July 2015 Issue of 

The Scribblers Newsletter

Welcome to the July issue of The Scribblers Writing Group Newsletter.
  
I apologize for not having sent a newsletter recently.  I was having some health problems which prevented my writing them.

In this issue we have a link to a web site that offers free and low cost e-books, a few writing prompts, a look at Clive Custler, and tips on writing YA fiction.

July Writing Prompts

Each month we try to provide prompts for you to use to generate stories. Pick one or more and write 500 to 1,000 words using the prompt/s as the basis of your story.  Above all, have fun with it. 

1.  With a 2 week vacation in St. Kits just days away, Matt's boss called him into his office.

2.  Unable to sleep, Barb looked out of her bedroom window just in time to see...

Free and Low Cost Kindle E-Books

Thanks to a friend, I have a web site to share that offers low cost and free Kindle e-books.  It's called bookbub.com  If you sign up, you will receive an email 7 days a week offering a number of books.  Several (usually 3 or 4) of them will be free.  The rest are ususally priced between $0.99 and $2.99.  

Below each listing, there is a 'get deal' button which, when you click it, will take you to Amazon.com where you can then purchase the book.  The free books will show a price of 0.00.

At the time you join Bookbub you will be shown a listing of all the genres of available books and you will be able to choose which categories you are interested in.

I have to say that I've thoroughly enjoyed Bookbub.  Before I joined, I had 198 books in my Kindle.  I hate to admit this, but now I have 470.


I have found several authors whose books I really love and very, very few that I dislike, so I thought I'd pass it on.   There are no hidden fees and, of course, you can cancel at any time.

A Look at Clive Custler

per information gotten from Amazon.com

Clive Cussler began writing novels in 1965 and published his first work featuring his continuous series hero, Dirk Pitt, in 1973. 

His first non-fiction, The Sea Hunters, was released in 1996. The Board of Governors of the Maritime College, State University of New York, considered The Sea Hunters in lieu of a Ph.D. thesis and awarded Cussler a Doctor of Letters degree in May, 1997. It was the first time since the College was founded in 1874 that such a degree was bestowed. 

Cussler is an internationally recognized authority on shipwrecks and the founder of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, a non-profit organization that dedicates itself to preserving American maritime and naval history. 

He and his crew of marine experts and NUMA volunteers have discovered more than 60 historically significant underwater wreck sites including the first submarine to sink a ship in battle, the Confederacy's Hunley, and its victim, the Union's Housatonic, the U-boat that sank the Lusitania; the Cumberland, which was sunk by the famous ironclad, Merrimack; the renowned Confederate raider Florida; the Navy airship, Akron, the Republic of Texas Navy warship, Zavala, found under a parking lot in Galveston, and the Carpathia, which sank almost six years to-the-day after plucking Titanic's survivors from the sea. 

In September, 1998, NUMA - which turns over all artifacts to state and Federal authorities, or donates them to museums and universities - launched its own web site for those wishing more information about maritime history or wishing to make donations to the organization.

In addition to being the Chairman of NUMA, Cussler is also a fellow in both the Explorers Club of New York and the Royal Geographic Society in London. He has been honored with the Lowell Thomas Award for outstanding underwater exploration. 

Cussler's books have been published in more than 40 languages in more than 100 countries. His past international bestsellers include Pacific Vortex, Mediterranean Caper, Iceberg, Raise the Titanic, Vixen 03, Night Probe, Deep Six, Cyclops, Treasure, Dragon, Sahara, Inca Gold, Shock Wave, Flood Tide, Atlantis Found, Valhalla Rising, Trojan Odyssey, Black Wind, Treasure of Kahn and Arctic Drift (the last three with his son, Dirk Cussler) as well as The Chase; the nonfiction books The Sea Hunters, The Sea Hunters II and Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt Revealed; the NUMA Files novels Serpent, Blue Gold, Fire Ice, White Death, Lost City, Polar Shift, The Navigator and Medusa (written with Paul Kemprecos); and the Oregon Files novels Sacred Stone and Golden Buddha (written with Craig Dirgo) and Dark Watch, Skeleton Coast, Plague Ship and Corsair (written with Jack Du Brul). 

Clive Cussler lives in Arizona.

A Link to 10 Tips for Writing YA Fiction

Depending on which survey you use, between 55% and 77% of the YA books that are sold are purchased by adults. I'm not surprised by this as I am a fan of YA fiction.

I subscribe to the 'Now Novel' blog which gives writing tips and information all writers can use.  

In May they published 'How to Write YA Fiction: 10 YA tips' which you can read here:  There is a lot of good information in this article which will be helpful for any author of fiction as well as for YA fiction authors.

And Finally...

We are always looking for articles and short stories to publish, as well as suggestions for the newsletter. Please send any ideas, stories, etc. to Colleen. 

We'd love to see any contributions you'd like to make to The Scribblers.

If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, please email Colleen with the word 'unsubscribe' in the subject line and we will remove you from our mailing list.