Writing Blog
Author interview: Catherine McNamara
If you read my blog posts, you know how much I’ve enjoyed attending the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival, held each September in southern Italy. But it’s not just for the great information and advice you receive about the publishing industry today, or even the one-on-one meetings with agents. The real plus to this conference is…
Read MoreForeign Encounters: A New Anthology from Writers Abroad
The Online writing group Writers Abroad are proud to announce the publication on Wednesday 24th October of their new anthology, entitled Foreign Encounters. An encounter can be a chance meeting, a planned get-together or even a confrontation. This collection of stories, non-fiction articles and poems features a variety of foreign encounters: with family, friends, lovers,…
Read MoreWhat I learned at the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival – Part 2
I’ve already mentioned much of what I learned at this year’s Matera Women’s Fiction Festival in Part 1. In that post, I covered issues related to electronic publishing, the newly-coined term ‘dicoverability’, and the role of agents today in a quickly-shifting marketplace. But just to prove all my time wasn’t spent wandering the steep…
Read MoreWhat I learned at the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival
In September, I went for the second time to the annual Matera Women’s Fiction Festival, in the beautiful southern Italian town of Matera. The festival brings together many women –and a few men – writers of women’s fiction, including mainstream, romance, mystery, fantasy, thrillers, historical and young adult. There are so many changes going on…
Read MoreAuthor interview: Chantel Rhondeau
Okay, I have to be honest here from the start. I’m not a romance reader. Bare-chested men on book covers generally stop me from exploring the story within. And yet, here I am promoting a romance novel … complete with pectorals on display… and I really enjoyed this book. I became critique partners with Chantel…
Read MoreGreetings from the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival
This is an advance post anticipating the fun I’ll be having at the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival when this goes up. The annual festival is underway in the spectacular southern Italian town of Matera. If you haven’t seen my travel post on Matera and you’re flat out of ideas for your next holiday, be sure…
Read MoreWhy writing is like performing live at the Apollo
Okay, so some of you may not know the Apollo theater in New York. The theater began its life in 1914, as a burlesque hall. It closed in 1933, when then Mayor La Guardia began shutting down burlesque shows in the city. But in 1934, the theatre re-opened as the Apollo, catering to Harlem’s growing African-American…
Read MoreMy short story was selected for the Foreign Encounters Anthology 2012
I was pleased to learn that one of my short stories was selected for inclusion in the Foreign Encounters Anthology 2012. The publication will be released in October. Each year, Writers Abroad selects stories for their anthology, based on a theme. This year, authors were asked to submit a short story or non-fiction piece of…
Read MoreMy story ‘Holiday Bliss’ is now online
I announced a while back that my short story, Holiday Bliss, was selected for the upcoming edition of the WriteFrance anthology. The publication will be released later this month, but prior to its launch, the WriteFrance site has made the pdf file of the publication temporarily available online. If you’re interested in reading Holiday Bliss,…
Read More30 harshest author-on-author insults
As every author knows, learning to get critiqued and getting used to reading bad reviews is all part of the job description. Developing a thick skin (and a good sense of humor) is probably one of the best things a writer can do for himself or herself. I do believe writers can benefit from constructive…
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