The Long and the Short of It
When it comes to writing, we all tackle things different ways. We outline or don’t outline. We focus mainly on plot or mainly on characte...
Getting Our Point Across
My mother is, right now, my only first reader. I think only a mom will put up with being asked to drop everything and read a book from star...
Twitterific
I’ve had a few people ask me to run more writing links here—and for some reason I keep forgetting! I post probably 25 or more writing link...
Why Yes, I *Am* at a Book Signing Today
What is it about writing that makes us reluctant to admit to doing it? You’d think I could easily explain that I’m a writer by now. But ...
Making a Long Story Short
Today I’d like to welcome author Stephen D. Rogers to the blog. Stephen is the author of SHOT TO DEATH and more than six hundred stories ...
The Big Picture
A couple of days ago, I was busily clearing out the weeds and grass that encroached on the kids’ sandbox in the backyard. “What are you do...
Paper Management
Y’all have caught me at a bad time—I’m really feeling the need to do some spring cleaning (it’s very springy here now in North Carolina), ...
Tips for Skittish Sellers
My children are both in Scouts. It’s been a great experience for them—they get to try new things and build self-confidence and self-relian...
Knowing Enough to be Dangerous
My husband is a computer whiz. He does something so complicated at work that I don’t even understand it enough to explain it. I’m pretty...
Taking it Personally
I’m sure that everyone reading this blog has been affected in some way by the hobbled global economy. Whether it’s a friend or family mem...
Trying Something Different
Last Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, I took a trip to the North Carolina mountains with my father. My sister and her husband were in Blow...
Edits and Revisions—Guest Post by L. Diane Wolfe
I’d like to welcome L. Diane Wolfe to the blog today. As a professional speaker, Diane travels extensively for media interviews and speakin...
Chapter Breaks
I thought I’d do a short post on chapter breaks today—because I’m currently going through my manuscript and sticking them in, so they’re on...
Knowing Our Genre, Audience, and Market
I love doing small things to recognize holidays---even St. Patrick’s Day. But I went too far when my daughter was in kindergarten. Re...
Our Protagonist’s Self-Discoveries
My husband and I had a rare night with no kids last weekend…our son was camping and our daughter was spending the night with a friend. We ...
Learning What *Doesn’t* Work
For some reason, it took me a long time to figure out what worked for me and what didn’t with my writing. I kept trying to use techniques...
Being Midlist
"A midlist author is one whose books are well received but have failed to make a commercial breakthrough; whose work sells soli...
Undermining Our Protagonist’s Perspective
This is a meme that’s made the rounds but I thought it made a good point about character perspective—and maybe getting another character’s ...
Plow Ahead
Thanks Elizabeth, for hosting me on your (terrific) blog. I'll try not to alienate any of your regular readers. Every writer has...
Rearing Writers
Surprises are one of the fun things about having kids. You just never know what they’re going to do next. And you sure as heck don’t kno...
