Writing and WVU

I'm currently working on my novel for young adults titled "A Door In Time," which is about three teens who pass through a time portal and end up in 1887 Wichita, Ks.  Suddenly, these three kids find themselves without their high tech toys they have become very addicted to: cell I phones, computers, cars, tvs, ipads, and other electronic conveniences.

This book has been a lot of fun to write.  I often find myself chuckling to myself as I think of another inconvenience I can put my "kids" through, just to make the story interesting.  I try to put them in situations where they argue, tease each other, get separated, get into trouble with the law, and even more as they struggle to find their way back to each other and back to their own homes and time. It's been quite an experience for myself and for them.

I'm also taking a supportive class at WVU (Writers Village University), which is an online school for writers that I've been a member of since 1998.  The class is about writing science fiction and fantasy genres.  Since I have little prior experience writing science fiction, I thought this class might be useful.  I was right.  I'm learning a lot about how to approach the story I'm working on, and there are others who are also taking the class who can offer feedback to me.  I love that.

I spent a lot of time today (between laundry loads) reading the assigned readings and then writing the homework assignments.  This is a six week course, so it will take some time to do it and work on my novel.  I have a feeling that there will be another session of F2K coming up again soon, too.  That always keeps me quite busy.

If any of my readers is interested in learning more about writing, but can't afford to pay college tuition, or pay a tutor, you might consider signing up for the FREE F2K class at WVU.  Yes, it's free!  The class lasts for about seven weeks, and will take you from learning to write a good paragraph to writing a complete short story.  And some of the best stories will be published in an online anthology put out by the website.  It's really cool.

I've taken the class myself several times, because it is so much fun.  I've had my stories published a few times too.  It really made me feel proud.  The mentors are all members of WVU, and many are published authors and professional writers.  As far as college credit, no, you won't get that, because we are not affiliated with any state universities, but the education you will receive is as good as that from an accredited university and it's free.

After the course, a special membership offer will be announced for anyone who would like to become a permanent member, like I am.  For a low membership fee, you can be a member for a full year and take any classes you wish that are offered, and there are many classes offered, in all genres, and also classes in basic writing skills, such as punctuation, grammar, and learning how to edit your work.  There are study groups, where you can socialize and get objective criticism of your writing.  Our theme is Writers Helping Writers, and it is very true.  Our goal is help you become a published author, whatever genre you are writing in.

The only genres we do not support are erotica porn, and graphic violence, because we do have children come through and take classes too.  But poetry, fiction, nonfiction, theater, scifi, fantasy, romance, historical, as well as journalism, flash fiction, novel writing--you name it, we teach it.

The owner/creator of the website and CEO of the site is Bob Hembree, who is a remarkable man.  He's been a musician, author, writer, photographer, and much more.  He's also a great guy who really cares about his students.  Any problems that arise are quickly taken care of.  His crew of volunteers think the world of him.

If you are interested in checking out the website, just visit: https://www.writersvillage.com/.  If you have trouble getting the site to open, message me and I'll try to help.

C'mon, writers!  Come and join me in this great adventure!  You won't regret it.