Get to Know the Members of Fiction Flurry

Wow, what a great response we had from BlogFest!  Welcome to everyone new, and welcome back to those of you who have followed Fiction Flurry for a while.  Your comments provided a wealth of ideas for future posts.  I had intended on doing a post on banned books, which some of you suggested.  However, when I was researching, I learned that "Banned Book Week" is less than two weeks away, so I'll reserve that post to coincide with that week.

In the alternative, since we have so many new followers, I thought I'd give you a general introduction to the contributors.  Fiction Flurry is comprised of the members of a local writers group in Marysville, Ohio, spear-headed by yours truly.  We meet for two hours every other week to discuss writing tips, offer each other suggestions for agents and conferences, and most of all, to critique each other's work. 

We've turned what other groups might consider a challenge into one of our strengths.  We all write in different genres.  Though we may not know the particular requirements of each other's genres, we've decided that a good story is a good story, no matter the genre.  There should be conflict, engaging characters, strong dialogue, a descriptive sense of place and time, an ebb and flow to the pacing, and a plot that holds the readers interest from the first to the last page.  Simple!  (Ha)

I don't want to speak for our contributors.  Each of them might choose to do a post, or at least an opening to a post, introducing themselves in detail.  I'll start the introductions with little old me, and then give you a general introduction to our other wonderful contributors.

I'm Rachel Dilley, and I spend most of my time as a wife, mother, full time paralegal, amateur genealogist, wanna-be historian, and slowly developing writer.  I obtained my B.A. degree in English, but ended up in the legal profession.  There is a lot of writing involved in my job as a paralegal...dry, boring pieces with words such as heretofore, therefrom, and adjudication.  That's part of the reason I decided to start a writers group.  I enjoy writing, but my experience was limited to legal briefs.  I needed motivation to write artful things.  (Artful, not awful.  OK, perhaps some of my stories have been awful.)

My writing for the past two years has primarily consisted of short stories and personal essays.  I try, unsuccessfully, to maintain my own blog, which you can see here.  This year, I've had a little bit of publishing success with my personal essays.  You can see my essay published in the Columbus Dispatch here, and my essay in BGSU Magazine here.  Hopefully, there will be more publications to come.

Now, meet the rest of our regular contributors:

Michele Downey writes mainly paranormal romance and is a stickler for proper grammar and punctuation, to our benefit.  She is a great proofreader with a keen attention to detail.  The heroes in her fiction are always dark and handsome, just the way they should be in romance.  Michele is married to a history buff and can recite Ken Burns's miniseries "The Civil War" by memory, if not by choice.  Check out her blog here.

John Kershaw is the newest member of Fiction Flurry.  He is a seasoned character who has spent time in the Ukraine teaching English.  He has published a novel based on his experiences there.  John likes historical fiction of the 20th century variety.  He is married with grown children.  Here is a link to his book:  The Farm at Novestroka

Annie McElfresh is the baby of the group.  She writes in the Young Adult genre specializing in paranormal.  Annie is very active in the YA community and is "in the know" regarding agents and publishing deals in her genre.  Plus, she reads more books than anyone I know.  Check out her blog here.

Colleen Scott is our resident Wonder Woman.  She home schools her four children and still has time to be a prolific writer.  Colleen focuses on Christian/Inspirational fiction specializing in romance/suspense.  She is the queen of pacing in her fictional works, and in life.

Beth Zellner allows her accomplished skill in poetry to spill over into her fiction.  The result is beautifully written prose that can be classified as literary fiction.  She is very close to finishing her first novel, which is set in the mountains of West Virginia in the early 20th century.  Beth's blog can be found here.

Additionally, we have a contributor emeritus, Regency romance author Susan Gee Heino.  Susan has just published her second book, Damsel in Disguise (Berkley Sensation).  Her first book, Mistress by Mistake (Berkley Sensation), was released in late 2009.  Susan's books feature a wit and sense of humor not always seen in romance novels.  Check out her blog here.

That's all, folks.  We're glad you're here.  Stop by our comment section and let us know a little bit about YOU!