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"Linda J. Hutchinson writes a broad spectrum of things from nonfiction articles to book reviews. The thing that won her a spot on my Bookmark It list is what she's written on her website. First off, check out her "For Writers" link. She starts off the page by giving some advice--realistic advice, not fluff. The she lists books she recommends, conferences and even where to go to get business cards and even free promotion. Then move on to her "Links for Writers" page. Lots of links. Not organized. Not alphabetized. But you're bound to find some useful stuff there - freebies, organizations, classes, computer help, contracts, legal, dictionaries, and more. She has a lot to explore, just on those two pages, so give yourself plenty of time to browse." bookmark-it-linda-j-hutchinson.html
"Working with Linda was a pleasant experience. Her professional and punctual manner made our relationship smooth yet fun. I can recommend her as courteous, friendly, and easy to work with."
Sandy Lender Fantasy Author "Some days, you just want the dragon to win."
“An absolute joy to interact with, wrote a fabulous interview!”
--Tosca Lee Former Mrs. Nebraska-America, Mrs. Nebraska-United States, first runner-up to Mrs. United States, Speaker and Author www.toscalee.com Follow Tosca on FaceBook: http://www.facebook. com/pages/Tosca-Lee/176692373117
I've
thoroughly enjoyed working with Linda these last several years. She's a
consummate professional! --PJ Nunn Breakthrough Promotions
promotions.com
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Free to Publish Content Articles:You may publish the following articles free of charge. Contact the author to let her know where the article is to be published or used. You must publish the article in its entirety, including the bio box. If you need a specialized article, please see contact me.
TITLE: WHEN YOU CAN'T WRITE UNDER THE NICKNAME "SPITZ" AUTHOR: Linda J. Hutchinson Contact: Email Word count:
(This first appeared at Sandy Lender's blog and has appeared on Technorati repeatedly.)
If procreation required more
creativity than my parents mustered in naming me I’d have been a lost
seed. My siblings didn’t fare much better: Daryld (who died as an
infant), Karen and Don, II (twins), and Gary. TITLE: HOW I BECAME MY OWN STEP-SISTER AUTHOR; Linda J. Hutchinson Contact: Email Word count: 290
Bio::Multi-published freelancer Linda J. Hutchinson writes for online and print media about food, parenting, volunteerism, travel, construction, writing, living with chronic illness, and heavy equipment. As comfortable on a construction site as she is in an art museum, she’s been told she cleans up real good. She writes fiction as J’linn Kramer (as opposed to having dual personality disorder). www.lindajhutchinson.com
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TITLE: WHAT'S IN A NAME ANYWAY? AUTHOR: Linda J. Hutchinson Contact: Email © Copyright 2008 All rights reserved Word count: Yahoo’s front page had the usual blurbs today, but one caught my attention. Seems I’ve been delving into names, common and not, a lot lately. I’ve been researching names for the characters in my current novel-in-process and Yahoo offered a comparison of the most popular baby names in 1950 to those of 2007. These were US names only. My alter-ego, J’linn Kramer, was recently featured at Sandy Lender’s www.todaythedragonwins.blogspot.com. I wanted my pen name to be different from the norm and yet to also use my maiden name in honor of my greatest tormentors to “write more”, my dad and his dad. A derivative was all that was needed. I’ve since encountered a JaeLynn, but that doesn’t count. My husband was born in 1950 and he has the most popular first name and the 4th most popular name as his middle name, which he goes by. I was born a couple of years later. My parents didn’t use much imagination either. I ended up with the most popular first name for a girl. I once again wondered why there was so little creativity back then. Was this a generation of total conformists? No wonder there were so many uprisings in the 60’s! Then I took another look at the 2007 names. Ticking off the names of grandchildren here. Let’s see … we have two boys with the number 2 choice as a middle name, one boy with number 1 and one boy with number 8 first names. And the girls roll in with one number 8 and one number 9 first names. Only LaTosha, Sydney Anna-Marie, one of our two grandsons named Nicholas, and Zachary, didn’t make either list. I’m thinking most of us haven’t digressed so far from the conformists of 1950. Most popular boy/girl baby names in 1950: 1. James / Linda Here's the list from last year: 1. Jacob / Emily Speaking of the 1950’s, today I found the perfect blog for us old farts: http://www.hownottoactold.wordpress.com Bio::Multi-published freelancer Linda J. Hutchinson writes for online and print media about food, parenting, volunteerism, travel, construction, writing, living with chronic illness, and heavy equipment. As comfortable on a construction site as she is in an art museum, she’s been told she cleans up real good. She writes fiction as J’linn Kramer (as opposed to having dual personality disorder). www.lindajhutchinson.com ______________________________ TITLE: DON'T PANDER TO ME AUTHOR: Linda J. Hutchinson CONTACT: Email © Copyright 2008 All rights reserved Word count: (This first appeared in Karina Fabian's Faith Filled Fiction) Where is it written that a story must contain vulgarity, profanity, or mindless acts of sexuality to be a good read? You’ll find those requirements in the submission guidelines of most publishers of pornography and some erotica. There is a readership, and a format, for that type of writing. It’s big business. Conversely, there are those whose works consists of endless preaching – that gets in the way of the story-telling – at least as much as an endless supply of foul words and the plunking in of sex acts for no other purpose than to titillate. Plunking in parables or referencing Bible stories for the mere sake of pandering to one Christian group or another is visible to the reader, and can be just as annoying. As a writer, and more importantly, as a reader, I believe a good plot and great characterization will carry the story much better. Often without much, or any, of the