Guest Post: Michelle McLean on Operation Awesome

Today I've invited Michelle McLean - author of awesome books in both fiction and nonfiction* - to talk to us about a wonderful resource for writers: Operation Awesome.  Take it away, Michelle...

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I’ve had the great pleasure of being a part of the blogging group Operation Awesome for the past few years. Operation Awesome was started by a group of authors who wanted to give back to their writing community. This is a tough business, full of unspoken rules and etiquette, crushing disappointments, and interminable waiting periods. Having a good support group of like-minded folks makes navigating the publishing waters a little less daunting.

Being geared toward helping writers, most of our posts revolve around writing and publishing issues, how we deal with things that arise, tips and anecdotes, and fun little tidbits. We’ve recently started a Query Feedback series, where writers can enter their queries in a rafflecopter and one is randomly chosen for us to crit.

 Our most popular feature is our monthly Mystery Agent contests. Every month, our readers get the opportunity to get out of the slush pile and pitch an agent through our blog – though we don’t reveal who the agent is until the winners are chosen :) Grand prizes usually consist of full requests, with runners up often receiving partial requests or query critiques. It’s a fun way to help connect writers with agents and we’ve had several success stories so far.

So, if you are a writer who could use a few good tips, a chance to pitch to an agent, or just want to hang out with a bunch of other writers in the same boat, be sure to stop by Operation Awesome :)

About Michelle:
 

Romance and non-fiction author Michelle McLean spent 98% of her formative years with her nose in a book indulging in her love of reading and research. Expanding that love into writing was inevitable. Michelle has a B.S. in History, a M.A. in English, and tends to be a bit of an organized mess with an insatiable love of books and more weird quirks than you can shake a stick at. When Michelle's not editing, reading or chasing her kids around, she can usually be found in a quiet corner working on her next book. She resides in PA with her husband and two children, an insanely hyper dog, and two very spoiled cats.  

Her most recent release is:
 

WISH UPON A STAR Ceri McKinley never stopped wishing that her ex-fiancé Jason Crickett would come back into her life. But when he finally does, he comes with a request that puts them both--and all of humanity--into jeopardy. Jason only wants two things: to bury his brother properly and to convince Ceri to trust him again after he jilted her. But when Ceri agrees to help him get his brother back, they end up fighting for their lives as the second zombie uprising threatens them all. Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo For more information on Michelle and her books, please visit her on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Goodreads.






* Seriously, if you ever need help writing essays or term papers, or have kids that need that sort of help, Michelle's Homework Helpers: Essays and Term Papers in the way to go.  And her fiction rocks, too.  Her historical romance - To Trust a Thief  - was a wicked fun read.  I can't wait to read Wish Upon a Star.  =o)