Category: How To and Tips
How I Harnessed the Wisdom of My Inner Critic and Finally Became an Author
For too long, fear and blame stopped me from writing. The decades ticked by without me completing a book—something I’d wanted to do my whole life. I was immobilized by fear of not being good enough. I blamed my father for expecting perfection and critical junior high English teachers who stole the fun I had […]
Like It, Share It, Hashtag It: How to Incorporate Social Media into Your Novels
How many social networks have you logged onto today? One? Two? Five? I’ve been on at least eight and it’s barely noon. I’ve discussed books with people I’ll never meet in person, shared pictures with friends who live on other continents, and discovered (and pinned) a tasty-looking recipe involving sweet potatoes and figs. (I also […]
The Challenges of Writing Women’s History
When I began work on Heroines of Mercy Street I assumed that there were already lots of books on the subject and I feared that there wouldn’t be anything new for me to say. After all, everyone knew what Civil War nurses looked like, right? In fact, I was wrong on both counts. Nurses on […]
New Writers’ Scheme
It’s a truth universally acknowledged fact that, no-one ever succeeded by giving up. And that’s certainly true where writing is concerned. I would also add that no-one succeeded in writing without the advice and support of others. I’ve always been a bookworm and read a great deal as a child. It, therefore, seemed a natural […]
The Nine Month Gestation Period of a Digital Author
I never set out to be a digital author. In fact, between you and me I had only the vaguest of ideas of what that even meant. I was due to head off to a crime writing weekend in March 2016 when a friend posted that Killer Reads, a digital first imprint of Harper Collins, […]
Motivate Me!
My interest in alternative therapies, spirituality, and holistic health began when I was a young teenager. I collected crystals, dream journals, and books on every topic imaginable from palmistry to Zen philosophy. My first tarot card pack was purchased with my pocket money when I was just thirteen years old – I still use that […]
Talent Is Nice; Desire Is Everything
The only reason I’m a writer is because when I ask myself, “What else would I do?” I have no answer. I mean, I literally have no answer. Yes, I might have distant, romantic dreams of becoming an architect, but I do not possess the necessary skills – not even close. For me, adding three […]
If Not Now, Then When? If Not You, Then Who?
Let’s face it. No matter which stage of life we’re at, there never seems a good time to do that one thing that we know we want to do: the right time to have children, change jobs, go back to school, or…write that novel we’ve been wanting to write for the last twenty-three years. Why […]
From Blogging To Memoir
During the last six or seven years I owned and ran my bed and breakfast, I began writing again on a regular basis, sometimes 4-5 hours a day. It all started when I visited my youngest daughter and her husband one Christmas. He was in marketing and was constructing a new blog for his business. […]
Why Book Clubs are the New Book Tour
When I announced the release date of my debut novel, The House of Bradbury, the first question people asked was, “When’s the big book tour?” After rattling off a couple of venues in the works, I was greeted with wide eyes and enthusiastic nods. I could tell my reality was suddenly being compared to every […]
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