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The Writer's Connection, SM
a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach SM
In This Issue:
1. Preview
2. Publisher's Note
3. Success for an Author
4. Getting into Action
1. Preview
The Writer's Connection explores the creative process of writing and the interplay between thoughts, feelings, and actions. We are an interactive community of authors and readers who share ideas to enhance our knowledge, skills, and experiences in writing fiction in any genre, but our emphasis remains mystery and suspense thrillers.
Published monthly, the Newsletter offers writing tips for authors, coaching suggestions, editing, and marketing information.
Topics are presented from the perspective of Keith Barton and represent only his ideas on producing your first manuscript, and are provided to the general public. Because we are an interactive community of writers, other viewpoints are welcomed and may be printed in future monthly newsletters with permission from Keith Barton.
2. Publisher's Note
April, 2005
Dear Writer's Connection Subscriber,
This month features information about coaching my first writing student and his successful publication of his novel.
3. Success for an Author
I want to use this month’s column to brag a little on my colleague and friend, Dr. Randy Birken, a respected gynecologist and surgeon in Houston, who took a Masters Degree in Literature while practicing as a physician in Houston. Randy was my first coaching client and he wanted to write a chronology of events from his medical practice using selected vignettes of composite patients he has seen over the years. With Dr. Birken’s permission I would like to concentrate on our coaching process. Randy is a voracious reader and writer of short stories. He is a keen student of American and English literature and a reader of the classics. He once thought of being an English major before becoming a physician and loves classical free verse poetry. He was board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Baylor College of Medicine while serving as chief resident in 1980. In 1989, he completed a preceptorship in uro-gynecology at the University of California at Irnvine and since then has devoted his medical practice in gynecologic surgery and uro-gynecology. In 1997, Dr. Birken enrolled as a graduate student at Houston Baptist University and completed his Master of Arts in literature in 2000. He has had numerous medical publications in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ob-Gyn News, and the Journal of Reproductive Medicine. He has a published short story in “Internal Milieu” of the Archives of Internal Medicine, and a poem , “In a Candle’s Flame,” in a collection of poetry, The Wounded Heart. His accomplishments, while impressive, do not begin to describe his enthusiasm for the written word. He is an excellent storyteller and his keen sense of human behavior adds realism and visual imagery to his writing.
Randy approached me about helping him to author and publish a book he was considering for doctors, medical students, women, and the general reading public. We began with a structure that takes a woman through her lifecycle of giving birth, becoming pregnant and giving birth, being a parent, menopause and aging. The ten short stories follows women through this lifecycle and engage the reader in a visceral, but compassionate mix of stories that enlighten the reader about medical education that reveals the human side of medicine and the renewed belief in the art of medicine.
Dr. Birken and I worked twice monthly for an hour for over a year to prepare his manuscript, A Harvard Death, of over 250 pages that informs and engages the reader in the complexities of medical education and training, while transcending the human dimension of what medical students endure in their eight years of training to become physicians. Our work together was enjoyable and rewarding, emailing chapters and critiques weekly, finding a suitable agent in Pat Poland for his book, and finally landing a contract with Blue Dolphin Press publishing company in California. The book will cover such issues as: a student’s first day of medical school and how her father’ death influenced her decision to become a physician; a homosexual black student who discovers a common bond with an old Jewish man who is dying; a mother’s death that brings a renewed closeness to a once strained relationship between a medical student and his physician father; a surgical intern who is haunted by the unknown whereabouts of a despondent colleague, and the issues of right to die, that we’ve followed recently in the papers and captured the attention of a nation.
I want to say that writing a book is no easy task and it takes discipline, dedication, and decisiveness to deliver a manuscript of the right agent who will find the right publisher for your audience. Coaching Dr. Birken was indeed my treat and he will be an author of many exciting books in the future. Dr. Birken is currently at work polishing his latest manuscript about a female medical student who must endure her training while raising a daughter from a previously broken relationship. This is a mystery novel using the protagonist’s medical training as a backdrop with plot twists that are sure to engage the reader in a life and death drama that threatens the Kate and her young daughter.
Dr. Birken’s website is www.gynfo.com and he can be reached at rbirken@houston.rr.com.
4. Getting into Action
"Getting in to Action" is a monthly feature of The Writer's Connection. In this section of our Newsletter, we will discuss action steps the writer can take to improved his/her knowledge base in writing novels.
This month's recommendations:
1. Get yourself a writing coach if you're interested in perfecting your writing and want to be published.
2. Check out successful author's acknowledgment pages and see whom they give credit. Oftentimes you will find an agent, writing coach, editor, researcher.
3. There are many writing courses you can take; look in the latest issue of Writer's Digest.
Subscription Information:
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Contact Information
Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Voice: 281-893-1735
Fax: 281.893.1145
Web: http://www.virtualwritingcoach.com
E-Mail: keith_barton@att.net
(c) Copyright 2010 A. Keith Barton, Ph.D.
All rights reserved.
Distribution Rights
The Writer's Connection SM is copyrighted, but you may retransmit or distribute
it to whomever you wish as long as not a single word is changed, added, or deleted, including the contact information. However, you may not copy it to a web site.
Republication of The Writer's Connection SM in paper media is encouraged and permitted by individuals, organizations and associations, as long as the issue is reprinted in its entirety, without change, and includes the contact information.
With advance permission, we are happy to edit an issue to fit your space requirements. Republication also is encouraged under other circumstances. However, the advance permission of A. Keith Barton, Ph.D. must be obtained in the event that changes in the text are desired.
The Writer's Connection SM Mission:
The Writer's Connection SM is dedicated to helping first-time authors create their first manuscript for publication and to offer an exchange of ideas and opinions from our readers who might be interested in becoming authors.
The Writer's Connection™ is a publication of The Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton, Ph.D. and a registered trademark.
We would like The Writer's Connection SM to be as interactive as possible. If you have feedback, comments, topics you would like addressed, or can suggest additional resources to benefit us all, please email us at any time. Send your e-mail to keith_barton@att.net.
Please forward this issue to anyone you think would find The Writer's Connection SM interesting and beneficial. Your recommendation helps us keep growing, and ensures an excellent exchange of information and techniques.
Archives
You can read previous issues of The Writer's Connection SM in our archive section.
About Keith Barton, Ph.D.
Dr. Barton received his Ph.D. in 1972 from the University of Texas at Austin and has been a practicing therapist for over thirty years. He is currently enrolled in MentorCoach and is accepting new clients. He has been an adjunct professor at the University of South Carolina, consultant to Fortune 500 companies in executive development, founded and managed Texas Community Living Ventures, Inc., in 1986 for providing group home services to persons with mental retardation, and has been running a clinical practice in Northwest Houston since 1990. He writes part-time with the goal of completing one novel a year. His desire to coach others derives from his passionate interest in helping others become attuned to their creative powers of storytelling.
Dr. Barton has training in coaching, cognitive and family therapy and health psychology. He has published articles, made presentations and conducted workshops about:
Anxiety and achievement
Stress management
Self-esteem
Communication skills
Marital/relationship enrichment
Wellness issues
The relationship between psychology and spirituality
Copyright by Virtual Writing Coach and Keith Barton, 2001-2010
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