Extraordinary
Women

  • Diana Gabaldon

     

    Brilliant author of the historical sci-fi adventure, Outlander books, novellas, and graphic novels. Herself, as fans call her, creates strong, loving, companionate female characters that span time.

  • Katherine Johnson. Dorothy Vaughan.        Mary Jackson.

    These brilliant African-American women worked as mathematicians and aerospace engineers at NASA and were referred to as human computers. Their work was instrumental in the successful launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit.  

  • Rose Antonia Maria Valland

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    Rose Antonia Maria Valland (1 November 1898 – 18 September 1980) was a French art historian, a member of the French Resistance, a captain in the French military, and one of the most decorated women in French history. She secretly recorded details of the Nazi plundering of National French and private Jewish-owned art from France.

  • Hedy Lamarr

     

    Beautiful and talented actress. Brilliant inventor. She may not have literally invented WiFi, she did invent an important precursor. In collaboration with George Antheil, Lamarr patented a frequency-hopping mechanism designed to keep Nazis from intercepting Allied transmissions during World War II. Not only is it impenetrable from a security perspective, it is the foundation used to develop Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

  • Margaret Atwood

    A Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayists, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. She has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 non-fiction books, 9 collections of short fiction, 8 children’s books, and 2 graphic novels.  A number of her works have been adapted for film and television.

  • Rear Admiral Sandra Stosz

    Rear Admiral Sandra Stosz

    Rear Adm. Sandra Stosz became the first female superintendent at any of the U.S. service academies. A 1982 Coast Guard Academy graduate and a surface operations officer with 12 years of sea duty, Admiral Stosz has plotted a course that includes many firsts for women in the military. Her performance in previous assignments as commanding officer for recruit training at Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, N.J., the Director of Reserve and Leadership, and the commanding officer of two cutters, has demonstrated a commitment to building a diverse workforce.

  • Nancy Grace Augusta Wake

    Nancy Wake

    Nancy Grace Augusta Wake (August 30, 1912 – August 07, 2011), also known as the “White Mouse”, was one of the most decorated secret agents of the Second World War. By war’s end in Europe she had become famed as a resourceful, dauntless Resistance leader, who topped the Gestapo’s most-wanted list and had saved hundreds of Allied lives. She parachuted behind enemy lines, dodged bullets many times, rode a bicycle 250 miles to alert the French resistance to the Normandy invasion, was involved in ambushing German convoys and destroying bridges and railway lines.

  • Temple Grandin

    Temple Grandin

    Temple Grandin (born August 27, 1947) is an American doctor of Animal Science and professor at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to the livestock industry in animal behavior. As a person with high-functioning autism, Grandin is also widely noted for her work in autism advocacy and is the inventor of the hug machine designed to calm hypersensitive persons.

  • Bessie Coleman

    Bessie Coleman

    Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926) was an American civil aviator. She was the first female pilot of African American descent and the first person of African American descent to hold an international pilot license.

  • Erma Bombeck

     

    Mrs. Bombeck was thirteen when she wrote her first newspaper column. Her syndicated column, “At Wit’s End,” was directed to the lonely plight of stay-at-home mothers and appeared in more than 900 newspapers. She spent twenty-seven years writing 4,500 columns and 12 books that touched the lives of an international audience of women, men and children. She was still writing her column and developing a new book when she died from complications of a kidney transplant in 1996.

  • Sally Ride

    Sally Ride

    Dr. Sally Kristen Ride (May 26, 1951 – July 23, 2012) from Los Angeles, California, was an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. She studied at Portola Middle School, Westlake School for Girls, Swarthmore College and Stanford University, and earned a master’s degree and PhD. Ride joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983, became the first American woman, and then-youngest American, to enter space. In 1987 she left NASA to work at Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control.

  • Carol Mutter

    Carol Mutter

    Carol A. Mutter (born December 17, 1945) is a retired United States Marine Corps lieutenant general. She is the first woman in the history of the United States Armed Forces to be appointed to a three-star grade. She retired from the Marine Corps on January 1, 1999. Her last active duty assignment was as Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower and Reserve Affairs (DC/S, M&RA) at Marine Corps Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

  • Betty Reid Soskin

    Betty Reid Soskin, the country’s oldest active ranger in the National Park Service, turned 100 years old Wednesday, September 21, 2021.  She’s a published author, a songwriter-activist, a businesswoman and now serves in the National Park service as the country’s oldest ranger.

