Tag: featured

Thank You, Carolyn See: Learning To Make My Own Literary Life

Thank You, Carolyn See: Learning To Make My Own Literary Life

How do we come by all of these writing books? Because most writers do not go out and buy a library of books all at once. Rather, they come into our lives one book at a time. We accrue the basics via instructors, classes, friends or resources listed in the back of other books. New […]

My Writing Process By Nina Restieri

My Writing Process By Nina Restieri

From the outside, it looked like she had it all figured out, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing, which made her miserable – and being miserable made her feel guilty. Looking around, she realized that most of the other moms she knew were hiding their own overwhelm, sadness, and stress behind […]

April 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
How I Improved My Writing And Found My Writing Voice

How I Improved My Writing And Found My Writing Voice

Five years ago, I quit my job to write. Thinking I knew what the task required—a computer, ideas, and time, I devoted myself to the job I’d been waiting my whole life to embrace. And embrace it, I did, tapping at that keyboard ceaselessly until my first draft was complete. Proud of my completed work, […]

April 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
SHE IS A WRITER  Leslie A. Rasmussen

SHE IS A WRITER Leslie A. Rasmussen

Leslie A. Rasmussen Have you wondered what someone would say in their eulogy at your funeral? Would they describe what kind of person you were, or what you had accomplished? Would they have enough to say about you? When you are in the middle of your life and you look back at all the things […]

April 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

Most fiction readers fall in love with a book because of the characters. I’m no exception. As a person who reads an average of seventy-five books per year, it’s my experience that characters are the most important element in a story. Without believable characters, nothing else holds together. Think of Gollum, for instance. There aren’t […]

April 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
How Being a “Regular Mom” Inspired Me to Write a Series for Parents

How Being a “Regular Mom” Inspired Me to Write a Series for Parents

It is with a heavy heart that we share author Karen Bongiornio passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 61 in early February due to a spontaneous cerebellar hematoma. Karen was so proud and excited for her upcoming book, The ABCs of Being Mom: Advice and Support from the Mom Next Door, Birth Through Kindergarten, being published on April 6th. Being […]

April 6, 2021 | By | Reply More
Writing About Social Injustice, With Monsters

Writing About Social Injustice, With Monsters

Blending fact with fiction is complicated enough. But when the fact is a well-known tale of social injustice that happened in a place that would later become home to a beloved baseball team, let’s just say I approached the project like a prickly pear cactus. I’m talking about Chavez Ravine, home of the Los Angeles […]

April 5, 2021 | By | 1 Reply More
A Yearning To Connect

A Yearning To Connect

A Yearning To Connect There are many ways that writers fight the isolation inherent in what we do. One is forging alliances with other writers, building a community that understands the creative process and comes together to celebrate the triumphs and soothe the sting of the rejections. Over the past six years and a newbie […]

April 5, 2021 | By | Reply More
The Blurry Line Between Fiction and Reality

The Blurry Line Between Fiction and Reality

In a recent interview with my local radio station, I was asked if I write about real people. My answer was a very adamant no. This was not a fabricated response. But. It is not an entirely truthful one either.  When Her Guilty Secret, my most recent book came out, my older daughter came into […]

April 2, 2021 | By | 2 Replies More
RUTHLESS WOMEN: Excerpt

RUTHLESS WOMEN: Excerpt

“A juicy tale of bitterness, jealousy and revenge. The perfect summer page turner – don’t miss it” —Heat  “Melanie Blake is Jackie Collins for a new generation – The Thunder Girls is the perfect summer read” —Bella Magazine RUTHLESS WOMEN Ruthless Women takes readers on a wild ride behind the scenes of beloved TV drama Falcon Bay, beamed […]

April 1, 2021 | By | Reply More