So you want to build your author platform but you haven’t published any books yet? Join the club! Please sign up with Gary, he’s the potted plant in the corner. We don’t have meetings, but we do complain a lot on Twitter. Except not for long. Because I have some tips to help you figure […]
I’m convinced deadlines are called DEADlines because they end up killing you. That said, they serve a purpose and without them, we’d probably procrastinate ourselves into some black hole of cat memes. While drifting aimlessly in oblivion does sound like a hoot, we won’t get to achieve our dreams by doing nothing. That doesn’t make […]
I am a mystery writer at heart. I love solving puzzles and murder is kind of my jam, even if it would totally freak me out in real life. It still took me a while to figure out if that’s the genre I want to write in. The kind of novels I usually read as […]
As both a teacher and a writer, I know very well that at some point into your editing you can get a little word blind. Even after two other people went over your manuscript, things can still be overlooked. Most writers I know get beta-readers to help them out with feedback. Whether that feedback is […]
You are born with nothing but your body, so anything in addition to that is a gift, something to be thankful for. And anything you lose, isn’t really lost because it’s not really something that was yours to begin with. Sometimes it helps when I think of that and it does make me a more […]
Okay, so you’ve finished a book. You’ve poured sweat, blood, and a lot of coffee into it and it’s now marginally presentable. Great. Don’t slip into a temporary coma just yet! CELEBRATE your hard work, the victory over writer’s block, the battle with the muse. It may not be clear what your option are, or […]
We’ve all been there, right? The days zoom by and before you know it, the only thing you’ve written in that time is a grocery list. And you didn’t even get to use metaphors, except for that one cheese. Inevitably, a sense of dread sets in. How could it not? We have goals and need […]
It’s November and that means different things to different people. For non-writers it means that it’s nearing Christmas. For writers it means mayhem, panic, dehydration, and the slow descent of madness. Many aspiring authors see this as the perfect opportunity to force a first draft from their bleeding fingers within one month. Every writer is […]
Many people dream of a life as a writer. Better yet, to make a living scribbling those words on paper and making pretend people come alive. There are many notions attached to this dream life. Since it’s a dream, they’re usually also far from the truth. Now, you may not think that every time a […]
Whether or not you’re a Plotterhead or a Wing-it Person, at one point, some form of plotting is handy. Especially, if like me, you write mysteries. Most of the time I still surprise myself, but before I start it’s handy to know in which direction I want to go. Much like a road trip where […]