I'm writing a novel that involves a man being taken to a hospital in the Azores with an infected gunshot wound, severe blood loss, and hypothermia. The Azores island is Terceira, which has a "large" hospital on it in reality. I'm wondering about anything related to the Azores, including what the hospital looks/sounds/is like, land and water temperature during early Spring, and the flora commonly found on the islands growing wild (particularly medical, practical, or culinary uses of these plants). I know that some varieties of Yucca are said to grow there, but with what frequency? I have a lot of questions, as you can see, haha. If anybody here can be of any help to me, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks! :-)

Has anyone attended a creative writing school?
How was your experience?

I want to read a book about a magician, gambler, mathematician, computer scientist, or carny that isn't full of trite sensationalism. I am in my late 20s, and when I was younger (high school an earlier) I hated to read fiction, opting instead for history or technical books. However, somewhere in college I discovered the right fiction can be fun too. And I gravitated towards reading every novel I could find about magicians. (I have always been an amateur magician.) And so many of those books were the same trite boilerplate characterizations of magicians as wizards or as con-man that it almost ruined fiction for me all over again. And then the novel "Carter Beats the Devil" by Glenn David Gold was published, and it was different. It was not only first class fiction, but started to get at the mindset of a magician the way they view themselves - as skilled artists and showmen. Another book "The Prestige" by Christopher Priest, which was later made into a movie, also gets closer to this view of a magician as a tinkerer, inventor, artist, showman, etc rather than falling into the "wizard" or "con-man" paradigms. In much the same way gamblers are often mis-portrayed in novels, regardless of the huge number of novels about Las Vegas or various types of gambling. The same would go for mathematicians and computer scientist, not to mention the oh so overused ridiculous media & hollywood portrayal of "computer hackers." Basically, I guess what I am really saying is regardless of the type of characters in your novel it would be wise to understand their real world counterparts and how they view themselves in order to best understand how to portray them best fictionally. Did that make any sense? I hope it helps.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – 2017 Readers’ Favorite Book Award Contest

Submission Deadline: June 1, 2017

The Readers’ Favorite Annual Book Award Contest accepts print books, eBooks, audiobooks, poetry books, comic books, graphic novels, and short stories. Book submissions must be complete, written in English, and fit into one of 100+ genre categories.

There are no minimum or maximum word count restrictions. Published or unpublished books can participate in this international competition, but they must be complete. Please submit your book in the following formats in order of preference: PDF, Kindle (MOBI), Microsoft Word (DOC, DOCX), RTF, and ePUB.

To enter, complete our Contest Entry form at https://readersfavorite.com/ref/15557. Submit online by the June 1st Final Registration. You can enter as many books as you like, but please complete a separate entry form for each book.

Readers’ Favorite is free to join, and membership includes a free review of your book and free review copies of Kindle books. Members can also access an extensive online archive of helpful articles about writing, publishing, and marketing.
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PERFECT PHRASES TO PERSOALIZE MY GREETING CARDS

PHRWSES

Anybody else planning on participating in NaNo this year? It starts in less than a week, and I still have no idea what I am going to write about. Suggestions welcome.

Those that generate irrepressible yawns or extreme reluctance to proceed with reading, and examples ?
Yet maybe a few classical or particularly skillfull works got it right, or you read them at that sweet spot when you were just the perfect audience even if that's no longer the case ?

I'm writing this short essay and I would like your opinion on synonyms for "appreciation".

Which of the following is the BEST synonym for appreciation?

Synonyms:

gratitude
approval
pleasure
admiration
enjoyment
thankfulness

Thanks for helping!!