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Writer Dilemma: Private Life vs. Public Figures

Man pointing a camera at viewer with text: Are Authors Public Figures?

Many of us struggle with maintaining a sense of privacy online, yet being a writer requires us to be “public figures.” That means we have to find a balance between privacy and public sharing to be an author. Let’s take a look at some of the privacy issues we might run into in our writing life.

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January 19, 2016

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Writer Sanity: Recognizing Takers & Setting Boundaries

Old West "wanted" poster with text: Takers Who Don't Give Back

Last week, I challenged writers to think about how they’re giving back to the writing community because it needs our help to thrive. Yet no matter what I recommend, there will be takers infecting our community, so let’s learn how to recognize them for what they are.

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January 12, 2016

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Writer Karma: Don’t Be a Taker

Many hands reaching to grab with text: Are You Giving or Just Taking?

Everyone who knows me and follows my blog knows I love to help others. Most people who contact me are appreciative, and I really am happy to help. But there are a few… *sigh*

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January 5, 2016

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The Best Reason to Blog — 2015 Edition

Path through autumn leaves with text: Finding Meaning

Every Thanksgiving, I write a “the best reason to blog” post because gratitude is such a powerful tool. Thinking about what we’re thankful for forces us to pay attention to what has meaning in our lives. The daily grind can make us forget why we do what we do, but being grateful for the good things reminds us of what matters most.

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November 26, 2015

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Release News! Do Your Plans Succeed?

Path through a maze with text: Can You Stick with a Plan?

Yesterday marked the release of my fourth book, Ironclad Devotion, and I think I’m going to collapse now. This release marks the end of my “master plan,” also known as my daisy-chain release schedule. I first came up with that plan about a year ago, and I can’t quite believe it actually worked.

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October 29, 2015

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What’s Your Long-Term Plan?

Plant growing in cement with text: How Can We Avoid a Dead-End Career?

Back when we first started writing, we might have been writing for ourselves, but for many of us, we expanded our goals somewhere along the line to focus on what others think of our work or how we might sell our work. Are we ready with a plan that will support that next step and the steps after that?

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October 20, 2015

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Criticism & Reviews: How Do You Handle Feedback?

Statue of woman in pain with text: Can You Read Your Reviews?

For many writers, the point of writing is to connect with others through our words. Because of that desire, it’s hard to ignore feedback, and during editing, we don’t want to ignore suggestions. But what about after we publish? Should we read reviews of our published work?

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September 24, 2015

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Are You Able to Ask for Help?

Child helping a fallen child up with text: Can You Admit When You Need Help?

We often have too much to do and not enough time, so it’s normal to need help sometimes. Yet many of us struggle with asking for help. We might find it difficult to trust someone else, might not want to be a burden, or might feel like a failure for not being able to do it all. But we all will need help occasionally–like with guest posts. *smile*

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September 22, 2015

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The Writing Community: What’s Your Expertise?

Black diamond ski warning for Expert Terrain with text: Are You An Expert?

A writing career often doesn’t pay well, so many of us have day jobs or transitioned to writing after doing something else. To my mind, that’s a good thing. The non-writing experiences we have will enrich our writing and can provide benefits to our writing career as well.

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June 9, 2015

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What Does It Mean to Give Up?

White flag with text: What Does It Mean If We Surrender?

Ever heard the advice: “If you can stop writing, you should stop writing”? I’m here to say *pfft* to that. I gave up writing for years, yet I’m now a multi-published author. Choices we made about writing yesterday don’t determine today.

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May 21, 2015

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