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The Thin Line between Character Strengths and Flaws

A yin-yang style wave with text: When Is a Character Strength a Flaw?

Last time I asked you to share your superpower, that trait—useful or not—that makes you unique. Everyone shared some great stories, although none of us had skills that would land us on Cracked.com’s “Real People with Mind-Blowing Mutant Superpowers” list. *eyes the superpowers that made the list* Maybe that’s a good thing. At the end […]

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April 11, 2013

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What’s Your Superpower?

Statue holding arms up to make muscles with text: What's Your Superpower?

Those of you who follow me on Twitter might have heard the news about my recent broken bone. *sigh* Again. I have a special talent, it seems, for breaking my middle toe. That’s right. Not the big toe or any other appendage that sticks out. Nope. I have to be different and break that middle toe […]

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April 9, 2013

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Three Tips for Being a Better Beta Reader

Magnifying glass over a book with text: 3 Tips for Being a Better Beta Reader

The Golden Rule of “treat others how you’d like to be treated” applies to most aspects of our lives—including our author life. One of the best things we can do to find beta readers for our work (at least among our network of author friends) is to offer to beta read for others. Inside the beta […]

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April 4, 2013

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When Should We Upgrade to a Paid Site?

WordPress logo with text: Should We Pay for Our Site? WordPress .com versus .org

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve shared several posts about websites and blogging. I promise I’m almost done with all that. On Thursday, I’ll resume my usual balance of craft, author entrepreneurship, publishing industry, and writing life posts. (Believe me, I get as sick of ruts as you all do. However, I hope this […]

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April 2, 2013

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Is Your Site Secure? Tips from a Tech Guy

Barbed wire fence with text: Is Your Site Secure? Tips from a Tech Guy

When we first create a blog or website, all the decisions we need to make can quickly overwhelm us. Do we really need a website and a blog? Should we go with Blogger or WordPress? Do we want to go the free route or pay for a self-hosted site we’ll own? That last question encompasses many complicated issues […]

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March 28, 2013

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Does Your Site Welcome Disabled Readers? — Guest: Linda Adams

Braille page with text: Does Our Blog Welcome Disabled Readers?

I wanted to give us a break from the all-website-all-the-time posts I’ve had here lately, but then an idea hit me that was too good to ignore. More accurately, Linda Adams left a comment on my post from two weeks ago that struck me as something we don’t talk about enough: accommodating disabled readers in […]

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March 26, 2013

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What Should an Author Website Include?

A web "home" button with text: What Should We Include on Our Author Website?

Some writers—understandably—don’t want to blog. Blogging can take away from our writing time. Thinking of post topics can be difficult. And if we don’t gain a readership (or our blog readership doesn’t cross over into the target audience for our books), it can feel like a waste of time and effort. However as I mentioned […]

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March 21, 2013

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Switching from Blogger to WordPress — Guest: Natalie C. Markey

WordPress logo with text "versus" and Blogger logo

Last week, I announced my two workshops on WordPress for beginners. One workshop is geared toward those ready to invest in a paid website/blog, and one workshop sticks to free resources. Some might wonder why that second workshop focuses only on WordPress. After all, Blogger (also known as Blogspot) is free too. Does it really […]

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March 19, 2013

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Do Authors Need a Website and Blog?

Blackboard with http://www and question mark with text: Free? Paid?

Today I’m opening two workshops to help beginners set up websites and blogs. With that in mind, I want to go back to “step one” and review why authors might need a website and blog. Years ago, authors could get away with pounding on their typewriter in seclusion and never interacting with the public. Now the […]

March 14, 2013

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Dread Writing Sexy Scenes? 5 Tips for Success

Man with a bag on his head with text: 5 Tips for Writing Sexy Scenes...without Dread

Whatever genre we write, we often have to write scenes that make us uncomfortable. High on that discomfort scale for many authors are romantic scenes between characters. Whether we write romance or another genre with love interests, or whether the characters merely kiss or have sex with the door open to the reader, many of […]

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March 12, 2013

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