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/

The Pen Factor Writer of the Month: Rachel Bryan

The Unexpected Serial Killer - Rachel Bryan
November 2015

The Unlikely Serial Killer is a first-person narrative story that delves into the mind of a most unexpected murderer. Intriguing, witty and dark, Rachel Bryan's comedy-thriller is a compelling read from first line to last.

Rachel is based in the Columbia Gorge in Washington State. Strongly encouraged by her grandma, she has been writing fiction since she was 12. After an early encounter with a Stephen King novel ("I was too young to be reading those kinds of things..."), Rachel started delving into darker subject matter which gradually morphed into dark comedy as she matured. The inspiration for The Unlikely Serial Killer came from a lightbulb moment at Baja Fresh when Rachel knocked over a stack of salsa containers she had filled up.

"A lightbulb went off and my first sentence just played out in my head and the story wrote itself from there". The entire story was subsequently finished in under six hours!
Prior to submitting The Unlikely Serial Killer to The Pen Factor, Rachel had never shared her writing with anyone other than her grandma and friends. After receiving such great responses from fellow writers at The Pen Factor, Rachel gained the courage to apply for a freelance job and now writes sports articles for the local newspaper.

"That's what appealed to me so much about The Pen Factor - the feedback. I am always wanting to grow more as a writer and you can't do that without good feedback."

Rachel has started a writing group in her area in an effort to create a writing community. Her writing dream is to eventually publish a book and help others get published as well. 

Read Rachel's story here!

The Pen Factor Interviews: Deep Roy

The Hollywood star kindly granted me an interview, in which he shed some light on his acting career, books and writing in the movies.

Deep: When Tim Burton asked me to do Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, he said to me “I’m looking for you to play the Oompa-Loompas and joining Jonny Depp to play Willy Wonka” – so I agreed – four Oompa-Loompas turned out to be 165! I played each one individually – definitely my most technically challenging role to date.

Clarissa: Were you a Roald Dahl fan before you got the part in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Deep: Yes, I was a Roald Dahl fan. Loads of his books have been made into successful films. I think he was an amazing children’s writer … as was Dr. Seuss. They did Cat in the Hat and The Grinch – which I worked on. All these writers and authors are talented people. They have a vision, which they put on paper – and sometimes these visions are turned into movies.

Clarissa: Do you have any favourite books?

Deep: My all-time favourite book is Get Shorty by Elmore Leonard, which was made into a successful feature movie produced by Danny DeVito. I’m also a great fan of John Grisham and James Patterson.

Clarissa: You’ve worked with the biggest names in Hollywood as well as the biggest studios. Have there been any film producers or directors that you’ve particularly enjoyed working with during your career?

Deep: I think I’ve enjoyed working with each and every one of them. They are all talented writers and directors, like J. J. Abrams, who did Star Trek. I’ve worked twice with him and I’m going to be doing another Star Trek with him next year … he’s a prolific writer himself and a science fiction buff who’s revamped the Star Trek movies … and now also Star Wars.  He’s a joy and a gentleman to work with, and so is Tim Burton. I’ve done four movies with Tim. What an incredible talent and vision he has. Not only does he do feature films, but he also does animation! Then there’s Wolfgang Petersen, I’ve worked twice with him – and last but not least Michael Bay, who directed Transformers II – another prolific director and writer.

Clarissa: What was it like working on the early Star Wars movies with George Lucas?

Deep: You know, it was amazing to portray Yoda, an Ewok, Droopy McCool and R2-D2 – even though I didn’t get the credit! [we laugh]

Clarissa: What would you say to anybody who wants to pursue their dream and reach for the stars?

Deep: … if I can do it, anyone can do it. If you’ve got the passion and the desire, you’ll get there. With hard work and a bit of luck, anybody can do anything!

Top Minds Read Top Books: Clarissa Dickson Wright

The late TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright once told me that I had a great name. Likewise. 
Her all-time favourite writer was H. H. Munro.










The Complete Works of Saki – H. H. Munro 

"When my drinking was at its heaviest I carried a copy of The Complete Works Of Saki with me. It seemed fitting somehow."

