Writing Blog
My story, Bitter Harvest, won a UK writing contest
Back in November, I wrote a post about National Short Story Week. In that post, I included links to markets for short stories and contests. I also decided to enter one of the contests myself. I’m a real sucker for writing prompts and this one intrigued me. The UK region of Hartlepool decided to sponsor…
Read MoreThe Addictive Blog Award
Many thanks to Getsetandgo for nominating me for The Addictive Blog Award! Snigda, based in Mumbai, hosts a wonderful blog that lets me dream I’m travelling in south Asia (and gives me lots of great ideas for future trips), so it was a real honor to have been selected. For this award, I have to say…
Read MoreWhat are your 2013 writing goals?
A happy 2013 to everyone! Here’s hoping that your new year is starting out well. For writers, this is also a good time to reflect on writing goals for the new year … at least for those of us who might need an extra push, or those of us who don’t manage to get any…
Read MoreWriting inspiration on the slopes
Okay, I have a few days off around the holidays, nearby Abruzzo is buried under snow, and my kids are begging me to ski. What’s a girl to do? Hopefully, when this post goes up, I’ll be breathing in the fresh mountain air while I’m swooshing down the slopes. Perhaps I’ll be sad at this…
Read MoreInterview with author and NaNoWriMo organizer Grace Tierney
Grace Tierney is a mother and writer living in rural Ireland. Her excellent blog, Wordfoolery, examines rare and unusual words in the English language. Grace is a prolific writer, working on both novels and short stories. I had the good luck to meet Grace (virtually) when we became critique partners, and I’ve enjoyed getting to…
Read MoreThe Next Big Thing
Last week Catherine MacNamara invited me to take part in The Next Big Thing. She is a novelist and short story writer. Her novel A Divorced Lady’s Guide to Living in Italy was released last April and her short story collection, Pelt and Other Stories, is scheduled for release in 2013. In addition to being…
Read MoreAm I the only one who never gets any writing done during the holidays?
In theory, the holidays should be a great time to pile up the word count. The weather is cool, and staying home at the computer doesn’t seem such a chore. Days off from work should translate into productive days working on writing… and yet, it never quite happens that way for me. I have yet…
Read MorePhantoms, fainting heroines, and evil Italian villains: The Gothic novel!
What do Frankenstein, Dracula, Jane Eyre and Rebecca have in common? They’re all descendants of the 18th and 19th century Gothic novels. The Gothic novel was immensely popular in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It blended romance and horror and were widely read in their day – particularly among women, who (like today) are the…
Read MoreTraditional publishing or self-publishing? That is the question.
The literary agent Rachelle Gardner had an informative post on her site recently: Can I make more money via traditional or self-publishing?. Her post looks at the issue from the agent side, specifically what the monetary threshold (e.g. amount of the advance) of her clients is before they would choose to self-publish. I am a…
Read MoreJoining writing groups to stick to deadlines
Deadlines are a writer’s best friend. Unfortunately, they’re often a moving target. Maybe writers with six or seven figure advances whose contracts detail very precise deadlines have fewer problems, but for the rest of the mere mortals writers out there, deadlines are often self-imposed. That’s why writers can be quite creative in figuring out ways…
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