REGINA'S UNIVERSE
"Where the universe of writing and reading comes alive!"
Editor: Regina Paul
January 2006
Issue#4
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CONTENTS
o Editor's News
o Article: Nine Steps to Successfully Writing a Novel
o Book Review: Insight by Valerie CJ McGee
o Thank you to New Subscribers
o Advertisements
o Copyright Info
o Your Subscription Info
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o Editor's News
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Hi Everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! I've got quite a bit of
news to report this time and it's all of the good variety. First of
all I've completely revamped and updated my official website, there
are lots of new things there and I hope you'll go and take a look at
it. There are new exerpts, new books, and information on current books
I have available now. I've also added a nonfiction section to showcase
my first nonfiction book titled ALL OUR TOMORROWS: A Practical Guide
to Working with the Spiritual Universe. If you've ever wondered where
I got some of the material in the paranormal and/or spiritual sections
of my novels this book covers that, as well as being a handy guide by
itself.

I've extended my holiday special until March 10, 2006, so if you
thought you missed out on getting a copy of my romantic suspense
novella DESTINY'S CHOICES for free you haven't. I've also made
DESTINY'S CHOICES available on it's own. See
http://www.reginapaul.bravehost.com/DC.html for details.

THE MARK OF THE GUARDIAN is also available now without signing up for
the newsletter, or if someone would like to provide a copy for a
friend or relative who's not interested in receiving the
newsletter(Although how anyone could not want to read my newsletter I
can't imagine!LOL) but wants to read the novella. See
http://www.reginapaul.bravehost.com/TMOTG.html
for details.

There is a new contest which runs from January 10, 2006-March 10, 2006
for a set of 3 medium sized scented candles and a beautiful ceramic
candle holder to celebrate the release of DESTINY'S CHOICES. Send me
an e-mail at tiwatz@yahoo.com with the word "candles" in the subject
line to enter!

I had a wonderful event on the yahoo group ebooklove on December 29th.
This group very thoughtfully at my request set up an author's day for
me where I had the opportunity to promote GETTING OUT ALIVE. I raffled
off a couple of e-books to participants and posted exerpts and
answered questions. All in all even though it was right after
Christmas I felt like I had a very successful experience. This is a
wonderful group and I would encourage anyone on the list to sign up.
They run contests on a regular basis for romance e-books, and there
are authors as well as readers there, so you can run the gamut of
experiences. I'm planning on doing another one again real soon!

Another new development is that you can now visit me on Authorsden. To
check out my website at Author's Den, go to
http://www.authorsden.com/reginapaul there are articles, exerpts, and
a writer's blog that I'm planning on posting in a little more
regularly now that the holiday's are over. You can also purchase
GETTING OUT ALIVE through the Author's Den bookstore now!

Have a wonderful and happy new year, may all your dreams come true,

Regina Paul
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o NINE STEPS TO SUCCESFFULLY WRITING A NOVEL
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Writing a novel is not as difficult as you might think, and completing
a novel is one of the most rewarding feelings in the world. However,
it's not without it's problems.

Many people dream of writing the great American novel, you know the
one, the book that gets accepted and published by a traditional
publisher, hits the New York Times bestseller list and the author
makes loads of money and never has to work a traditional job again.
Unfortunately, this can be an unrealistic view of what being a
successful writer entails. I don't mean to say this doesn't happen but
it's rare. If you are serious about being a writer and successfully
writing a novel for publication then there are some steps which may
help you along your journey.

1. You should treat your writing as though it were any other job. Now
I realize this sounds ominous to those of you who may view your
writing as relaxing and fun, but I've found if I don't treat my
writing as though it were a job, I don't write. The main point I'm
making here is that you must carve out specified blocks of time each
day to work on your writing.

2. Exercise each day. No, I don't mean go sit on your exercise bike
for 30 minutes, I mean practice your writing. You can do this by
keeping a journal or diary, writing short articles, or writing poetry.
I'm sure if you think about it you can come up with others.

3. Make sure you show and not tell. This was one of the biggest
roadblocks for me when I began writing as I had a tendency to "tell"
my story rather than "showing" the reader what was happening. Showing
is where you use descriptive language to create a picture that the
reader can see in his/her mind, whereas telling is where you simply
are relating what happens without giving the reader any language that
helps them see it in their mind.

4. Create goals for your writing. Goals such as how many pages,
paragraphs, or words you'd like to write each day. Also keep track of
the goals you complete on a calendar, that way you can see how often
you reach your goals, and if you don't reach them you can come up with
ideas to better reach them.

5. Write in the same place every day, and make sure it is a place
where you won't be disturbed for your set amount of writing time. On
the couch with your laptop or notebook propped on your legs watching
television would not be a good choice. Neither would a room with no
door that can be shut, or which is close to where there are a lot of
distractions such as the noise of people talking.

6. Carry a letter sized notebook with you at all times to write or
sketch ideas that come to you for your current book, or future novels,
articles or poems. That way you don't forget them, and trust me you
will if you don't write them down.

7. Be careful of who you allow to read the drafts of your novel, make
sure it is someone you trust and whom you know will give constructive
and useful criticism, if criticism is necessary. If you know your
mother, spouse, best friend, sister whomever doesn't support the idea
of your writing then don't allow them to read your drafts, in fact you
don't even have to tell them about your writing. Negative criticism
has often been the culprit for preventing truly great works from both
being completed and published. Don't let your novel be one of those by
not letting those you know who are going to be negative read it. Save
yourself some heartache and choose wisely. Sometimes total strangers
are the best to critique your manuscript. There are many places online
to post your manuscript or portions of it to be critiqued.

