by Dana Mentink Consider the humble ladybug, fellow readers and writers. She’s less than a quarter of an inch long, silent and stoic and more than likely unnoticed in your yard. Truth be told, she’s a powerhouse, a dynamic dame that can teach us a lot about the wild and wacky world of writing. Let’s take a moment to look …
Subtle Set-ups and Powerful Pay-offs
by Christine Sunderland Life is a journey from choice to choice, an exercise of free will. When we choose, a genetic component changes, and we become slightly different people. We have chosen a direction that informs our genes and colors our future choices. As readers we follow this journey in stories. We wonder where the choices will take us. But …
Critiquing Suggestions for Transitioning to Published Author
by Carrie Fancett Pagels I’ve posted elsewhere about not despising the day of small beginnings, as the Bible also tells us. One of the blessings of working on three “smaller” publications in the past several months is what I’ve learned about my writing life. For example, how can I best work with a Critique Partner (will abbreviate as CP henceforth.) …
5 Keys to a Successful Editor/Agent Appointment
By Elizabeth Ludwig Few things strike fear into the stout of heart more than speaking in public. In fact, according to a recent Gallup Poll, the only thing more petrifying is a fear of snakes. Is it any wonder, therefore, that writers are often reduced to stuttering, terror-stricken imbeciles when faced with the prospect of sitting down with an editor …
Letting Your Protagonist Be Super and Human
by Rachel Hauck Did you see the movie, “The Avengers”? Did you like it? I did last year and wow! Another blow-’em-up New York City movie. I think Hollywood needs to get more creative, but hey, that’s me. Poor NYC if anything ever happens to them as depicted in movies! Back to “The Avengers”. Besides Ironman, Thor, Hulk and Captain …
What Coldplay Taught Me About Pitching
by Melissa Tagg Anybody who knows me knows I love Coldplay. Like, soooo much. I’m convinced there’s a Coldplay song fitting for every occasion in life. And one of my great dreams is for someone to someday sing Coldplay’s “Green Eyes” to me. Except I actually have blue eyes, so it’d be kind of weird. But still. I love Coldplay. …
Writing and Time Management
by Jennie Atkins So you want to write, but you have to hold down your dreaded day job, be super mom, or just get through your never-ending to-do list. There are days you finally drag yourself to your computer and barely squeak out a paragraph or two at best. Or you get sidetracked with e-mails, phone calls, or a hundred …
A Dash of Steampunk
by Kathleen Y’Barbo When I mention that my historical romantic suspense series, THE SECRET LIVES OF WILL TUCKER, includes a dash of steampunk, I usually get one of two responses: a wide grin or a confused expression. For those of you who best identify with the confused expression crowd, let’s talk about what steampunk is. Wikipedia calls steampunk “…a subgenre …
A Room of One’s Own
by Deborah Raney “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” –Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own I started writing to help put our kids through college. But it’s a good thing I hadn’t read the above quote by Virginia Woolf before I wrote my first ten novels. Because, you …
Writing Preparation
by Carolyne Aarsen My husband had to replace a window in my office awhile back. He drove to his brother’s place, a twenty minute drive one way, borrowed a set of scaffolds, came back and set them up to install the window. Then he got his tools and brought them to the scaffold. All tallied, this took him all morning. …