Free Writing Workshop by Dr. Richard P. Johnson on How To "Enliven your Writing with an Understanding of Clinical and Spiritual Psychology"

I'm pleased to announce that the Catholic Writers of St. Louis and the Catholic Writers Group of All Saints Parish in St. Peters, MO, are co-hosting a Special Presentation and Writing Workshop on Saturday February 28, 2015.

The workshop title is: “Enliven your Writing with an Understanding of Clinical and Spiritual Psychology" presented by Richard P. Johnson, Ph.D., PCSG, LPC, NCC www.healyourillness.com

You can learn more about Dr. Johnson here.

When: Saturday, February 28, 2015

Hospitality 8:30 a.m. 

Workshop 9:00 - 11:00 am

Where:All Saints Parish Center

7 McMenamy Rd.; St. Peters, MO

This special event is free, but registration is required. 

* Bring a pen and notebook and invite a friend, but be sure to let us know that you'll be there!

** RSVP to: dvolkenannt at charter.net or post in the Comments section below that you will be attending.

Hope to see you there!

As Seen on Dr. Oz: The Doctor Oz Effect on Book Sales

Yesterday, the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Touched by an Angel, was featured on the Dr. Oz show. The title of the segment was "Proof of Angels: Can They Heal Us?"

Dr. Oz interviewed Gabrielle Bernstein, who wrote the foreword to the Touched by an Angel anthology, and he posed the question: How do angels help us heal? 

As a believer in angels and a contributor to the anthology, I was curious to hear both Gabrielle's explanation and Dr. Oz's thoughts on the matter. 

Dr. Oz spoke about neurotheology, which was a new term to me, so I looked it up in the dictionary. 

Neurotheology (also called neuroscience) is defined as "the scientific study of the neural correlates of religious or spiritual beliefs and practices." 

To demonstrate, Dr. Oz showed side-by-side graphics of a brain, which showed how much more active the frontal lobe is during prayer or meditation. Fascinating!

The segment also included interviews with three women who were contributors to the anthology. They shared their personal stories of their encounters with angels. Inspiring!

From my point of view, the feature combined the best of both worlds --  scientific method and anecdotal evidence as proof of beliefs.

Before watching the program, I was curious to learn about how being mentioned on the Dr. Oz show would affect book sales. I had a gut feeling that having a book on his show would increase sales, but I wanted proof. So, I did a mini-analysis of my own. 

Hours before the show aired, I collected data from two major book sites then compared it to data collected within 24 hours after the show aired.

Here’s what I found.

Hours before the show was aired on Wed, Jan 28, here are the book's rankings:

On Amazon

Kindle: # 102,888 in the paid Kindle store

#55 in Angels

#63 in Spiritualism

#74 in Faith

Paperbacks: #81,392 in sales

#66 on Angels

#13 on Faith

On Barnes & Nobel the book ranked #94,235 in books. I didn’t check Nook.

Within 24-hours -- the day after the show aired, Thurs, Jan 29:

On Amazon

Kindle: #2,683 in the paid Kindle store

#1 in Angels

#1 in Spiritualism

#1 in Faith

Paperbacks: #736 in sales

#1 in Faith

#1 in Angels

#1 in Self-help

For Barnes & Noble it ranked #323 in books. Again, I didn’t check Nook.

So, just as Dr. Oz pointed out how the frontal lobe of the brain experiences a chemical effect during prayer and meditation, I discovered that a book experiences a positive “retail effect” after being featured on the Dr. Oz show.

My brain has been overworked from all this data collection, so I'm going to take a break--just in time to watch today's Dr. Oz show.

Watch Dr. Oz on Wednesday to hear about Chicken Soup for the Soul: Touched by an Angel

I just received some exciting news from D'ette Corona, VP and Assistant Publisher of Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing, LLC.

Here's the scoop:

This Wednesday, January 28th, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Touched by an Angel, will be featured on the Dr. Oz show. 

Foreword writer Gabby Bernstein will talk to Dr. Oz about the book. In addition, the show taped interviews with three contributors to the book. The interviews are expected to be shown as well!

While I'm not one of the lucky three contributors who were interviewed for the Dr. Oz show, my true story "A Patchwork of Hope" appears in the anthology.

Here is the link if you want to check your local listings for the show’s air time: http://www.locatetv.com/tv/dr-oz-show/9012555

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe it's already 2015. The Christmas holiday seemed to whiz by, and after fighting a cold I'm just catching up. In fact, I'm late wishing everyone a happy new year, but I'm determined to get back on track.

At the end of last month I downloaded my writing planning calendar and have set my writing goals for 2015.

One new goal is that I've committed to journal each day in 2015. In the past I've journaled when I've traveled or at times in my life when I needed to record special or emotional events.  But this year I'm taking a structured approach.

