Originally published at Ramblings from the Flip Side (Site under construction). You can comment here or there.

Today I’d like to talk about Legends and Heroes, an appropriate subject because my short story Legend of the Beemen is coming out on June 1st, and because the June issue of Penumbra (guest edited by me) is about Greco-Roman Mythology.

Legends are an important part of our society. We use the stories as justifications for society’s rules and morals. We uphold our heroes as paragons of virtue to which every child’s deeds are compared. Think about the firemen and police who ran into the Twin Towers on 9/11 to rescue people they didn’t know. Or about the “Band of Brothers,” the marines of Easy Company, who fought so hard to protect our liberties in World War II. Is there a single person here who doesn’t wish for that level of strength and bravery when it comes time for our own personal crisis?

This weekend, I’m going to take some time every day to review the real life legends in my life. Whether it is long-deceased members of my family of which stories are still told, or the men and women in all branches of service (civilian and military) who I know. I’m going to thank them and see if there is anything I can give back. Maybe I can’t. Then again, I do have a story coming out.

Here’s what I’d like to do. Give away 3 copies of Legend of the Beemen. The first copy is to the person who can recommend a good e-library lending program that services our overseas troops (please post the recommendation as a comment). The second copy will be given to the aforementioned lending program, my own little way of saying thanks. And here’s another. Thank you, soldiers, sailors, pilots, cops, fire & rescue people. Thank you all for all you do.

The third copy will be to the best bug story posted in the comments of this blog post. That’s right, folks. I want to hear your bug stories. Funny, scary, or just plain odd. This is your chance to get a free e-book.

There are plenty of opportunities for free e-books this weekend. The Musa Publishing Blog Hop (http://musapublishingbloghops.blogspot.com/) is chock full of authors offering freebies and contests. Please check it out.

And before I sign off: In honor of those who serve, Musa Publishing is offering is offering a free copy of Penumbra eMag to every service person in the States and overseas. The PDF can be downloaded from http://penumbraezine.blogspot.com/. Also, you get an opportunity to win a copy of the Love Notes anthology.

Enjoy your weekend! And may all our troops come home safe.

This post is of absolutely no relevance to anyone but myself. Ignore it.

And if you have to know, I'm posting myself a picture so I can use it in a .sig file for the Absolute Write Forums and properly get it to link to the new Latchkeys website at http://www.hivemindcollective.com.

Any writer who has ever done tie-in work or worked on house projects (Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, any RPG you care to name) usually has to sign an non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to protect the integrity of the property. This prevents writers from discussing plot points, upcoming releases, and all sorts of fun and interesting stuff. Most of the time, that is. I am an NDA writer. I've signed contracts with a few companies not to do a big reveal, so I won't. So, why am I writing about stuff I can't talk about?

Because I've got a million things to do that I don't want to be doing, and I'm in a silly mood today. So I'm taking a humorous look at NDAs, authors, and properties I have nothing to do with (<-see the "nothing"? Cause I ain't signed with any of these peeps, so I have no clue what's really going on behind their doors). Without further ado, here are the NDAs authors wish they could break:

1) DC Comics, the New 52. Superman is revealed to be just another human who likes dressing up in the cape during the day, and high heels at night. One weekend, he performs Cabriole in public, which Lois Lane mistakes as a superhuman ability to fly. Supes' ballet teacher, Michael, goes insane with jealousy and becomes the next maxi-crossover-series villain Plea-A. Plea-A will have cameo appearances in Batman, Ravagers, Teen Titans, and Ambush Bug.

2) Marvel Comics, Just Another X-Men Title. In preparation for yet another X-Men title, the Avengers discover that the Human Torch is not dead, but a ghost come back to haunt Scarlet Witch for her bad taste in superhero costumes. There's no real theme here, just the intent to introduce a whole bunch of new mutants (not the old New Mutants, new new mutants) so we can justify another X-book. Oh, and Lockheed proposes to Kitty Pryde while Wolverine and Cyclops get drunk, run off to Vegas, and marry a pair of showgirls. The showgirls turn out to be aliens plotting to take over the world with chain of all-you-can-eat buffets. Once humanity (and homo-superior) falls into the trap, they'll all be too obese to prevent the invasion of the Carrot People.