Top Minds Read Top Books: Peter James (part 2/2)

@PeterJamesUK

Once again, The Pen Factor takes a look at the literary taste of international best-selling crime thriller novelist, Peter James. This time he shares with us his top 10 favourite US thriller writers – some of whom Peter has encountered in person during his writing career.






My 10 favourite US thrillers

Tell No One – Harlan Coben  

"This is a true classic – a sharp dramatic start, and then the steady, relentless unravelling of a truly compelling mystery."

The Silence of the Lambs – Thomas Harris 

"When I put this book down, back in 1988, I thought, 'Wow, this is a game changer'. It took the crime thriller to a new level of author research and to a new, dark, but very thrilling level of morality – from good versus evil, to a world of bad versus evil!"

Along Came a Spider – James Patterson 

'This utterly compelling book simply explodes with energy. Alex Cross is one of the warmest and most human cops in all of fiction, and Gary Soneji I rank alongside Hannibal Lecter as a brilliant and compelling depiction of evil."

Get Shorty – Elmore Leonard 

"I love Elmore Leonard’s writing. He has such vivid characters – sometimes I feel he could have someone reading the phone directory for three hundred pages and still keep me hooked. This is my favourite of his books. I was lucky enough to meet him one time, at a crime festival in Courmayeur in Italy, where we were sat opposite each other at a dinner. Although in his eighties, he was sharp as a tack, and when we went outside for a smoke together, I told him how much I loved Get Shorty but since seeing the movie, I could not get John Travolta out of my head as Chilli Peppers. In his soft, gentle, laconic, voice, Elmore replied. 'You know Peter, I have a different problem each time I meet Travolta. I can never think of anything to say to him!’"

The Lincoln Lawyer – Michael Connelly 

"As a great believer – and stickler – for research, Connelly, a former court reporter, ticks so many boxes for me in terms of authenticity. He has a wonderful writing style and his characters are so vivid and credible. This book is a wonderful cat and mouse game between a lawyer and his increasingly dubious client."

The Bone Collector – Jeffery Deaver 

"I was alerted by a number of my fans that Jeffery put a villain in one of his novels called Peter James!  He graciously permitted me to get my revenge in a future novel by having a sleazebag called Jeffery Deaver – which I have yet to do – saving this up! But I did get a different and very sweet revenge in 2012 when my eighth Roy Grace, Not Dead Yet, beat his James Bond book to No 1 by 93 books! I sent him a t-shirt on which was printed JD 002, PJ, 001 ! He took it in great spirit – he’s huge fun, even if he does look like a cross between an axe-murderer and an undertaker…"

The Con Man – Ed McBain 

"Ed McBain and John D MacDonald were the writers that truly changed my horizons about the world of crime novels. Until I discovered this wonderful book, in my late teens, I’d thought to write crime fiction – certainly for a British writer – you had to stick to certain rigid rules and conventions: A dead body in chapter one, preferably in a country house setting … and the rest of the story the puzzle to solve the murder. But in the world of US crime thrillers the victims were more than often still alive at the end of Chapter One – and in deadly peril."

The Onion Field – Joseph Wambaugh

"Strictly this should not be here as it is a non-fiction story, but it ranks alongside In Cold Blood in my view as one of the most gripping non-fiction crime stories ever told. A former LAPD Sergeant, Wambaugh is an amazingly vivid writer. This story about the kidnapping of two plainclothes LAPD officers and the subsequent murder of one was, I think, a really ground-breaking book in its realism."

Dress Her In Indigo – John D. MacDonald 

"From the moment I read my first few pages of my John D. MacDonald Travis McGee novel (they all have a colour in the title) I felt a huge sense of excitement as a writer. In his creation of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle had showed an intriguing and unconventional character, but Travis McGee took quirkiness a whole league further. He’s a private eye, who lives on a houseboat on the Florida Keys, called The Busted Flush, and drives a Rolls Royce converted into a pick-up truck, and he specialises in getting things back for people …"

Red Leaves – Thomas H. Cook

"Every now and then you discover a truly stunning writer and you wonder, how the hell has this guy not made it to the top of every bestseller list on the planet? Maybe because his style is too quiet, but I am mystified. I just loved this book – beautifully written and utterly gripping."

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Peter James has joined The Pen Factor team as a guest judge for our June 2015 competition. Read Peter's review of our winner's story, The Rock Fortress, here.

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