Where Normal Need Not Apply
The last couple of posts have been about beta reading, beta readers, and authors helping each other. I love positive, uplifting conversations like that. But the comments brought up an important point: Sometimes the relationships we have with other writers in our circle aren’t all unicorns and rainbows. Sometimes a […]
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I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I didn’t have much time to write my blog post for today. Why? Because I was beta reading a story, and I could not put it down. I’ve had several posts about finding beta readers or what to look for in beta readers, but I […]
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I thought I already had a blog post about this topic, but I didn’t. Is déjà vu blogging a sign of something worrisome? *smile* Anyway, I want to thank agent Laura Bradford, who gave me the idea for this post when she shared several great tips on Twitter yesterday about beta readers […]
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I’ve had a lot to be thankful for lately. My family and I got away for a fun vacation, my klutziness didn’t result in too many injuries out in the middle of nowhere, and I survived being without internet access for much of the time. *smile* I was also reminded—again—how awesome […]
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This post originally ran several months ago at the Girls With Pens blog. It’s one of my favorites because I’m always looking for checklists to make sure I’m not missing anything while editing and revising. I hope you find it useful. Whether we plot our stories ahead of time or write […]
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As we head into “writing conference” season, I thought I’d revisit my post about how to write a pitch. This post originally ran several months ago, but the information never gets old. (In fact, I’ve used this to help myself write pitches lately.) Pitches fall into many categories, from loglines […]
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Recent events have brought fan fiction out of the hidden realm of über-fans and into mainstream media. For the first time, many authors are learning of the existence of fan fiction and wondering how it might affect them. Let’s take a look at what fan fiction is, what it means […]
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It’s tempting to put all our effort into a big debut or breakout book. It’s natural to want our work to make a big splash and gain attention. We might think that if we break out, we’ll have it made. But there’s a dark side to that approach, especially if […]
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We writers can be a strange lot. We live in our heads, we talk to imaginary characters, we rejoice when we think of horrible things to do to said characters, and we plot out perfect crimes, alien invasions, and the end of the world. But even beyond all that, writing affects our […]
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If you’ve had email for a while, you’re familiar with email spam. Spammers often try to make their emails seem relevant, with fake warnings about our PayPal or eBay account, etc., but their messages have nothing to do with us (um, yeah, Viagra doesn’t apply to me). We’re just an email address to […]
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