Have You Heard of the Miraculous Small Flat Squares? “What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.” — Anne Lamott, author of Bird by Bird Isn’t a miracle that words on …
Now that the holidays are over, I’m diving into my new series. Even though I’ve made a lot of progress on the opener, The Girl Who Broke the Dark, I still get to spend a lot of time on my favorite part of writing: Research. No, this isn’t like doing research for a school project …
It’s that time of year again when pumpkins become a thing. I love to use the opportunity to add some pumpkin to my chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Just mixing things up a little creates a wonderful explosion of flavor. And that’s sometimes how writing is. Just adding something different lifts a scene from interesting to …
I never know where this adventure of writing will take me. In between working on new projects, I occasionally write guest posts for other bloggers. Recently I was invited to post on Review Tales, a popular book review site maintained by editor Jeyran Main. You can check out the post here. What I’m Writing Want …
I’m often asked how I come up with my ideas. Good question. Sometimes I sit down and try to conjure up the most awesome idea. Half an hour of concentrated brainstorming usually doesn’t get me much. It would be embarrassing to share even the best of these. So where do the best ideas come …
Winter passed, spring is well underway and I wonder. What have I accomplished? I’m at least two months behind on most of my major goals. Sure, a lot can be explained by unplanned travel for family reasons. Assisting a handicapped relative relocate to residential program, helping another with a new baby, and other life events …
World Building from the Inside Out, Part 2 Last week we looked at the first question from Janeen Ippolito’s world building blog. This week’s question about my main character is a great one: A bird poops on her. How does she handle it? Brought up to believe that animals are dangerous, being pooped on by …
This is the time of year when I fall prey to Shiny Object Syndrome, otherwise known as a complete inability to stick to my plan. Here’s how it happens. I review last year’s progress (or lack of it) and come up with goals for the new year. I set quarterly goals. I break them into …
Avoiding the Shiny Object Syndrome: Two Lessons for the New Year Read More »
Indie authors have an uphill fight to get their books noticed. Not only is the market crowded, and competition fierce, but a stigma still clings to self-published or independently published works as being second class. If the books were any good, so the reasoning goes, a traditional publisher would have picked them up. While that’s …
Clichés abound like the snow in Wisconsin: Not enough hours in the day. Time whirling past, like a speeding train. Rat race. Everyone, it seems, is commenting, complaining or bemoaning the fact that life is more complicated and our to-do lists ever growing. I know I’ve been overwhelmed with piddly tasks that seem like they …