Writing Blog
What are your 2016 writing resolutions?
This has become a bit of a tradition for me – perhaps I’ve figured out a way how to hold myself accountable for my writing schedule. Each year, I set myself writing goals … and up until now I’ve pretty much stuck to schedule. Let’s see if I can keep this up for 2016… Of…
Read MoreThe lack of pressure before becoming a bestselling author
There’s an interesting interview with the British, bestselling women’s fiction author Jojo Moyes in this month’s Writer’s Digest. In her interview, Moyes speaks about the lack of pressure before writing her most successful book, You Before Me. Before that best-seller, Moyes had written numerous books and had a large and loyal following, but her breakthrough…
Read MoreA happy writing year to all you fellow writers out there!
On this FIRST day of 2016, wishing all you writers who may follow my blog a wonderful new year filled with challenging and exciting story ideas, effortless revisions, and the knowledge that you have lots of support through your sweat and tears from fellow writers who are cheering you on. The writing itself may be…
Read MoreGoodreads Challenge: Another great year of books
Taking this opportunity to wish those of you who celebrate Christmas a Very Merry Christmas! I always love to have books under the Christmas tree, and in these lazy days around the holiday, I often find myself content and curled up with a good book… with my family members curled up nearby with their own.…
Read MoreBeyond the idea…
“But the truth is, it’s not the idea, it’s never the idea, it’s always what you do with it.” Neil Gaiman I recently read (and loved) this quote from author Neil Gaiman. Gaiman, whose work spans such a wide range of genres and age categories, surely knows a thing or two about how to…
Read MoreThe devil’s in the details
“Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’s work … Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything. Or a broken billboard. Or weeds growing in the cracks of a library’s steps. … The details are always the starting place in…
Read MoreCoca Cola, chocolate bar … and a short story?
Viva la France! If we hadn’t reach that conclusion alone in these weeks after the events of Paris last month, we would have arrived there by the admirable appreciation of culture and literature in that country. France – and specifically the pretty, southeastern mountain city of Grenoble – is the first city ever to offer…
Read More400 posts … and still going strong
Excuse me a moment of crowing. But after almost four years of blogging, I’ve reached my 400th post, and sometimes it’s worth it to simply stand back and pat ourselves on the back for managing to do what we set out to do… and to reflect on how we got here. Back in 2012, I…
Read MoreA Nobel laureate’s views on women’s stories
Women tell things in more interesting ways. They live with more feeling. They observe themselves and their lives. Men are more impressed with action. For them, the sequence is more important. Svetlana Alexievich 2015 Nobel Prize Winner for Literature quoted in the New Yorker, 26 October 2015 I was struck by this observation by Svetlana…
Read MoreIt’s National Short Story Week 2015!
It’s that time of year again. 16-22 November this year marks National Short Story Week. Readers, writers and listeners of short stories are asked to focus attention on this important literary form. Take a look at the whole range of events and resources here. For those of us who love short stories, we often have…
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