3) Eureka - Dr. Parrish fears for his career and invents a Groundhog Day device that prevents the series from truly being cancelled. Sheriff Carter realizes the entire town is caught in an endless re-run loop and convinces Allison, Henry, Jo, and Zoe to escape with him so they can create the Eureka movie franchise. Unfortunately for Sheriff Carter, a group of Deputy Andy zombies also escape the re-run curse and chase after the fleeing characters.

4) Once Upon A Time - Mr. Gold's attempt to bring magic into the real world has succeeded with terrifying consequences. Every little kid in the U.S. who declares "I wish you weren't my Dad (Mom)!" suddenly finds themselves without parents. Regina is forced to adopt them all as she is suddenly the only adult in the States with an active adoption application on file. Emma quits the police force and takes up carpentry in an attempt to recreate Pinocchio. Ignored by both his mothers, Henry runs away to live with the dwarves and finds himself falling for an older woman... Gretel. Hansel gets jealous. Bad Things Happen.

5) Stargate SG-1 The Ongoing Saga. After going through a wormhole during a solar flare, SG-1 is trapped in centuries in the future with no way of getting home. The world is filled with Goa'uld and their slaves, which SG-1 instantly goes to work trying to stop. Only the worms' hosts are not pleased and are fighting back. Daniel realizes something is wrong far too late to stop a war from erupting between the humans and ... the Trill? Dax summons Captains Sisko and Picard to the Trill homeworld's assistance and things take a turn for the worse.

Wow. I am having way to fun with these things. I should just Mary Sue up some fanfic here, shouldn't I?

Okay, not really. I am curious, though. How many of you reading this blog actually got the Ambush Bug reference?

I don't often speak about personal issues, but this one deserves to be talking about. Bullying is a large, and necessary, discussion these days. What once we thought of as a normal part of growing up is proving to be much worse these days as the news reports more suicides of bullied kids, and sometimes even murders by bullies.

I feel horrible saying that I was bullied as a child because my experiences do not even compare to the problems experienced by today's kids. Other members of my generation may have had bullying problems with the same intensity as many children today, but I did not hear about them. I have no right to throw myself in this discussion and claim "I was bullied too," even though it's true. This whole bully debate reminds me of a quote attributed to Martin Niemöller. "First they came for the Communists, but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists, but I was neither, so I did not speak out. Then they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew so I did not speak out. And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me."

If those of us who were bullied as children don't speak out now, when it matters, what does it teach those who are being bullied today?

So this is me: speaking out. My own childhood involved a lot of chases, thrown objects, and attacks by book in addition to the name calling. I have to wonder what would have happened had I not chosen to fight back. And when I say "fight back," I don't mean actually fighting. I was the literal 98 pound weakling in junior high, and even scrawnier in elementary school. I had no hand strength, I couldn't kick or punch to save my life. All I had was my wit, my lips, and a nasty tendency to spout one-line insults to the (fortunately dim) bullies. I remember one day walking home from school, carrying my canvas/fiberglass like book bag with one lone schoolbook in it. The usual suspects were riding bikes, tormenting me. I tried to ignore them, but then they turned on my younger brother and I lost it. I hit the lead bully in the face with my book bag, which split his lower lip.

We were in elementary school. This was the first time the violence had gotten personal and up close. The bullies had not yet reached the brink of escalation, which always comes sooner or later, and they weren't ready for the victim to fight back. I never would have defended myself, I would just have run. But defending family? I became a momentary lunatic that sent the entire group of bullies riding for the proverbial hills. The bleeding lead bully ran home to his mom, screaming that I'd knocked his teeth out. His parents came to talk to my parents, and then walked away when I came to the door. Apparently they had the idea that my brother had taken down their son. The appearance of a skin-and-bones girl threw them off their game and they instead went home to read their son the riot act for attacking a girl.

Things were so much different then. Boys were still "not supposed to hit a girl." No one brought knives, guns, or drugs to school. It was a little town full of jocks and people who counted physical prowess as more important than brains. My zingers often took days to sink in, and when they finally did, the bullies gathered to chase me all the way home from school. One could say their bark was worse than their bite, but then how much of that was due to the fact that I'd proven I was willing to go to the mat when my back was against the wall?