    The century-old ranger leads tours and public programs, sharing her experiences and observations at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond California. In celebration of her milestone birthday the National Park Service created a special limited-edition ink stamp in her honor.

  •  Carol Burnett

     

    A comedian with a decades-long career. Her own beloved comedy TV show, a number of feature films and on Broadway. A published author and known to help young comedians starting out. She has been the recipient of numerous honors. American Comedy Awards, Emmy and Golden Globe awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Kennedy Center Honors, given to the creative minds who influence American culture with their art.

  • Antonia Novello

    Antonia Novello

    Dr. Antonia Coello Novello, M.D., (born August 23, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and public health administrator. She was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as fourteenth Surgeon General of the United States from 1990 to 1993. Novello is the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as Surgeon General.

  • Pvt. Minnie Spotted Wolf

    Minnie Spotted Wolf

    Private Minnie Spotted-Wolf (1923 – 1988) was the first Native American woman to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. She enlisted in the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve in July 1943.

  • Sergeant Kimberly Munley

    Sergeant Kimberly Munley a civilian Department of Defense police officer at Ft Hood credited with stopping the firing rampage of an Army Major within a few minutes after he launched his attack. Munley, a 35 year old petite mother of two, put her life at risk and drew the attention of shooter. She fired and took the man down. But not before she was shot three times. Munley is credited with preventing many more deaths.

  • Rosie the Riveter

    Rosie the Riveter

    Rosie the Riveter is a cultural and feminist icon of the United States, representing the American women who worked in factories during World War II, many of whom worked in the manufacturing plants that produced munitions and war supplies.

  • Wives of Police Officers, Firemen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines.

  • World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots

    World War II Women Service Pilots

    A few more than 1,100 young women, all civilian volunteers, flew military aircraft — including the B-26 and B-29 bombers — as part of the WASP program. They tested newly overhauled planes, towed targets to give ground and air gunners training shooting — with live ammunition. They ferried new planes from factories to military bases.  Most importantly their service freed a male pilot for combat duties.  The WASP expected to become part of the military during their service. Instead, the program was canceled after two years. Thirty-eight WASP members lost their lives and one, disappeared while on a ferry mission. In 1977, for their World War II service, the members were finally granted veteran status by Congress. Brave woman all.

     

  • SPAR Olivia Hooker: First African American Woman in the Coast Guard

    Olivia Hooker

    In February 1945, Olivia Hooker was sworn in by a Coast Guard officer, becoming the first African-American female admitted into the United States Coast Guard. Hooker joined the service to become a SPAR (Semper Paratus Always Ready), the acronym used for female service personnel during World War II. She remained in the Coast Guard until the war-time SPARs were disbanded by mid-1946. Dr. Hooker later earned a doctorate in psychology had a distinguished career as a professor.

  • Marjorie Harris Carr

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    (1915-1997) an American environmental activist. She is best known for leading the fight against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Cross Florida Barge Canal. Carr and her colleagues won a temporary injunction against construction of the canal in January 1971. Days later, President Richard Nixon halted construction of the canal.

 

 

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Industry Terms

Sometimes authors and those in publishing rattle off industry terms and acronyms forgetting not everyone knows what they mean, so I’ve listed a few. I’m sure I’ve left some out. Feel free to add, or ask about those not included in the comments.   

TYPES OF FICTION

Commercial Fiction- Fiction written in ‘plain’ language that focuses on plot and content rather than prose.  Commercial fiction, also called mainstream fiction, focuses on plot and character development and has a narrative structure.

Fan Fiction – fictional writing written in an amateur capacity as fans, unauthorized by, but based on an existing work of fiction.

Flash Fiction – A very short story.

Dystopian Fiction – Dystopian is the opposite of Utopia.  Dystopian Fiction focuses on a world that is completely different from what one would consider to be an ideal world.  It features a futuristic projection of a world (usually a government) that perceives itself as or is striving toward being a utopia, and the book/series is frequently about the unraveling of either that world view or the government itself.

Genre Fiction- A genre is a label that describes a particular kind of story.  Within commercial fiction, genres break the books down into smaller categories such as Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, and so on. Within a genre there are often sub-genres, or even narrower categories. For example, the Romance genre has sub-genres such as Paranormal Romance or Historical Romance.