aforementioned. Over the years I’ve worked with many publishers and publicity firms to book guests at The Writer’s Chatroom. Publishers NavPress and Barbour, and Glass Roads Publicity offer up Christian fiction, with some great writers in their respective stables. I’m often sent their books to review. Even though it is my personal choice to embrace the Christian faith, I don’t want religion, any religion, crammed down my throat. I will set aside any book whose author is more interested in forcing his or her beliefs on me than in telling me a great story. It’s fine to let me know what church you attend – or don’t – but don’t preach at me. Language is ubiquitous. It can be flowing, flowery, uplifting, succumbing, threatening, hurtful, painful, hateful, diabolical, loving, uneven, untruthful, fact-based and telling. It can be wordless. Tell me your story. Draw me in. Let me feel what your characters are feeling. Let me live in their world, but draw on my own experiences to rationalize those feelings. Let me process what your characters have to say and how they live their lives utilizing my own frame of reference. Believe that I have some level of intelligence and allow me to use it. Leave something to the imagination of the reader. Readers want that license, and expect it, before they will suspend their own belief systems to accept your story. We, as writers, must be conscious of our readers’ needs regardless of our chosen genre or our personal beliefs. Reach as many readers as you can. Touch them with your words. Leave them wanting more of your work. There may be a convert or two among them - or at least a few who are willing to investigate your religious views on a personal level. Bio::Multi-published freelancer Linda J. Hutchinson writes for online and print media about food, parenting, volunteerism, travel, construction, writing, living with chronic illness, and heavy equipment. As comfortable on a construction site as she is in an art museum, she’s been told she cleans up real good. She writes fiction as J’linn Kramer (as opposed to having dual personality disorder). www.lindajhutchinson.com
TITLE: SENSORY WRITING AUTHOR: Linda J. Hutchinson CONTACT: Email © Copyright 2008 All rights reserved. Word count: 643
(This first appeared in The Writer's Chatroom's Spotlight newsletter.) During a recent visit to our home our young grandson thought I needed help making hot chocolate for him and his little brother. In his best penmanship he wrote: “Respie to Make Hot Chocklete. 1. Pore some water in a cup. 2. Put it in the miker wave. 3. Wate intill it dings then take it out. 4. Put some shuger in just right. 5. Take a sip.” I’ve been asked to critique work by adult “writers” that wasn’t much better at using the senses to paint a picture in the reader’s mind. (And not much better spelling either, but we’ll leave that to another time.) As adults we instinctively know what a red rose should look like. We know what cat poop smells like. We know that the burner on a stove is hot when turned on. We recognize the sound of birds singing. Who can’t describe the smooth sweetness of chocolate fudge? Many have known only too many hurts and points of anger. To sell our work to a publisher, we must let our words paint the pictures invisibly, allowing the reader the option of coloring within the lines, or without. Let the reader see, hear, touch, feel, and taste without telling them they are doing it, or how it should be done. To see—From The Pandora Key by Lynne Heitman (Simon and Schuster Pocket Books): “Lyle Burquart was at least six-foot four with dark, wiry hair that sat on his head like derelict shrubbery. His stooped shoulders were a perfect complement to his sad, aching eyes. With a gait that was more like a series of connected lunges, he made his way across the WBRS-we-do-sports-better-than-anyone lobby to greet me.” To hear—From Blue Valor by Illona Haus (Simon & Schuster Pocket Books): “She’d taken to keeping track of the sounds in the house. … Several times she heard power tools and hammering, the high-pitched whine of a saw screeching through what felt like the dead of night. … Her screams were merely white noise now. He had to block them out. Had to believe in the process. Believe in his Angel.” To touch—From Beloved Castaway by Kathleen Y’Barbo (Barbour): “She made quite the impression on you, lad” … “I was speaking of the mast, Captain.” He pointed to Josiah’s chin. The mast, that’s the she what made the impression on yourself.” … “You should have Cookie finish dressing the wound and any others you and Miss Gayarre found, or you’ll soon find more misery than even that one can give you.” … He paused to touch Josiah’s sleeve. “And this time I am talking about the girl.” To feel—From The Grail Conspiracy by Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore (Midnight Ink): “A debilitating pain just above Cotton’s eye sockets wracked her—similar to the pain that follows eating ice cream too quickly. But this was more intense, like glowing hot spikes driving through her skull, the muscles to her eyes—her very brain—cramping, burning. Cotton pressed the heal of her left hand to her forehead and cried out.” To taste—From Blood Harvest by Brant Randall (Capital Crime Press): “There are some who think possum is too gamy, and others who think it greasy, and some who think there’s too many bones for so little flesh. I’m here to tell you that there isn’t much to beat possum roasted over an open fire. We sucked the grease from our fingers and I saw Darnell skin the meat from the tail bone with his teeth. We didn’t leave much but fur and fangs behind.” Sensory writing is painting pictures with our words, allowing the film to run through the projector of our reader’s mind. To write without employing the senses is to force-feed inky alphabet soup, turning off the film, the pictures, and the heart of your story. Bio: Multi-published freelance writer Linda J. Hutchinson’s work is found in trade journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and on websites. A firm believer in writing down her goals—and realizing them—she’s currently shushing those voices being hacked through from the inside of her skull by committing their words to the paper playground. www.lindajhutchinson.com _____________________________
TO WRITE FOR FREE—OR NOT
© Copyright 2006 All rights
reserved.