I had another close call in high school when another girl (also a bully and the daughter / sister of a couple of local thugs) decided she was going to make me push a penny across the floor school's concrete front "porch" with my nose. I said no. She almost hit me, but held back because she'd just turned 18 and I was still a minor. Mind you, I didn't know about the whole "legally an adult" and "assaulting a minor" legal issues at the time. When I found out, I felt invulnerable. A stupid attitude, because she started following me home in her car threatening to take me out. Silly me, I told her I'd have her sued for assault and still dared her to get out of her car and attack me. I'm still not sure why she held back except, maybe, that bullies don't like victims that don't act like prey.

These days, she would have a gun in her car. These days, I'd be dead or in the ER with multiple gun shot wounds for my bravado. These days, if I ran a neighbor's doorbell on the way home from school because the bullies were chasing me, they might answer the door, let me in, and call the police. Or the neighbors might just ignore me as none of this would have been their business.

These days, kids get killed because no one knows how to hurt someone else like another kid.

This is unacceptable. We need to stop this. We need to step up and share our experiences with the younger generations. We need to give them hope that they can survive, and then we need to find a way to make sure they do. And when we see someone else doing the bullying, we need to do something else other than stand around trying to remain unnoticed.

Inspired by Steve Almond's article on Romney and his own experience with bully culture.

Jonathan Gottschall, author of The Storytelling Animal, put out an interesting article regarding marketing in the business world. The interesting thing about his article is that he's not talking about writing, but he might as well be. In "Why Storytelling is the Ultimate Weapon," the discussion centers around the human need for connections to myths and stories, and how a proper marketing strategy contains a story that people want to relate to.

How do stories work in the business world? Well, let's look at the E*Trade baby commercials, shall we?

These commercials are all about an infant who is excited to be using E*Trade to manage his stock portfolio. At first glance, it seems a little weird, but these are the lessons we learn from the commercials, and the reasons we remember the company, the brand, and the product. 1) E*Trade is so easy to use, even an infant can use it. 2) People connect over E*Trade and make decisions that will set them up for life. 3) Adults take the E*Trade baby seriously (getting advice from him) because he is the "smart one" of the group. 4) The commercials, and what happens to the E*Trade baby & his friends, are like mini-soap operas. Everyone is watching them to find out if E*Trade baby's girlfriend is cheating on him, or why Mom took away the cell phone.

Another example of storytelling: Back in the '90s, McDonalds had a series of commercials where kids were getting disguisted by the "grownup sandwiches" being introduced by the fast food chain. The idea behind the advertising campaign was to show that kids wanted to be kids and eat kids food, but McDonalds was introducting adult food that only adults would eat. The problem with this story telling mechanism is that it told everyone watching the commercials that the new sandwiches were gross, disgusting, and no one wanted to eat them. It's hardly a wonder the campaign failed (and many of the sandwiches disappeared off menus a few months later).

My SO likes to say "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story." This is true both in writing and in marketing. You want to establish a connection to your market that keeps you in the forefront of their minds. J.K. Rowling did it with her "wrote Harry Potter in a cafe" story. James Patterson did it with his "read this book or Alex Cross dies" commercials (and his appearances on ABC's Castle). Think about what you can do for yourself, how you can distinguish your products, your brand, and your business with a story.

Gottschall's article is an excellent read, one that I highly recommend to everyone, whether you are an author, a technogeek, or a business person. It's also very good advice to anyone looking to establish their brand.

I have another lovely guest author post for my blog. This time, we're talking about promotion. I'd like everyone to welcome YA Author Sharon Ledwith. You can follow her on Twitter (@sharonledwith) or read her blog. Sharon, take it away!

Authors nowadays seem to have to wear two hats. One for the writing process and one for the business end. An on-line presence and platform is a must. One marketing firm suggests that book promotion should be done a year before the book actually hits the shelf (real and virtual). Yikes! I’ve been perusing the on-line discussions about marketing books and ebooks, and have posted as much information as I can on Facebook to help my author colleagues with how to pimp their books. Even writing a blog is precious time away from creating an author’s bread and butter.

Here are some ideas to help with the promotion process:

·         Create a professional looking website or blog (or both)

·         Get involved with Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.

