How to Support Literacy and Help Authors & Readers
As writers and readers, literacy feels normal, but not everyone we encounter possesses those skills. How can we give others the same benefits?
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Why Does the RWA Implosion Matter to All Writers?
What’s going on with RWA? Here’s why all writers—even those who don’t write romance—should care about a situation that’s far beyond “in-fighting.”
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How Do We Measure the “Value” of Fiction?
At our lowest, we might question what makes dealing with all the struggles of writing worth it. How can we measure the value of fiction?
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Why Every Author—and Reader—Should Care about #Cockygate
With a name like #cockygate, it’s no surprise that the recent trademark brouhaha would elicit some snickers, and some are far too quick to dismiss the situation. But the reasons behind the trademark—as well as what results from the legal battle—affect us all.
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Branding: The Right Way vs. the Wrong Way
A crazy story erupted on social media with the hashtag #cockygate involving authors, Amazon KDP, and trademark law. One author is attempting to prevent others from using a word in their book titles, as she mistakenly thinks our book titles are our brands.
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Shining a Light on Diversity Issues
In gearing up for the release of Pure Sacrifice, one frustrating experience was beyond my control. I’ve mentioned before that we should avoid assumptions about our characters, so I waited until I heard a voice that resonated and knew my paranormal character for this book wouldn’t be white skinned. Great! Except…
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What Scares You about Writing or Publishing?
Many large, life-changing events can scare us—even terrify us. We might think, “It’s a good thing I didn’t know how hard it would be, or I might not have done it.” Sometimes writing or publishing can be terrifying, yet we have to move past our fears.
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Is “Love Conquers All” Realistic?
Every month or so, there’s an author or blogger or journalist making news by putting romance stories down. “They give women unrealistic expectations!” they say. Right. Are they unrealistic because romances end with love and a Happily Ever After? Or do the naysayers think true love isn’t possible or that it isn’t powerful enough to conquer and overcome obstacles? That’s just sad.
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Lessons from RWA14: Help for Slow Writers
One of the RWA workshops I most looked forward to was Courtney Milan’s “Slow Writer’s Guide to Making a Living” presentation. Judging by the crowd, a lot of writers struggle with the pressure to write faster and the worry that our slowness will prevent us from reaching our goals.
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Banish the Boring Parts
Last time, I mentioned how stories—the good ones anyway—avoid the boring parts of the journey by jumping into the action. Today’s post continues that “skip to the good parts” theme to talk about settings. Setting is the sense of time, place, and mood within a story. Descriptions create a world […]