL

As the days wear on I think that my husband is starting to come to the point where we are. Today after he hauled the TV down the steps and brushed by the soot covered door, walked down the outside steps littered with glass pieces and got soot all over his brand new leather jacket I think it dawned on him that this is no longer our home. The place is freezing cold and I talked about my daughter's room in my last blog. I am giving up my piano, but since it is from 1959 and a Sterling upright I am going to try to sell it. It needs to be ozoned, but after that I am going to see if I can get a buyer for it. If there is anyone reading this who might want a vintage piano that is in good shape except for one key and needs a new hammer, please let me know. Of course, if you want it you will have to come and take it for yourself or hire your own movers to get it. :) It has a really good tone and has had lots of love over the years. :)

Until the next time, I hope to get back to talking about writing soon, but real life is cutting into my writing totally. Donna told me about a new group that is called IndeDebut 2010 and is composed of authors who are published by small presses. Donna is one of them and the group was formed by an author who was published by a small press. She got frustrated that she couldn't be a part of some of the groups out there for newly published authors and got all these authors together. I think this is a great idea and hope that more authors will join her.

Donna McDine is going to be one of my guests on the January Red River Writers Tales from the Pages. My other guests will be Lea Schizas and maybe a special mystery guest. Please tune in on Thursday, January 28th at 3PM Central time for this month's show.

Thank you to all of my new followers and to the ones who continue to read my meanderings. I am so grateful to you for keeping me sane during this chaotic time in my life.:) I hope you all got the hug I gave you:)

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The Muse Online Writers Conference Is Over!

elizabeth spann craig Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Some of you may have wondered why I didn't post anything new this week. I was trying to attend the Muse Online Writers Conference and my time was spent reading and interacting with new people and learning about writing topics. However, due to my family needing me for everything this week I didn't spend as much time as I wanted at the conference.

Let me explain this conference for anyone who is unfamiliar with it. Imagine going to a writing conference in your pjs and having access to not only fellow writers but editors, publishers and agents. Yes, you can meet editors, publishers and agents as well as fellow writers at a usual writers conference. But can you attend in your pjs? Can you make dinner, do the wash, watch TV, talk to your children, get phone calls and still be at a conference? That is the Muse Online Writers Conference.

The Muse Online Writers Conference is the brainchild of Lea Schizas who must seriously have at least a few clones, because the woman is like Wonder Woman. She has created this conference for anyone who in the past was unable to attend a regular conference due to travel issues or being housebound or the expense. The conference is free and Lea invites writers, authors, publishers, editors, and agents to give workshops. The workshops run for the entire week with presenters doing planned chats and participating in a forum where participants have more access to the presenters. The presenters give out handouts that are the jewels of the conference. When you are signed up for the conference you are given a chance to gather as many handouts as you can download onto your computer. These are full of information and contain links to all sorts of wonderful things for writers. Even if you can't attend even one chat, the forum and the handouts are enough.

Unlike most conferences the emphasis is not all on marketing and published authors. Anyone who feels they have the ability to carry a chat and/or a workshop is invited to present. The variety of presenters is astounding and it's amazing that this can be put together by one person. This year Lea added a chance for writers to pitch their finished manuscripts to the publishers that were there. Of course, I learned about this too late or else I wasn't paying enough attention to it to do it. So I missed out. But we have another chance, because just as in a regular conference, publishers have opened their submissions for just attendees of this conference. We have a secret word and you won't get it out of me.:) I think I have written about my secret keeping abilities here, but if I haven't you have to take my word that I can keep a secret a long, long time!

The other great thing about the conference is all the new people you can meet. I found out there are at least three people who live near me and that was so exciting. I connected with all of them and I hope to meet them in person. At the end of the conference there is an awesome end of conference chat party too. You can actually have everything you would have at a conference with none of the expense or aggravation. I am definitely signing up for next year and all writers no matter if you are published or not should try to sign up too. I am going to be interviewing Lea in 2010 on my radio show, Red River Writers Live Tales from the Pages.

So here's the good news for me. During this conference I took a workshop with Margot Finke, who some of you may know has a very respected name in children's writing. The title of this was: "Write As Tight As Granny's New Girdle". With a title like this who wouldn't want to take this workshop? Margot and I have been friends for years so I thought this would be fun. We had to post one page of our novel and she was going to comment and critique it. She does it professionally, so I was very nervous. I gave her the first couple of paragraphs of If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor and prayed I wouldn't need to change too much and that it was ready to be sent again to a publisher. Well, I am happy to say that she loved my excerpt and only told me to cut a few words and put in one word. I was so ecstatic I did the happy dance.LOL Any writers out there will know what I mean!

I have renewed confidence that this can be published and I am sending it out this week again. I mean the worst that can happen is I will get another rejection. At least it won't be lonely. I already have three there already.:)

That reminds me to tell you that this week I will be doing my second radio show and one of my guests is going to be Elizabeth Spann Craig. She will be discussing her novel, Pretty Is As Pretty Dies, which is a murder mystery set in a small southern town. I read it and enjoyed learning about life in that town. Elizabeth will also be my guest author here on the blog next week.

Her bio:

Like her characters, Elizabeth Spann Craig’s roots are in a small, Southern town. She grew up in Anderson, South Carolina, where she spent most of her childhood in the county library, staggering out with books by the armful.

Her magazine articles have appeared in both England and the United States.

She’s the mother of two and currently lives in Matthews, North Carolina. Between juggling room mom duties, refereeing play dates, and being dragged along as chaperone/hostage on field trips, she dreams of dark and stormy nights beside stacks of intriguing mysteries with excellent opening lines.

Here is a short review of the book:

Book Review of Pretty Is As Pretty Dies

Pretty is As Pretty Dies is the story of what happens when a small southern town is suddenly rocked by a series of murders. The first happens to one of the wealthiest and most fe

ared women in the town in the church. The second occurs a few days after her death to one of the parishioners. Was someone bumping off the churchgoers of this town or was it a serial killer on the loose? Or was there something political involved here? The dead woman has so many enemies it is hard to see how she was able to stay alive this long.

Unfortunately for the police chief his mother, an active octogenarian, is on the case. This causes a problem for him, because his mother is always getting in his way. Could the editor of the town’s newspaper where the dead woman had a column, help to solve the mystery? Or is it the brilliant award winning writer from New York who shared column space with her and the chief’s mother? Was it a case of writing jealousy or did it have to do with the dead woman’s son?

All of these questions are answered in this short novel packed with excitement and tension. Very much in the vein of Miss Marple, the police chief’s mother weaves in and out of people’s lives trying to solve this mystery. In the process we learn about almost every member of the town and as the book progresses it is hard not to form your own opinion about who murdered this woman and why.

If you like the character of the police chief’s mother, Elizabeth Craig has written several novels featuring her and her brand of sleuthing. Also when you read the book you will understand why there are gnomes on the cover.

****************************************************************************

Please join me and Elizabeth Spann Craig on Thursday, October 22nd at 3PM Central time when we discuss this book and her writing and get to know her a little better. There will be another guest on the show to be announced. Hope to have lots of you listening. Remember if you miss the show at the time it is on live you can still hear it as a podcast on the website.

Until the next time, thank you to the new readers who are now reading my meanderings.:) Welcome and I hope that you continue to enjoy all of my ravings.:) To readers who have been here thank you too. Everyone wish me luck on my submission. Ah, can you imagine hundreds of fingers and toes crossed for me?LOL

Please leave comments. I would love to know if any of my new readers met me this week. Leave a comment here and let me know how you found out about this blog.

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