·         Create a video trailer for your book and get it in front of your readers

·         Do a blog tour

·         Get reviews of your books posted on-line (preferably on your blog)

·         Podcast

·         Become a commenter and subscribe to a few blogs in your genre or do guest posts

Most authors dread the marketing process. It’s a tough gig if you’re not a natural born salesperson. Some marketing gurus even suggest building a media company, or join a book club with authors to help pimp each others books. Ultimately the success of a book now falls upon the author’s shoulders one hundred per cent.

The key is to coordinate your life. Know yourself enough so that you’ll promote your book in the areas you’re strongest in, and delegate the tasks that you’re weak at.

Sharon Ledwith is the author of the middle-grade/YA time travel series, THE LAST TIMEKEEPERS, debuting through Musa Publishing this May 18, 2012. When not writing or digging up the past, she enjoys reading, yoga, kayaking, time with family and friends, and single malt scotch. Sharon lives in the wilds of Muskoka in Central Ontario, Canada, with her hubby, a water-logged yellow Labrador and moody calico cat.

I've heard the stories, but never had the experience. As soon as a writer gets some name recognition, she is approached by a publisher who wants her work. In fact, that's pretty much our dream, isn't it? To get people coming to us, asking for our work, instead of us pushing our work out to them. Which makes the following so dangerous to your writing career.

I got an email inviting me to promote my work on someone else's website. At first, it excited me. The way I initially read the email was that they wanted me to post a blog. But I have been so busy lately that I've developed the habit of walking away from emails like this, letting them stew, and then coming back to review them later. And it's a good thing I did. Allow me to share:

"Hello,

My name is XXXX YYYYY and I am a Featured Writer for ABC magazine (website here) and Director of a spinoff site called ABC Lit (website).  Lit is devoted to promoting published authors and aspiring writers through daily posts.  If you would like, we'd be happy to feature your work on the site to give a little added publicity.  There is no cost for this; just a writer trying to help others.

If you're interested, feel free to message me or send me an email at XXXXy@abcmag.com.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you."

As I said, I initially read this as a "post a blog," then I went to the websites. The sites are very well rendered, the stories featured have wonderful covers, and ... there are no blog posts. One site has a magazine that appears to be focused toward fashion and current fashions, which really confused me. The companion lit site is all stories, one published a day. Neither site seemed to connect to each other. Then I found the submissions guidelines. Here's what they say:

ABC Lit is an affiliate website of ABC, Inc., the parent company to ABC Magazine, ABC Lit is committed to promoting published authors and offering aspiring writers a platform on which to promote their new work.

Submission guidelines for creative writing, poetry, short stories, etc.:

Please contact XXXX YYYYY at XXXXy@abcmag.com for any submissions or publicist/author promotion requests.

1. Original work only in the genres of fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, humor, literary news or short stories
2. Emailed submissions only with no attachments.  Emails can be sent care of XXXX YYYYY at XXXXy@abcmag.com
3. There is no monetary compensation for submitted and posted work, however ABC Inc. does not assume publishing rights.  All rights belong to that of the author.
4. At the request of the author, ABC Lit is able to link to websites, email addresses, Twitter, Facebook, etc.
5. Postings currently occur once a day, Monday through Friday.  Submissions may take several weeks to be posted, and the author will receive an email at the time of posting.
6. Every submission is also considered for publication in ABC magazine, a digital, page-flip publication currently being read in more than 50 countries.

Allow me to point out the most important parts of these guidelines.

1) The author is donating their work to this website. As in, this is a direct violation of Yog's Law (money flows to the author). In doing so, the author is losing first publication rights and exclusive publication rights since it's doubtful that ABC will ever remove the story from its website once the story is up there).

2) ABC Inc. doesn't acquire any publishing rights, not even non-exclusive publishing rights, which puts them in the cross-hairs of potential legal issues. Why? Well, they are publishing work that they have admitted they have no right to publish.

If you're the type of writer who doesn't want to get paid for your work, then by all means, go for one of these offers. I don't recommend it, however. Authors who tend to indulge these types of requests tend not to get high on a paying publisher's list. These sorts of things do not count as legitimate publishing credits to put on the resume. For what it's worth, I offer you this piece of advice. When someone comes after your work out of the blue, do your research. And in cases such as this, politely decline and continue submitting your work to recognized pro or semi-pro paying markets.

