The Pen Factor Reviewer of the Month: Andrea Peck

The Transformation of Seth Riley - Andrea Peck
April 2016

The Pen Factor is delighted to announce our first official Reviewer of the Month, Californian-based writer, Andrea Peck. Andrea joined The Pen Factor in November last year and came to our attention through her beautifully crafted, considerate and well-balanced review. Andrea is a fan of the ‘hamburger method’ - one suggestion wedged between two positive feedback buns.
“When writing a review … I like to point out aspects of the story that I find compelling. Everyone grows from constructive criticism, but it cannot be overwhelming.”

In terms of receiving feedback on her own work, Andrea favours specific suggestions that focus on a particular aspect of her writing, right down to the organization of a sentence or even the choice of word. “Feedback that does not include suggestions for improvement in a specific area makes me wonder if the person doing the critique is holding back”. Andrea is delighted with the thorough feedback she has received via The Pen Factor.

“I love the whole idea of The Pen Factor—the notion that we can all work and struggle together and, at the same time, support each other.”

It has been reassuring to Andrea to know that her writing is understandable and accessible to readers. Andrea’s powerful coming of age story, The Transformation of Seth Riley, is subtly moving and has been well received by other writers at The Pen Factor. It was inspired by her husband, a fisherman - “I feel that fishermen in general are very interesting people. They are not of this world.” Predominantly a non-fiction writer, Andrea hopes to continue to branch out into broader non-fiction markets and gradually delve into fiction. She already has a novel and a children’s book in the works. We can’t wait to read more from this
great writer and reviewer. Keep up the good work Andrea!

Read The Transformation of Seth Riley here.

The Pen Factor Writer of the Month: Rosie Ortega

Searching - Rosie Ortega
April 2016

Our Feature Writer for April is aspiring novelist, Rosie Ortega, with her action/adventure first chapter submission, Searching. Originally from Southern California, Rosie now lives in Northern Utah near Salt Lake City. Searching is an exciting, fast-paced opening to the book that Rosie plans to turn into a series. She has been working and reworking this story since she was 10 years old and this is the first time it has been placed in the spotlight.

Like most of our writers, Rosie’s favourite part about The Pen Factor is the feedback. “I always love getting an outside opinion on my writings … I have always felt that people who knew me well would be afraid to give honest feedback so as not to hurt my feelings."

Rosie also enjoys reading the stories of other writers and finds it interesting to see the different techniques used. Rosie hopes that her writing can make people feel something new and different and evoke deep thought.

Read Searching here.

December 2015 Winner Announced - Nancy Bachana

Congratulations to Nancy Bachana for her winning story, Twenty-Three Hundred!

The Pen Factor HQ in The Apple Isle spent the morning organising a Skype call to the Big Apple where our winner, Nancy Bachana, lives with her husband and children. Nancy kindly spent time talking to us about the inspiration behind her story and her writing dreams.
It wasn't long before we opened some champagne and announced her as our competition winner. The final decision was made by our guest judge, prize-winning crime author, Susan Moody. View this morning's surprise announcement on YouTube. Don't forget you can keep up with all The Pen Factor news and announcements by liking our page on Facebook!)

Well done, Nancy!

Read our article about Nancy and her short story as our December Writer of the Month.

Finalists Announced for December 2015 Competition

The Pen Factor team, headed up by guest judge, Susan Moody, is delighted to announce our five finalists for the December 2015 Competition.

Congratulations to:
- Mark Hildebrandt (Redlih B. Kram) - The Warrior King
- Rachel Bryan - The Unlikely Serial Killer
- Nancy Bachana - Twenty-Three Hundred
- Stephanie Allwright - The Karma Chronicles
- Alex Ambrozic - Homecoming (a Translation)

We wish all our finalists the best of luck as Susan makes her final decision in the coming weeks.

Special mention to the following writers who narrowly missed out on becoming finalists:
- Mary Rogan - After Vince
- Rosie O - Searching
- Travis Kennedy - The Devil's Room 
- Kirsten Leggett - Horatio 

Keep the dream alive. Keep writing!

Guest Judge for December 2015 Competition - Susan Moody

The Pen Factor judging team is delighted to welcome crime novelist Susan Moody as its 2015 December Competition guest judge. Susan was born and brought up in Oxford and has been a professional writer for nearly 30 years. She has published 34 crime and suspense novels, including the Penny Wanawake series and the Cassandra Swann series. She has also written many stand-alone novels, among them Losing Nicola andA Final Reckoning. The Colour of Hope was an international best-seller and sold in 20 different countries. Her novelization of the Gold Blend coffee ads, Love Over Gold, reached the Sunday Times best-seller lists.

