By DiAnn Mills How far are you willing to extend yourself to write a novel? Are you aware of the sacrifices that partner with the rewards of becoming a published writer? Do you ever wonder if you’re all alone in your pursuit of publication? Has anyone ever posed those questions to you? If not, let me give you a little …
Why I Write
By Preslaysa Williams “Do what you love and the money will come.” Mama My mother always said this to me growing up, and Mama was right. When the school teachers pushed me to be a lawyer or a doctor, I wanted to be a creative. With the support of my parents, I was able to be creative at an early …
REWRITING: How to Avoid Too Much Introspection in Your Manuscript
By Beth K. Vogt Let’s be honest with each other and admit that we all can get introspective at times – stuck in our heads as we ponder either a real-life problem or one our imaginary character is facing in our work-in-progress (WIP). We mull over options. Debate pros and cons. Maybe we remember a first kiss … or having …
Making the Most of a Diversion
By Elizabeth Ludwig I found myself stranded in Bentonville, Arkansas recently, when the plane I was on from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Dallas, Texas, was diverted mid-air, to a tiny regional airport in Northwest Arkansas. Not only was this a little nerve-wracking, it felt a little bit like a “Hotel California” moment, with delay after delay keeping us grounded inside …
Time and Place: Researching Your Historical Fiction
By Liz Curtis Higgs When I asked my fiction readers to finish the sentence, “I love historical fiction because…”, my favorite response was this: “It’s like a history class and an adventure, all rolled into one.” Yes! I’ll leave spinning memorable adventures to your fertile imaginations. I’m here to help with assembling a historically accurate world in which your characters …
New Year’s Goals and the Reminder That Good Bridges Make Good Connections
By Catherine Stuart As we hit the reset button with the New Year my notebook filled up with goals. Goals that were very different from each other, and I realized prioritizing was the key to success. This year for me is different, as I find myself on a bridge of change. I wish to get to the other side, yet …
Three Ways to Keep Your Writing on Track
By Lisa Jordan Recently I bought a new train set for my childcare program. One of my Little Darlings waited patiently while I assembled it, then proceeded to move the three-car train along the tracks. If he pushed too hard or too fast, the small train derailed. As I watched him, I realized his actions resonated with how I’ve been …
Making Conversation
By Linda W. Yezak Ever since our vocabulary extended beyond “Mama” and “Dada,” most of us have been engaged in verbal communication, although true communication is rarely limited to voice alone. Human dialogue, human interaction, is a complex series of mechanisms that dictate how information is communicated and received. It isn’t as simple as one person talking and another listening. …
Writing What You Don’t Know
By Deborah Raney My novels Beneath a Southern Sky and its sequel, After the Rains, are set in the Amazon rain forests of Colombia, South American. Beneath a Southern Sky was a RITA Award winner and went on to win several other awards, as did the sequel. My novel Over the Waters is set in Haiti. That book also won …
“Isn’t that an oxymoron?”
By Davalynn Spencer “No, you moron. It isn’t.” I’d like to say the above response to the title question is from a salty character in one of my novels. It’s not. It’s from a pile of words in the back of my brain that didn’t make it past my teeth because I was biting my tongue. Good thing. Last year …