Keep going all you amazing NaNo writers!

I’m not among you, all you fabulous NaNoWriMo participants, but I do know many of you must have reached a writing slump, and I  wanted to cheer you on from the sidelines as you reach the final stretch. For those of you unfamiliar with it, The National Novel Writing Month  is an annual challenge to…

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Author Kathryn Maeglin tackles serious topics with humor in her novel A Hunka Hunka Nursing Love

I’m pleased to introduce Kathryn Maeglin’s book and to chat with her about her writing.  Kathryn and I ‘met’ virtually through the wonderful, new Women’s Fiction Writer’s Association. If you’re a women’s fiction writer and haven’t run across this group yet, take a look at its new web site here. Kathryn, an American midwest-based former…

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Working art into literature

As an undergraduate in a school that didn’t have minors, I unwittingly almost triple majored in art history. I’d accumulated so many classes in it that by senior year I was just shy a couple. In the end, living in Italy, I (only half jokingly) claim it’s the most important subject I ever studied. After all, here in Italy…

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Author interview with Crime & Passion’s Chantel Rhondeau

Chantel Rhondeau is a talented writer of romantic suspense and one of my first critters over at the on-line critique group Critique Circle. Over at Critique Circle, I’ve been the beneficiary of all of Chantel’s helpful critiques, which have done so much to help me improve my work. And I’ve also had the chance to review…

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Start those revisions with Critique Circle

I’ve already written about my wonderful, face-to-face writing group that I have here in Rome. I look forward to those meetings every two weeks and enjoy the company of a talented group of American writers in Rome. But I tend to write a lot and need a way to keep myself on-track with revisions. As…

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What 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…

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The 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…

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Joining 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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