We Were Born for This
This week, the governor of Michigan (where I live) issued a stay-at-home order until April 13th. Sure, I’m an introvert (do you know any writers who aren’t?). But it’s difficult…
My Advice for New Year’s Writing Resolutions: Don’t Make Any
New Year’s resolutions are a bad idea. We’ve all made them. We’ve all failed at them. We all somehow think that THIS year will be different. But we are always wrong.
#RevPit #10Queries
On Friday, Oct 25th, 2019, I participated as one of the editors for Revise & Resub‘s mini-event, #10Queries, in which authors entered a raffle to win the chance to submit…
Do You Know Your Genre?
Genre has to do with the content of what you write, not the age level for which you write. For example, I could write a sci-fi murder mystery romance for middle grade, or for YA, or for adults. The age group does not affect my genre (except that I probably won’t add a sex scene in the MG version, obvs).
Do You Write Fantasy or Do You Write Magical Realism?
I know you don’t write magical realism. Okay, I’m 99.9% sure. And how do I know this, you ask as you pound your desk in consternation and insist that I am wrong and that OF COURSE you write magical realism?
Please Don’t Give Away Your Work for Free
The other day, I saw a tweet that someone posted about working for free. The person is a book cover designer and is (I assume) trying to grow a new business by offering free book cover designs in exchange for reviews on social media sites. I can only guess that the intention is a signal boost for the designer’s website.
“I’m Talking Here!” How to Make Sure Your Dialogue Can Stand On Its Own
Recently, I was participating in an online discussion with my fellow editors at Angelella Editorial about dialogue. We were all musing about why some clients seem to nail dialogue and…
Skip the New Year’s Writing Resolutions
Stop making lists of resolutions. Don’t even say that you are going to write after the kids go to bed every night for two hours. You can’t make that promise to yourself and it isn’t realistic.
Done With NaNoWriMo? Take a Netflix Study Break
Like many of my friends, you may have just finished NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, which (if you’re not familiar with it) is that glorious time of year when…
Why My Year-Long “Clothing Diet” Helped My Writing and My Reading
On October 1, 2017, I decided to go on a clothing diet. For one year, I would not buy any new clothes. The only exceptions were necessities, and I don’t…