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Recognitions

Joan McNulty Pulver

Welcome to Recognitions, a column designed to celebrate the writing successes of Writers' Village University members!

Jennifer Turner entered the First Chapter Paranormal Contest at Thunder and Roses with the prologue and first chapter of Racing the Moon, a truly paranormal experience. To read her entry, click on Paranews and then on her name.

“When I found out I had won the contest I felt immense relief! I've worked hard on this very challenging manuscript because I was pushing my skills to a whole new level, one that I know I needed to master in order to compete with authors like Michael Crichton and Dean Koontz. I don't know if I've succeeded fully, but to have this win, and be able to use it in my query, feels very much like a validation of all my efforts.”

When asked about her realization about becoming a writer, Jennifer said, “I could go back to second grade, or the moment I decided to write the story I'd been daydreaming and give up my career as a contract artist. Or I could say that I knew I wanted to write the moment I read Mrs. Piggle Wiggle—the first book of any real substance that I recall reading. (See Jane Run or The Little Red Hen didn't count!) But if I might twist the answer to this question a bit, I'd say that the first time I really believed I was a writer, that I could truly see a future, successful, financially sustainable life as a writer, had to be the first time I was published in print. I wrote a humorous essay for an anthology, "Crumbs in the Keyboard" and seeing my name listed beside some highly respected and well-known authors, such as Rebecca Vineyard, was a real rush.”

Jennifer loves watching movies. She says that they have influenced her writing skills. “I devour great storytelling in all formats (books, audio, movie, television) and have been visually inspired more than once by a wonderfully beautiful cinematic experience. I also learned a great deal about the craft of storytelling from M. Knight Shyamalan. In my opinion, his works (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village) are perfect examples of delivering, unexpectedly, on the promises woven into the opening of the tale. Awesome experiences.”
 
Jennifer joined Writers' Village University in 2005 and is a member of the Artistic License study group. “I couldn't have achieved the level of skill I have if it weren’t for the multitude of opportunities being a member here has afforded me. The Romance Writing course was my first class on the craft I ever took and from then on, I've been learning at a much faster rate than I ever could have dreamed possible. Groups like The Writing Process and the new Marketing Your Manuscript have been especially helpful as well.”

Her advice to new writers is that writing is a much tougher job than she expected. Reading wonderful books is like watching an Olympic figure skater—they make it look so easy. Falling on your butt on the way to the big time is a necessary part of the process. We learn from our mistakes almost more than we learn from our successes.

“I remember John Travolta commenting once that his early recognition for "Saturday Night Fever" was a bit of a career obstacle in that, although he was proud of the success, it made it a little difficult to repeat the performance. I'm sure all of us would love to debut with #1 Best Seller, but if that doesn't happen, I hope everyone enjoys their successes, no matter how large or small, as they continue toward their highest aspirations.”

Jim Kelley’s Tales of the Teamhouse contains over 500 pages of stories from the Special Forces, in such categories as How It Was, Bar Stories, Creature Tales, Humor, and more. Find out more about the book at the Special Forces Teamhouse website The book was released for publication by Morris Publishing in April 2004.

“After I retired as a senior financial controller for Motorola, I developed and web mastered the Special Forces List Teamhouse website, which infused me with a desire to write. I read fiction constantly and study books on grammar, punctuation, and English words.”

Jim became a WVU lifetime member in 1998. He has been mentoring F2K for many years and developed, facilitates and mentors the F1001 Erotica class.

“I have become close friends with the members, and have developed some close personal relationships at WVU." Read more about Jim at http://www.writopia.net/f2k/mentors/jim-kelley.shtml

Gary Frank submitted his novel, Forever Will You Suffer, to Medallion Press, Inc. He said that he was shocked and elated at his dreams finally beginning to come true. It will be released in February 2006.

Forever Will You Suffer is the story of Rick who discovers he and his ex-girlfriend are being stalked by someone who remembers a past they don’t. Rick has to learn who this stalker is, what she’s talking about and stop her before she succeeds in killing them both. Again.

“I realized I wanted to write some time back in the mid-eighties when I wrote a 587-page science fiction novel taking plot lines from Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica and my own starship. That was so exciting to create characters and have them live and face a life I made up in my imagination.”

Gary plays guitar and sings, reads an awful lot, be it books, magazines or comic books, and he enjoys a good scary movie every now and then. When asked if his hobbies helped his writing, Gary said, “If so, it is how I read critically and that helps me understand what published writers have done to get where they are.”

He joined Writers’ Village University three years ago and is currently a member of the Shadowlands study group. “Shadowlands has been an immense help in getting the novel in the right direction, helping me get the tone down better than I could’ve alone. The classes at WVU have also helped get me focused on what I need to make my writing tighter, clearer and just plain better."

Gary and his wife live in northern New Jersey with their two cats, Zen and Socrates.

Congratulations, Jennifer, Jim and Gary. We wish you continued success in all of your writing endeavors and thank you for sharing your information with us.

We look forward to reading about your writing accomplishments in this column. If you or someone you know received recognition for writing, please send the information to recognitions@wvu.org. Let us know!


About the Author
Joan McNulty Pulver, mother of five and grandmother of five, works as an Administrative Secretary for the State of Florida but considers her writing and editing to be her vocation. She is a columnist for T-Zero: The Writer’s E-Zine, a course developer and facilitator at Writers’ Village University and the Acquisitions Coordinator/Editor for ePress-online. Joan has had two short stories published and is currently working on a non-fiction book and a fantasy novel.