Now here's a hot button topic for you. Writing is hard enough. Once a manuscript gets accepted, then a new kind of torture starts. They call it The Editing Process.

I've done this a few times. Sometimes my editors have little to say. Other times, they rip my manuscript to shreds. It never fails to scare me when they say nothing, and it never fails to cause despair when they return a manuscript dripping in red ink. I can't seem to win either way. But when an editor returns the manuscript and starts questioning the whys and wherefores of the Grand Work, that's a recipe for meltdowns by any author.

Here are a few unforgettable lines from my editorial experiences: "We want to publish your story, but only if you promise fix the ending." "It's a wonderful story, but I have no idea what you're talking about. Fix that." "It starts off so slow. Can't you introduce concept X at the start?"

It would be so easy to sound off on any editor who dares question the plot elements of the Grand Work. After all, the editor didn't write this story, so how would (s)he know what is supposed to happen when? And obviously the editor hasn't a clue of what inspired the story if (s)he's asking "stupid plot question C." Right?

I wish I could agree. Experience, though, is teaching me otherwise. I get so lost in my stories, so inspired by that song quote or bible verse that started the whole process, that I forget not everyone has my particular music tastes or reading history. I keep forgetting that slang terms I take for granted may not be known by someone halfway across the country. And because my in-house editor reads every draft of my story, even he doesn't always recognize when the story breaks down due to an assumed bit of knowledge that I built into my world and then forgot to hint at. To me, it's obvious that my (soon-to-be-published) story Jemma and the Ghost is in an alternate history. It's steampunk, after all, and I've made lots of references to historical events out of context. Then Irene Radford gently pointed out that she's a history buff and, hey, she knows this stuff didn't happen, so what's the deal?

The deal is I need to stop with the subtle, clever schtick that I thought I had going on (cutesy does NOT work) and actually make it more clear to the reader that yes, we really are in an alternate history kind of world. And she's right. When I looked back at Silk & Steam, which uses the same world, I did actually state it outright at the start of the story. Jemma got missed because Jemma was the prequel and the first story to use this world.

There have been several points in my recent publication career when I didn't understand what my editor was saying. The phrasing of the email confused me, made me panic, and in one case had me convinced I'd have to rewrite the story from ground up to answer the editor's concerns. I could have thrown a tantrum, been a diva, insisted on my work retaining its original format. And if I had, I would have been wrong. Because each time I took the time to read through the editorial comments, then let them sit in my brain for a few days, and then talked to the editor, asking for clarification on statements that didn't make sense, I came to a place of understanding that made my story stronger than it was at the start of the editing process.

So, yes, my editor(s) "screwed" me. I had to delete things, and I had to spell things out for the readers. But you know what? I find myself enjoying my stories better at the end of the editing process than I did at the beginning. I seem to learn something new about writing from each editor I work with. I also have learned that different editors like and hate different things. The first few times your manuscript gets shredded, it feels like the end of the world. I promise, though, it does get easier the further along you go in your career. And if you work with one editor several times, you will find a rhythm and a balance between what you want and what they need.

Lessons I have learned: Don't go to the mat fighting the editor on every single change. Read, absorb, and stew over the suggestions. If there is something you really think is essential and shouldn't be changed, discuss it with your editor. Explain your reasons, ask for the editor's feedback and if (s)he has specific suggestions that can work as a compromise. If you engage your editor as a partner instead of an enemy, you will establish good working relationships as well as a good reputation (always to be valued). And you might just find that your Great Work has somehow managed to become a work worthy of notice by everyone around you.

On that note, tomorrow I will be having another guest author on my blog. Stay tuned!

In the spirit of posting something quick, here is your daily writing prompt.

Minimum word count: 500

Included words / subjects: Striptease, Cultivator, Marabou (it's an African stork, folks)

I really would love to know if any of these prompts are inspiring people. And I would really love to know if any stories come out of them, especially stories that get published. Anyway, enjoy writing. Remember, it's not a story until you've put it down on paper, digitial or hard copy.