"Fellow writer, Kristina Schram has suggested a very useful website, www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/pealc.htm. This site is designed to help writers weed out the bad agents, agencies, and publishers. After all our hard work, we want to be certain to place our manuscripts in the hands of reputable individuals. Thanks for the great info, Kristina!"

Recently this blip showed up in the Seacoast Writer's Association winter newsletter.  While it's always nice to get your name in the paper, I didn't include this here as press for me, but as press for the Seacoast Writer's Association.  If you live in the NH Seacoast or surrounding areas (I've met people from Massachusetts who come to the workshops), think about signing up as a member of SWA.  It's a great association with fun people and excellent writer's workshops put on twice a year.  They also issue a newsletter on a fairly regular basis.  Young or old, short or tall, if you are a writer or want to be one, sign yourself up!

Here's an interview that I did on the great site, the 5 Randoms, "a site for readers, writers, and lovers of teen and YA books."  Thanks guys!

This week, The 5 Randoms interview Kristina Schram, author of The Chronicles of Anaedor, which is about a fifteen-year-old girl who finds a secret passage into the hidden world of Anaedor. Two interesting tidbits about Kristina? One: She plans for this to be a four-book series. Two: She was born in her parents’ bathroom. It’s up to you to figure out how the two go hand-in-hand.

1) How many stop-and-go stories did you go through before you finished your first manuscript? Or were you one of the lucky few who banged out your first book without any false starts along the way?

I actually wrote four other complete books before I published my first one (which would be my fifth book and which involved many, many reworks).  So, obviously I’ve had a lot of false starts and finishes along the way.  Those four books are now gathering dust somewhere in my house.  Maybe someday I’ll pull them out and use them for scrap paper, maybe I’ll rework them.  Who knows?  They’ve got a lot of problems.  At any rate, I don’t think I’ve ever been successful at anything on my first, fifth, even twelfth attempt.  I am a slow starter.  But, like the train, I gather momentum, picking up speed until I’m wildly out of control, yet still making forward progress.

2) What’s the best/easiest part of the writing process for you?

Probably telling the story.  I’m not saying I’m great at it, but it’s the easiest thing for me to do, plus I like making things up.  I would have made a good liar or politician.

3) What’s the worst/hardest part of the writing process for you?

I’m not the best writer, skill-wise, so I have to work my butt off on the tough stuff, like grammar and sentence construction.  My description needs work and character development can be a challenge.  Luckily, I’m a pretty good speller, otherwise I think I would’ve given up writing a while ago.  But then again, maybe not.  I’m kind of a masochist.

4) What are some of the biggest obstacles that keep you from doing as much writing as you’d like to do? How do you overcome them?

I have 3 major obstacles…my kids (three boys).  Oh, that and everyday life.  Carving out time is always the hardest part for me, but writing is important to me and I love it, so if I have to ignore my childrens’ needs sometimes or if I have to give up watching an episode of Ghost Hunters, I do it.  It’s all about sacrifices.  What has helped me overcome these obstacles is to treat writing as a priority, a necessity.  If I were getting paid for doing this (which I kind of do), then I need to put in the hours.  So, basically, I treat my writing like a job, without the perks, vacation time, or the gossip.

5) What’s your typical writing day like?

My typical writing day involves cramming in at least a couple hours a day for work.  I spend some time editing, some time writing new material and some time doing administrative stuff (like blogs, marketing, etc.).  Someday I hope to have my own person and/or robot to do the admin. stuff so that I can spend more time on the creative part, which is much more fun.  I’d also like a cook and a house cleaner.  I’d rather write than clean.  That’s my motto.  But since I don’t have a staff, I have to do it myself.  Life can be hard sometimes.

Be sure to check the 5 Randoms out!

Scott Baker/Democrat photo Writers and publishers showed up on Saturday at the Lilac Mall during the 2nd Annual Rochester Writer's Festival. Pictured from left to right are Jeremy Robinson, Stanley Tremblay and Kristina Schram.

ROCHESTER — Area authors had the opportunity to meet one another and mingle, while showcasing their work for patrons at the second annual Rochester Writers Festival, sponsored by Waldenbooks in the Lilac Mall Saturday afternoon.

About 16 authors from the Rochester-Dover area turned out for the event, more than doubling last year's total of seven, Waldenbooks Manager Denise Carter said. Carter said she worked closely with mall management and Barrington author, Layne Case, to organize the event.

