Category: Contemporary Women Writers
10 Ways Art Can Improve Your Writing
Writing and the visual arts may seem different, but at their cores, both are about good storytelling. I’m a life-long art junkie. I took my first drawing class when I was in kindergarten, have a degree in Fine Arts from Vanderbilt University, and sketched the Old Masters in the great museums of Europe. This year, […]
Writing Well, Thanks to Mom
There was always a distance between my mother and my writing. For the longest time, she rarely read what I wrote. It bothered me a lot. And I often drowned in bitterness about it. When on Friday, May 30, 2014, I was invited to do one of my biggest literary readings in NYC at KGB […]
Motivating Factors in My Life
Martha Lemasters spent almost ten years working as a PR writer at Cape Kennedy as a member of IBM’s team on NASA’s Apollo Program. Those years saw remarkable success in seven Apollo launches and six moon landings. Lemasters worked her way up the ladder from secretary to a respected writer and managed to find her […]
Aiming For Balance
Like so many writers, I don’t rely solely on writing to make my living. My income comes from a range of sources: editing, journalism, creative writing teaching and even a little mentoring. This year there’s been the additional juggle of promotional work related to my book, Salt Creek. The common factor is words: love of […]
Chasing the Muse
Writers are often asked where they find their inspiration. ‘How on earth did you come up with that idea? I wouldn’t know where to start!’ For me, the ideas don’t flow until I begin writing, one thought then leading to another. I don’t know everything before I start, how could I? And would I still […]
Embrace Criticism, But Be True To Yourself
From our very first creative class, writers are conditioned to embrace honest – sometimes brutal – feedback, as a means of refining our art and making us into better authors. That said, it is human nature to feel cut to the bone when somebody lambasts our metaphorical baby – usually the result of months (or […]
Sending the Elevator Back Down
Several years ago, I heard an author say that when a writer “makes it,” it becomes his or her job to send the elevator back down for those waiting their turn. It was a great way to encourage authors who’ve made it to the other side—who got the publishing deal or who’ve seen their book […]
Awakening the Muse Through Meditation
Many of us know the nature of meditation is to sit and relax, focus on one’s breath, and clear the mind, but I’ve found meditation can do just the opposite for creativity. By that I don’t mean I meditate to stress out and create a web of random thoughts, but rather to open a calm […]
How Book Reviewing Influences My Writing
Before I published my books, and before I understood the importance of book reviews for an author, I always tried to leave a few sentences on Amazon and Goodreads about my reading experience. I’m a great believer in leaving (and reading) reviews for restaurants, holiday resorts, hotels, and other products, so why should books be […]
Letting The Story Open The Door
I love short stories. Reading them, writing them, choosing them for Literary Orphans, the online literary magazine I have the privilege to spend time with. In many ways, although I’ve written two novels and am half-way through a third, I feel that short stories will always be my home, and first love. The submitted pieces […]
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