Literary Fiction –Literary Fiction is considered to have ‘literary merit’ as opposed to wide commercial appeal.  Generally focused more on the writing style or ideology than the content.  Often the prose is admired for its lyrical quality.

Romantic Fiction – A type of genre fiction. A book that has a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

Steampunk – A genre that originated during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction. It involves a setting where steam power is widely used—whether in an alternative history such as Victorian era in Britain or the US Wild West, or in a post-apocalyptic time —that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy

 Women’s fiction- A commercial novel about a woman on the brink of life change and personal growth. Her journey details emotional reflection and action that transforms her and her relationships with others, and includes a hopeful/upbeat ending with regard to her romantic relationship.

Young Adult—Novels geared toward young adult readers.

New Adult—Aimed at readers in their early 20s

 

ACRONYMS

 ARC Advance Reader Copy dispersed by publishers and authors before the book is actually released

BCB – Back Cover Blurb

BIC- Butt In Chair

BICHOK — Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard

GMC —Goal, Motivation, Conflict

HEA – Happily Ever After

H&H — Hero and Heroine

IMO – In my opinion.

ISBN – International Standard Book Number

ITA – I totally agree

MS – Manuscript

NA – New Adult

POD – Print on Demand

POV – Point of View

ROI – Return on Investment

ROTFL – Roll on the floor laughing

ROTFLMAO – Roll on the floor laughing my a** off

RTF – Rich text format

RWA – Romance Writers of America

TSTL – Too Stupid to Live

w/a –  Writing as

WIP – Work in Progress

YA- Young adult

PUBLISHING TERMS 

Anthology- A book or other collection of selected writings by various authors, in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject. It can be a collection of selected writing by a single author.

Advance – Money the publisher pays when buying a book is an advance against royalties.

Auction-A literary agent sees there is more than one book publisher or editor interested in a book project, the agent holds an auction inviting publishers to bid on the book. A publisher may make pre-emptive persuading the agent to take the project out of auction

Backstory- Anything that happens before page one of the book.

Backlist- A list of older books that are still available from a publisher.

Black Moment – When it appears all is lost and the H&H will never get together.

Boiler Plate – A standard form contract.

Book Bible –  A tool used to keep track of what is going on in a series.

Blurb- A couple of paragraphs on the back cover that entice a reader to buy the book.

Character Arc – The internal journey a character take throughout the story.

Conflict- Everything that keeps the H&H from getting what they want 

  • External conflict – external events that get in a characters way of meeting the story goal
  • Internal conflict – Issues coming from within the character that prevent them from being emotionally complete

Copy Editor – Edits for typos, grammar, and consistency.

Copyright -A publisher is granted rights to publish, but it’s the author who holds copyright.

Critique – Read another’s manuscript and offer advice on grammar, punctuation, spelling, story structure

Dialogue – Discussion between characters used to move the story forward, reveal the past, develop character, illuminate theme, or define tone.

Dialogue Tag – Tells the reader who is speaking and how the speaker is saying it.

Digital Device- Anyone of a number of devices with a screen to read an electronic book. Kindle, Kobo, Nook, Sony have products allowing you to store books, magazines, newspapers, listen to music and audio books. Many smart phones can do the same.  

e-book – A book available to read on a digital device.

Full Manuscript request – Agent/Editor will ask to read a completed, edited and polished manuscript.   

Galley – Is the manuscript after it has been typeset.

Genre Fiction– Romance, mysteries, science fiction, Westerns, horror, and thriller novels written to entertain.

Goal – What your characters want to achieve in the story.

Head Hopping – Frequently switching POV from one character to another in a scene.

High Concept –A story that has a different twist, is universal, has an intense emotional pull and can be explained in a few words.

Hook – An unexpected end of a scene and chapter designed to keep the reader turning pages.

Inciting Incident- sets your story in motion once your foundation is solid. Is a life-altering event for the protagonists. It forces the protagonist to choose between their old world and an opportunity that will change them.

Indi Publishing or Self-publishing- The publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design (cover/interior), formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR.

Info Dump- A large chunk of narrative giving backstory information that slows the forward motion of the plot. 

Kindle Vella — A serialized reading platform, where readers can access stories released in short episodic on the Kindle Vella app.

Literary Agent- A publishing professional working with/for an author to sell books to a publishing house.