Here's how I plan to stick to my journaling plan:

One page per day.
At the end of the day.
Journal and pen sit on the table next to the lamp that I turn off each night before turning in, so I won't forget to write.

After two days of success I think it might work.

How about you? Any new or improved goals for 2015?

Free Writing Resource: Planning Calendars from Literautas

Here's a gift you can give yourself without feeling guilty -- and it's free!

Just in time for Christmas, the generous folks at Literautas, whose motto is, "If you like writing," are giving away downloadable writing calendars.

For 2015 there are three varieties: wall calendar, desk calendar, or monthly planner

Last year I used my 2014 monthly planner to:
* Record upcoming deadlines
* Document my monthly goals
* Have a visual displays of what I'd accomplished
* Help account for my monthly income and expenses

So, if you like free, here's a link to the Literautas blog, where you can find directions on how to download the calendar of your choice.

Happy writing --  and planning!

Just Released from Mozark Press: That Mysterious Woman

Earlier this month I received an early Christmas present -- my check and contributor copies of That Mysterious Woman.

The book with the striking cover is part of the award-winning Shaker of Margaritas Anthology series from Mozark Press.

That Mysterious Woman includes mystery tales ranging from cozies, soft-boiled mysteries, suspense tales, capers, and whodunnits, with emphasis on character, plot, and good old-fashioned storytelling -- each with a female protagonist. Topics covered in the anthology are tales of: "murder, retribution, paranormal activity, thievery, strange disappearances, deception, and other mysterious situations."

The anthology includes short stories from 27 writers who hail from coast-to-coast across the United States.

Contributing writers are: David K. Aycock, Paula Gail Benson, Steven Clark, Lisa Ricard Claro, Karen Mocker Dabson, E. B. Davis, Caroline Dohack, Eileen Dunbaugh, Linda Fisher, J. D. Frost, Jodie Jackson Jr., Mitch Hale, Cathy C. Hall, Sharon Woods Hopkins, Jennifer Jank, Suzanne Lilly, Mary Ellen Martin, Edith Maxwell, Carolyn Mulford, KM Rockwood, Martha Rosenthal, Georgia Ruth, Harriette Sackler, Rosemary Shomaker, Susan E. Thomas, Donna Volkenannt (that's me), Kari Wainwright, and Frank Watson.

For more information about That Mysterious Woman and to find out about future calls for submission, visit the Mozark Press site.

More CCMWG Notes: What's So Funny? with Mary-Lane Kamberg -- and a Well Versed Winner

Mary Lane Kamberg at CCMWG

During an afternoon CCMWG breakout session, I sat in on award-winning Kansas writer Mary-Lane Kamberg's humor writing seminar. 

I can attest to Mary-Lane's writing skills -- and her sense of humor. About ten years ago we both served on the board of the Missouri Writers' Guild. Even when board discussions got heated, Mary-Lane could be relied on for solid advice and an upbeat personality. 

During the CCMWG breakout session, she interspersed some of her essays along with her lecture on humor writing. 

Her basic two-step process for writing humor is:

1. Think of something funny.

2. Write it down.

Beyond that, she gave examples of how humor can be expressed through: action, dialogue, and description.

She broke down humor writing into three basic parts:

* Topic – Can found in family life, politics, news stories, horrible experiences, phobias, etc.

* Format – Can use diary, how-to, advice Q&A, quiz, pretend interview, list, narrative form personal essay, etc.

* Individual jokes – Her opener was: “A horse walks into a bar and the bartender asks, ‘Why the long face?’”

The format she uses for the narrative form of personal essays is:

Character has a problem (wants to get or keep something)

Three escalating conflicts

Dark moment

Final tug

Punch line 

She emphasized that personal essays are basically true stories.

Some of her tools/observations in humor writing are:

Repetition - three times is usually enough

Build the joke then pause

Specifics are funnier than generalities

Surprise

Include an element of a universal truth

Piling on 

Use hostility

It’s okay to be mean. (Note: I don’t necessarily agree with this.)

Words with the letter “K” are funny (Hmm?)

Play with works, such as puns or mixed metaphors

Targets: public figures, politicians, family members, movement, yourself

Butt of jokes gives readers a sense of superiority

Use yourself as a target - she does this a lot in her essays

Exaggeration

Comparison, but make it BIG

It’s okay to make fun of famous people, but she warned against libel

Humor pieces tend to be short, between 500-800 words, and they’re getting shorter.

Her wrap-up quotes were:  “No laughter in the writer, no laughter in the reader,” and “Get them laughing then get them with the knife.”

***

And, now for the announcement of the winner of the copy of Well Versed 2009.

Drum roll, please . . . .

The winner is: Marcia

I will get the copy to you soon.