You have a favorite charity. They need a letter written for the annual fundraiser. You volunteer to write it. Even though your name may not go on the bottom of the letter, the committee knows who wrote it and your name will go on their list of volunteers—which does go out to the masses on a regular basis.
The committee is usually made up of local
business people who may hire you to write copy for their sales
campaigns. You’ve just gotten your foot in the door with them. Or, if
they can’t hire you, they just might float your name around the lunch
table to their friends who can. Or, the charity itself may hire you for
upcoming fundraising campaigns.
The first one I put out there a couple of
years ago is still being picked up and re-published! Lately it’s been
flying under the CarFax banner. Voila! Your first clip! Here’s a short
list to try:
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TITLE: THE HOOKER
THE HOOKER
by Linda J. Hutchinson
I shot her back another email again stating my qualifications to write
for her, even though I "had no interest what-so-ever in opening or
operating an escort service". She shot back a hasty response telling me
that she was not only NOT going to hire me, but I'd been blocked from
ever emailing her again.
TITLE: SOME &%#$ TIMES IN THE LIVES OF A MOTHER AND SON, Part I
He wasn’t a drug dealer or a drunk. He was a cop.
Gone were the tearful hugs when we went to the emergency room because he
had to get stitches in his finger or when the local bully hit him in the
back of the head with a rock.
Of course I was elected Treasurer, due solely to the fact I worked for
the bank that was underwriting a large part of the cost. Unknown to me
at the time, my volunteerism would also provide a vehicle from which my
son could serve his juvenile court-appointed Community Service…
The second year I served on the commission our Chairman had to step down
when he was appointed by the Mayor to take the place of the elected
County Auditor who was later convicted and imprisoned on bribery and
racketeering charges. Needless to say no one wanted to take on this
responsibility. My employer’s Corporate Communications Department
thought it would be a great idea for me to Co-Chair with a member of the
Armed Forces.
Please keep in mind that the paper work and permits required for
allowing an Air Show involving the Canadian Snowbirds, aerial acrobatics
and vintage planes, and pyrotechnics performed over a large body of
water-normally filled with boats from the local yacht club and
surrounded by beautiful homes--can be daunting at best.
My manager, who had been sitting across the table from me, without
looking up or putting down his pen, simply and totally devoid of emotion
asked, “What has Jay done now?”
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"Linda has been a presenter at the Muse Online Writers Conference for the last four years, along with our upcoming 2010 conference, and she's been a plethora of information and mentoring for writers around the world. Her expertise in guiding writers, informing them of the steps needed to make them 'good' writers has truly been appreciated and implemented. I can't say enough good words about Linda and her overall presence in the writing community." --Lea Schizas, founder Muse Online Writers Conference http://www.themuseonlinew
(You may need to copy & paste into your browser.)
Linda has been a joy to work with throughout the years. She has interviewed numerous authors that I represent with professionalism and poise. I look forward to many years of association with Linda." --Denise Cassino, Joint Venture Specialist, Publicist, Editor
"Linda, what a wonderful site. I have a monthly newsletter. May I write a blurb about your site and include your contact information for my August newsletter? I write for the Christian market, but I also do copywriting and found so many links that were very helpful." --Barbara Warren, www.barbarawarren bluemountainedit.com (you'll need both lines)
My response: "You betcha, Barbara! And THANK YOU!
“An absolute joy to interact with, wrote a fabulous interview!” --Tosca Lee, author, keynote speaker
I've worked closely
with Linda since 2006, and have enjoyed every minute.
Her enviable ability to get things done, is well known among
her peers. Her annual Organization classes have consistently
packed our chatroom; we all want to know how she does it.
I've come to realize
she has no magic formula, no secret tricks, she doesn't even
have some kind of special luck. She just takes her God given
talents and works hard and smart.
I want to be just like
her, when I grow up.
Renee' Barnes (Renee' is not only my dear friend, but a very funny lady. She shares her Southern charm--and humor writing--often.)
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