Literary Novel –Book written with a goal to enlighten

Manuscript – An unpublished book

Mass-Market Paperback– Mass-market books are designed to fit into the racks set near the checkout counter at supermarkets, drugstores, hospital gift shops and airport newsstands. They are priced affordably so they can be bought on impulse.

Mid-list Author- Authors who consistently publish good but not bestselling books.

Motivation – Why a protagonist wants something.     

Novel- A work of fictional narrative prose in the romance genre of at least 40,000 words as determined by computer word count.

Novella– A work of fiction of 20,000–40,000 words as determined by computer word.

Pacing – Speed of forward motion of the story.

Pantser- An author who does not plan/plot a story. 

Partial Manuscript request-An agent or editor, based on a query letter or pitch will request to see the first three chapters or fifty pages of the manuscript.

Pitch- Authors speaking with an editor/agent about the main characters and plot of their book. Elevator pitch is telling the story in a couple of sentences.

Plotter- An author who plans and plots an entire story and writes according to this plan.   

Plot points – Key scenes to the story line that add complications to the initial goal set by the protagonist.

Plot point one the moment something enters the story in a manner that affects the protagonist’s status, plans and beliefs, forcing them to take action in response, and from that point forward everything changes for them. This event occurs in the 20 to 25 percentile of the story.

 Plot point two – the final point where new information may enter the story.  Where the protagonist receives everything they need to bring the story to an end. This occurs around the 75 percentile of the story.

Point Of View –Which character is sharing internal thoughts are being shared and what tense is being used to tell the story.

Proposal- Sent to and editor by a published author to pitch a new book.  A big name author may receive a contract for a concept. Most will send a description of the proposed book, including an outline or sample chapters.

Protagonist – A story’s principal character, who changes and grows the most in the story, the one with whom the reader identifies with the most

Query letter – A professional one page email sent to an agent or editor showing who, what, and why the story is unique to hook them into reading the full manuscript.

Ragged Lay Down No this is not a description of a steamy sex scene — it’s a description of the way a book is released for sale to the public. It means that the book will be available before its actual publication date. This is a huge issue for big name authors, because to get on the New York Times or USA Today best-seller lists, you want most of your sales to come in a two-week period. So having books sell before the actual publication date, is not a good thing.

Royalty – A percentage paid on sale of each book, most often based on the books cover price, and generally paid quarterly.  Some publishers have semi-annual payments.

Scene – A unit of story structure

Small Press –A term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts. Small presses are also defined as those that publish an average of fewer than 10 titles per year, though there are a few who manage to do more.

Synopsis – A short overview of the main story plot points.  What the characters want, why they want it and what’s keeping them from getting it. (GMC)

Slush Pile – To be read manuscripts on an editor’s desk. Generally unsolicited, unagented, manuscripts.  

Tag-As in Amazon tags. A tag is a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find items on the Amazon site and provide an easy way for you to “remember” and classify items for later recall. You can add up to 15 tags per item.

Tagline – A sentence that tells your story. The fewer words the better.  

Tense – The authors chooses to tell the story.

  • First person
  • Second person
  • Third person
  • Deep third person
  • Editorial omnipotent
  • Limited omniscient

Three Act Story Structure – Simplified definition.

  • Act 1—Setup
  • Act 2—Confrontation and response
  • Act 3—Resolution

Act 1— Setup.

Act 2 —Confrontation and response. 

Act 3 —Resolution.  

Trade Paperback– Are generally printed on more expensive paper and with sturdier binding. Are higher in price and often (not always) printed in smaller numbers trade paperbacks are sold in bookstores (“to the trade”) and are shelved with their spines facing out.

Troll- For our purpose not the critters who live under a bridge. Troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse. Trolls post inflammatory, messages in an online community, such as a forum, review, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking an emotional response.

Universal theme – Touches something primal in all of us and pulls us deeply into a story.

Unsolicited Manuscript – A complete manuscript sent to an agent or editor without a request.  

Voice – How an emotional connection is made with the reader. Showing the reader life thorough the authors eyes

 STORY WORD COUNT

NOVEL                   OVER 40,000 words

NOVELLA             17,500-40,000 words

NOVELETTE        7,500-17,500 words

SHORT STORY    under 7,500 words

MAJOR PUBLISHING HOUSES

Penguin Random House 

Macmillan 

Hachette Book Group

HarperCollins 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

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