8. Utilize down times to write such as when you are riding public
transportation, or waiting in the doctor's office. Most of us hold
down regular jobs in addition to our writing so carving out blocks of
time can sometimes be difficult. If you utilize your down times as
writing times you'll be able to write more and schedule greater
amounts of time to write, which will put you that much closer to
completing your writing project.

9. Be willing to write crap. Often it is out of what we consider to be
some of our worst writing that gold nuggets can be found. Sometimes it
is just an idea, or maybe we realize a better way to write a scene.
Whatever gold nuggets you pull from your writing whether you consider
it to be your worst or only your semi-worst, being willing to continue
writing and working through these times when you think what you're
writing is truly bad is one of the keys to finishing the first draft
to your novel.

While these certainly aren't the only steps to successfully completing
the first draft of your novel, I've found them to be the key steps. I
encourage you to add others as you find them, as I'm sure you will. In
the end it is only you who can choose which steps work best for you.
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o FEATURED BOOK REVIEW: Insight by Valerie CJ McGee
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Insight is a thrill-a-minute, ride by the seat of your pants story,
and one I couldn't put down until I'd read the last page and knew the
final conclusion! The portrayal of Samantha, a blind woman and her
psychic connection with Rachael whom she has never met was at times
terrifying, and others heartwarming.

I especially loved the way the connection was brought out through the
use of dreams, and how they each were able to experience the other's
life in this fashion. It was believable in a way that helped the
reader understand that such things might be possible in real life.

All the characters in this novel were real and down-to-earth, and all
had a voice, even Dex, Samantha's seeing eye dog. I really liked this
as many authors are not able to juggle multiple characters and
personalities with the kind of finesse that Ms. McGee does. In
addition to being believable, another characteristic of Ms. McGee's
characters are that they are very human, as the reader you are able to
see both the good and the bad in all the characters even the ones we
might see as being really "bad."

I would classify this novel as a Romantic Suspense with a dash of
mystery thrown in. All in all it was an extremely enjoyable read and I
would recommend it to anyone who likes unusual stories that have a
paranormal twist. Ms. McGee made me believe this story was possible in
real life.

Do you have a review you'd like to submit for the next issue? Send it
to me at tiwatz@yahoo.com two weeks before the first week of every
other month to be included in the next issue.
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o Thank you to Subscribers
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Thank you so much for subscribing to Regina's Universe! That means a
lot to me, and for those of you who signed up recently, I hope you
enjoyed your free e-books. Please feel free to pass this newsletter
along to anyone you feel might be interested. The only thing I ask is
that you pass it along in its entirety rather than just pieces of it.
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o Advertisement
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Ancient traditions, love, secrets, and betrayal-DESTINY'S CHOICES
DESTINY'S CHOICES by Regina Paul is a fast paced romantic suspense!
The author creates a tale of young love lost and found again,
traditions older than time, and the true test of keeping a family
secret at a high cost with great ease.

Secrets are something Tiana Slickpoo knows all about for she is the
holder of a great secret, one she is unable to share with any save a
few within her tribe. When sacred tribal objects, and artwork begin
disappearing from the tribal museum, and Tiana's gallery, she thinks
she knows what the thieves might be looking for. The "indian
grapevine" soon brings her word that James Waters is home and going to
be investigating the thefts. James is the one person in the universe
she does not want to see. Still bitter over their break up six years
before, she wants nothing to do with him. However, the tribe, and the
Spirits have other ideas.

See http://www.reginapaul.bravehost.com/Specials.html or
http://www.reginanpaul.bravehost.com/DC.html to find out how to get
your copy!
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o Advertisement
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Forbidden love, danger, and an eons old conspiracy-GETTING OUT ALIVE

GETTING OUT ALIVE by Regina Paul is a fast paced,
fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants science fiction romance. The author
weaves a tale of other worlds, theories about the alien abduction
phenomena, the consequences of bigotry, and the beauty of love that
overcomes all obstacles with great success.

Secrets...everyone has them, but Angel Whitedove alien abductee and
researcher is about to discover one she hadn't bargained for involving
her missing father, and the special work she does.

Darek of Laren has one mission: retrieve the outlaw Laaen and return
him to his home planet for trial. Only he doesn't find Laaen as
expected, but Laaen's daughter Angel, and an ancient evil the people
of Laren thought had long since gone extinct.

Forbidden love, danger, and an eons old conspiracy follow these two as
they race to save themselves, humanity, and their worlds!

http://www.lulu.com/reginapaul to order! Or if you would like to save
money, go to http://www.reginapaul.bravehost.com/GOA.html and purchase
the e-book for $4.00 directly from the author, that's $1.00 off of the
publisher's price!
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o Advertisement
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Check out Karen's Korner a wonderful newsletter chock full of news
about her novels, and the writer's life by fellow author Karen Magill!
You can join by going to Karen's website http://www.karenmagill.com
and signing up to be on her mailing list. It's that easy!
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o Copyright Information
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Copyright 2006 by Regina Paul, All Rights Reserved.
Visit us online at:
http://www.reginapaul.bravehost.com/ReginasUniverse.html
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o Subscription Info
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To subscribe to my free Regina's Universe Newsletter,
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