Category: How To and Tips
How Social Media Made Me a Better Author
How Social Media Made Me a Better Author I know, I know—this is kind of an annoying headline, because most of us have a love/hate relationship with social media, but hear me out! For the past ten years, I’ve worked as a social media manager for companies like BuzzFeed, Netflix, and Amazon Prime video. Much […]
What Makes Authors Real?
WHAT MAKES AUTHORS REAL? By Christina Hamlett Once upon a long ago time, a velveteen rabbit felt insecure and inadequate when he looked around at the fancier, mechanical toys in the playroom. How could he live a happy life when the bar to perfection was set too high and beyond his reach? Even real rabbits […]
On Writing Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research
Animal Allies: 15 Amazing Women in Wildlife Research Elizabeth Pagel-Hogan Chicago Review Press, 2022 When I started to work on Animal Allies, I looked for people working with known and unknown animals. There are birds, arthropods, sea creatures, reptiles and amphibians, and mammals. It was hard to only pick 15 animals though. I love animals. […]
What was it like to do a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing at 42?
What was it like to do a Master of Arts degree in Creative Writing at 42? There are lots of writing courses out there. Some are run by glittering literary agencies and publishing houses, and others by a collective of writers. And the cost varies vastly, with some completely free. So why would you want […]
Launching My Debut Novel At 75
DEBUT NOVEL AT 75 Grandma Moses started painting at the age of 78 and wrote an autobiography at 92. My debut novel, Sonju, was launched when I turned 75. I came to the States in 1970 when I was 24. My two children were born and raised here. They speak perfect English. You would think […]
The Stories In The Air
The Stories in the Air Where do stories come from? How do they appear? Anything you read about writing will tell you that inspiration is a very small part of the writing process and that the most important part-the part that gets things done, is the part where you sit down at your computer or […]
On Killing Your Darlings: Fighting the Hoarding Instinct
On Killing Your Darlings: Fighting the Hoarding Instinct I have a hard time letting go. My house is full of t-shirts I haven’t worn since high school, notes on epistemology and pre-Socratics from college, old essays on securities fraud. Stacks and stacks of popsicle stick creations, half-colored Thomas the Tank Engine print-outs, construction paper with […]
Strong Abdominals Equals Confidence in Writing
As a fitness professional for over forty years, I have been telling clients to hold in their abdominals. “Pull your belly in,” I’d say. “But you should still be able to breathe and talk, even sing.” Then I’d explain that having a strong core: belly, buttocks, and thighs, will not only allow you to hold […]
How Writing ROAR Saved My Life
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” Carl Jung I chose happy… Writing “Roar” saved my life, figuratively, if not literally. I was a victim of childhood sexual abuse, spousal attempted murder, physical abuse, and lifelong emotional abuse. I had survived traumatic brain injuries and two suicide attempts. […]
Fire and Ice: An Ode to Setting
Fire and Ice: An Ode to Setting by Meghan Holloway I fell in love the first time. I was in my late teens, and I had never before experienced that bitterness of the wind, those depths of snow, or that sheer wildness of a landscape. Yellowstone in the unrelenting grips of winter captured my heart […]
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