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The Best Reason to Blog – Part 4

Basket of harvested apples with text: Blogging: Harvesting Benefits

Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S. The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for. Or in my case, see if I can resist seconds of mashed potatoes so I can justify another […]

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November 28, 2013

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In Books and Beyond: Love vs. Lust

Two hearts with text: #LoveIsAVerb

The idea of love at first sight has a long history in the romance genre. Thousands of heroes and heroines have experienced the pitter-pat of their heart when first laying eyes on their love-to-be. While we might laugh at the trope, as we discussed a few weeks ago, many story […]

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September 12, 2013

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NaNo Wrap-up, Part 2: Can Slow Writers Win Too?

Giant tortoise with text: Can "Slow" Writers Win Too?

Whether we officially “won” NaNoWriMo or not, most of us who participated probably racked up higher than normal daily word counts. And building on my previous NaNo wrap-up post, that success can carry over into other areas of our writing life. Author Roni Loren and I have talked several times about our “slow” writing […]

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December 6, 2012

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Michael Hauge’s Workshop: You’re the Hero of Your Life

Display of Army medals with text: Be the Hero of Your Life

Okay, I wasn’t going to do yet another post about Michael Hauge’s presentation at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference. But an off-the-cuff, as-we-were-heading-out-the-door thought he gave to us at the end of his “Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories” workshop really stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you. Over […]

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August 30, 2012

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Have You Given Yourself Permission?

Green traffic signal light

I had a really bad day of writing on Tuesday.  My muse was off in his own little world.  I was frustrated about getting further behind on…well, everything.  And the words I did write felt like crap. (I know, I know.  It’s my own fault my muse was distracted, because in my […]

September 8, 2011

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The Green Lantern Movie: How *Not* to Write Characters

Hal Jordan with Green Lantern ring

Last time, I used the Green Lantern movie to illustrate how not to plot a story.  This time, we’re going to look at the Green Lantern characters. As noted before, Green Lantern felt superficial and formulaic.  Sure, it’d be easy to say that it was a comic book movie and therefore […]

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July 7, 2011

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Would You Ever Turn Down a Contract?

Thumbs down

The comments for my last post were fantastic—thank you!  The range of opinions really got me to think deeper about the traditional vs. self publishing issue. Many people wrote in with circumstances for when self publishing works (and possibly works “better”).  Others noted situations where traditional publishing is the only […]

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March 31, 2011

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Do You Know What Will Make You Happy?

Smiling sunburst

Yes, it’s cheesy, but that picture is me right now because today is my last day in the deadline cave.  Yay! As I’m finishing up my final push to the finish, I wanted to share this post from last summer.  I think it’s still relevant today, maybe even more so. […]

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March 17, 2011

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Have You Ever Been Tempted to Give Up?

White flag

First, let me state: No, I’m not giving up.  But this round in the deadline cave has been especially brutal, so I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind for a split second. This past weekend, my computer froze in the middle of saving my document […]

March 15, 2011

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