She is a former Chairman of the Crime Writer's Association, served as World President of the International Association of Crime Writers, and was elected to the prestigious Detection Club. Susan Moody spent two years as Creative Writing Tutor at Bedford Prison and is a past Writer-in-Residence at the Universities of Tasmania and Copenhagen. Susan is married to the Australian mathematician, Professor John Donaldson, and divides her time between England and France.

Her latest novel, Quick and the Dead, the first in a brand-new mystery series is out on the 29th January 2016.

Quick and the Dead, a contemporary British mystery by Susan Moody

The Pen Factor Writer of the Month: Nancy Bachana

Twenty-Three Hundred - Nancy Bachana
December 2015

Our current feature story is the grittily realistic tale of a young girl’s experience while interning at the downtown sheriff’s office. Danielle, a well-intended but inexperienced sixteen year-old, finds herself way out of her depth on the wrong side of town. Through her probing, restless narrative, Nancy Bachana takes us deep into her character’s lives, leaving the reader with an uneasy sense of pity and foreboding.

Nancy started writing fiction in 2009, as a creative outlet from a creatively stifling job. Originally from North Florida, Nancy now lives in New York City with her family. The inspiration for Twenty Three Hundred came from a real-life interaction with a co-worker at McDonalds, when Nancy worked there during high school. When Nancy announced her intentions to go to college the following year, her co-worker’s rueful response was “I envy you”; a quote used to great effect in Nancy’s short story.

Nancy found out about The Pen Factor while searching for writing contests online. She was interested in the competitive aspect of the writer’s forum – “critiques can be more honest when they are anonymous and competitive … less likely to go soft on fellow writers”. Nancy found the 1,500 word limit incredibly helpful for her writing, resulting in more polished, stronger stories.

“Crafting my submissions for The Pen Factor has given me a new approach to writing – if I can't craft each scene to be as strong and necessary as a gripping short story, cut it!"

At the moment, Nancy is revising her young adult novel. She dreams of being a published writer who can inspire girls and young women to “take action, explore and accomplish things they can be proud of and not get side-lined by boys or sexy vampires!”. Nancy would be ecstatic to write ‘good reads’ that readers will treasure and share long after they’ve been read.

Read Nancy's short story here: Twenty-Three Hundred.

The Pen Factor Interviews: K. M. Zahrt

Ken Zahrt has seized the reigns of his burgeoning writing career. Since becoming a serious writer ten years ago, Ken has self-published two books (Thanksgiving with Pop-Pop (October 2013) and Odd Man Outlaw (February 2014)) and is poised to release his third, a mystery novel with a literary twist. In June 2015, his short story, Pink Panties, Chocolate Pudding, and a Proposal, was The Pen Factor Runner-up. Guest-judge and award-winning writer Nicholas Shakespeare described it as “well written and fresh”.

Ken’s mystery-thriller novel, Odd Man Outlaw, wades through an increasingly murky trail of evidence surrounding the arrest of security guard, Edward Waters, suspected of aiding and abetting a known fugitive. Ken wrote the entire first draft by hand in composition notebooks on a flight to China in August 2007. The story was inspired by a job he took after college as a security guard at a nursing home. “There was a boiler room at the nursing home where homeless people would try to hide for warmth and shelter in the winter time. The story was built out of that place and evolved over time.”

Odd Man Outlaw by K. M. Zahrt

Ken values the feedback he received from submitting to The Pen Factor. “The Pen Factor is unique. I've never come across anything like it. It's really beneficial to get good feedback to know how your work is resonating with readers. When you send out work anywhere, rejections are inevitable, but there's no way to tell if there's something wrong with your story or if it simply doesn't fit what editors are looking for at that particular moment. The Pen Factor gives you a chance to get some honest feedback in a low-risk environment.”
Ken found his passion for writing via studying film and video at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. In 2006 he won the Department of English's Oldenburg Writing Contest for one of his first scripts and has been hooked ever since. Ken likens writing to a game of golf: “You can play the same course over and over, but the journey and the outcome of each round is different ... That's what's so engaging and challenging about it. The next round might just be the round of a lifetime.”


K. M. Zahrt reads from his book, Odd Man Outlaw

You can buy Ken's book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615958125/
Website: http://www.kmzahrt.info/