Author | Editor | Story Coach
A puff of chocolaty goodness wafts by me when I open the door into the conference area. My mouth waters. Stillness underlies the hum of excited voices. This is my first writing conference. Professionals attend conferences to network and build skills in their area of expertise. I may be pre-published, but I am a professional …
When this post goes live, I will actually be in Portland, Oregon, at the Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel experiencing the joys of registering for my first ever writer’s conference. As I write this, it is exactly two weeks in the future and I’m nauseous anxious excited about the prospect. I printed out the daily schedule …
Attending my First Writer’s Conference – Pre-Conference Post Read More »
The cat’s out of the bag. Or in this case, the horse. My new work in progress includes a character that is a horse. Not too surprising since I’ve already admitted my fascination with the beasts. Hopefully, I’ve come up with a unique way to include a horse in my fantasy novel. You can be …
How the real horse in my life affects my fictional creation Read More »
Everyone talks about how important it is for writer’s to have a single sentence pitch for their novel. Apparently, anytime you’re stuck in an elevator, you spew forth this sentence, hoping an agent or editor is trapped with you in that itsy-bitsy space. Of course, your captive audience will love your idea and produce a …
Knowing how to do research is a real-life skill. It’s something kids should be taught early and continue to practice throughout their 12 to 16 years of education to keep their skills honed. The best news about this is that research is uber-simple in our internet-driven society. Most kids these days don’t even know what an …
Reviewing books can be work, especially if you didn’t enjoy any aspect of the story. For authors, reviews build credibility or detract from it, depending on the contents, of course. It’s no secret that this blog is about building my author platform. In fact, every aspect of my online presence feeds into that goal. Whether …
What’s the point of a book review? And why you should leave one Read More »
I hope someday to connect with my readers on this blog. As of this moment, I know most of my faithful followers are family, friends and other writers. Thank you for your support. According to Jedi Master of Social Media, Kristen Lamb, I shouldn’t write about writing on my blog. My readers don’t care about …
No one who has actually ever written a book thinks they want to write a book. They like telling stories. They enjoy playing with words. Creating things using sentences and punctuation as opposed to brushstrokes and paint is very appealing to them. When we sit down to write a book, we don’t think we’re going …
If you’re serious about becoming a published author, you can’t be afraid to share your writing with others. It’s inevitable that some of them will hate it. You know some of them will love it (and I’m not just talking your mom and best friend). Some people use alpha readers. These people would see the …
I am a writer. I use blogs written by other writers, editors and agents to help me find the information I need to succeed. Here are my top five choices in the category “Top Blogs for Writers.” Okay, I didn’t take a survey. I don’t have any fancy algorithms in place. These are the five …