"It's an opportunity for them to meet the local authors," said Carter. She explained part of the goal was for authors to answer questions people may have about becoming self-published. "There are a lot of great ideas in this room."

Langeler has a new series of books coming out soon called "Let's Make Faces," which is designed to help autistic children to recognize facial expressions and how to properly respond to them. Case and Langeler will be marketing their books together in an effort to help autistic children and families with autistic children.

"This is a real tool for caregivers of autistic children," said Langeler. The first in the series of five books will be out in about two weeks.

Case, one of the authors attending the festival for the second year, shared her thoughts on the event and expressed thanks to Waldenbooks for their sponsorship.

"This is wonderful. This is great," Case said. "She (Carter) is really trying to promote literacy. She is a real advocate for literacy enrichment."

Scott Baker/Democrat photo Janice A. Johnston, RD promoted her latest book during the 2nd Annual Rochester Writer's Festival on Saturday at the Lilac Mall.

Case, 53, teamed with Jerry Langeler of Dover for some storytelling during the event. Case shared her tale of "Charlie," a book about a dog with a 3-foot tail who gets in trouble around the house for knocking into things, and then runs away to a big city. "Charlie," written for children 34 years ago, and Case, who is also the owner of AMITY Publications, used posters and illustrations to share the story.

Robinson describes his books as "Indiana Jones with monsters." Since first becoming self-published in 2005, he has released three books, including a new one titled "Anarktos Rising."

"(The festival) is really a way to meet people, and give the local fans a chance to come out. I think if we keep doing this it will become a big thing," he said.

Rebecca Rule, 53, of Northwood has been a writer for 30 years and a storyteller for 10, and was enjoying her first go-round at the festival.

"This is the first year I found out about it," said Rule. "I think it's a wonderful thing."

Scott Baker/Democrat photo Stanley Tremblay, Assistant Publisher at Variance Publishing talks with visitors to the 2nd Annual Rochester Writer's Festival at the Lilac Mall on Saturday.

Jeremy Robinson, 33, of Barrington has six book deals on the horizon, three with two different publishers, as well as a movie deal. He plans to write six books over the next three years, and an anime movie, which is being made in Singapore and China by "Upside Down Animation," is scheduled for a 2010 release.

Scott Baker/Democrat photo Layne Case, author/owner of Amity Publications, reads to several children who showed up for storytelling at the second annual Rochester Writer's Festival on Saturday at the Lilac Mall.

I have done my first guest blog on a book reviewer website called, The Page Flipper.  I christened it a blogshop because it's a blog workshop, get it?  I'm hoping for once that I'm being original.  Anyway, Chelsea's site is great.  Check it out!

Click here to see the blogshop!

The Chronicles of Anaedor

Kristina Schram

 The Chronicles of Anaedor: The Prophecies by local author Kristina Schram is written for ages ten and up but seems to be attracting adult readers as well. Sharing some of the elements of the Chronicles of Narnia and the Harry Potter series, wherein a child ends up in a strange location and faces a new and mysterious world, the three stories follow 15-year-old Lavida’s role in the prophecy.

  In “The Girl Above” Lavida is sent away to a mysterious famil estate she has never seen and stumbles across a secret passage to the hidden world of Anaedor.

  In “The World Below” she encounters mythical creatures, frightened humans and capture by the evil Malvado.

  In “The Prophecy Binds Them”, an ancient prophecy seems to provide salvation, but are the humans putting their hopes on the right savior?

The book is available at breakneckbooks.com as well as amazon.com. If you would like to purchase a copy locally and have it autographed by the author, drop by Beginning of Time at 938 1st New Hampshire Tpke in Northwood and they will arrange to make that happen, quickly.

Schram is available for workshops in local schools.

Schram's Book The                 Chronicles of Anaedor

A former valedictorian and Pequot Lakes basketball player, Kristina has been busy since she left the Lakes region, attending college at the University of Minnesota-Morris, where she majored in psychology and minored in Spanish. She went on to graduate school in Ohio where she obtained her doctorate in counseling psychology.

While Kristina does not practice psychology in an office, she still uses her education every day-for raising her three young boys and for her writing.

Kristina wanted to be a writer all her life and won the Minnesota High School Writer Scotty's Award when she was a senior in high school,  thanks to her English teacher, Rene Thaler, who submitted Kristina's work.