Tag: featured
Why It’s Important To Write -and Read- Romance and Erotica In An Age Of Plentiful Porn
He’s one of my oldest friends, and so, when the words come out of his mouth, I first think I’ve misheard him. “Excuse me?” I say. And he says it again, and I ask him to repeat it, again. No, that’s what he actually said. “How do your parents feel about your new career as […]
Terrific Writing Books Written By Women
One truism of the writing life is that for us to evolve, we really must have a “lifetime learner” mindset, because no matter what our skills, there’s always more to learn, and more ways to grow. The truly successful writers are those who never stop applying themselves, not when they hit the bestseller lists, or […]
How To Hook Your Readers From The Start
Leave it to the French. Earlier this year La Prixe de la Page 112, a French literary prize inspired by a quote from a Woody Allen film, announced their shortlist. The winner? The best page 112, chosen by jury, of that year’s new French releases, the contention being that by page 112 the editor and […]
Courage, Take The Wheel
Starting Out I didn’t choose to be a writer. I think it’s that way with most writers; we emerge from the womb spinning stories and stringing together sentences. It’s something encoded in our DNA. When I was four years old, I wrote my first book, scribbled illegibly in dull pencil and bound with a stapler, […]
An Open Letter to Writers at Every Stage of Publishing
Dear Writer, Isn’t it amazing how we wake in the pre-dawn hours, or stay up well past midnight to write? We sit alone at our desks with our words, letting them flow as a plot unfolds. In time, a story transpires, a manuscript is finished, and a book published. Writing is a lonely, isolated road […]
Creating A Family Through Fiction
I read recently about a woman who had no family photographs of her early life so collected pictures of people she didn’t know. For years, she trawled junk shops for old family portraits and strangers’ photo albums to invent a family history. Only as a new mum did she stop buying other people’s pasts and […]
Three Things I Wish I’d Known as an Expectant Author
“Please keep in mind; this is just my first book.” This is what I began telling friends and family several months ago when I was still up to my eyeballs in anxiety and final edits of my memoir, Pieces of Me: Rescuing My Kidnapped Daughters. I followed the announcement with a bunch of reasons why […]
The Good Wife Guide
Asparagus has its own breaking point, a place at which it will naturally snap when bent in half. Once this green spear breaks and rids itself of its unsavory bottom wonderful things are possible, roasted asparagus, grilled asparagus salad, asparagus frittatas . . .you get the idea. When one hits her own personal “bottom” they […]
Writing Outside My Comfort Zone
I confess: I’m not into fan fiction. It’s just not my thing. I’ve always been the kind of writer who likes to create my own world and characters. As a reader, I’ve just never explored all the fan fiction out there. But I am a fan of several series. I adore Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache […]
Connecting With Writers In The Real World
Why joining a writing group is so important.. When I originally had the dream of becoming a writer it was back in the days when you could hide away in your garret with your typewriter, go under a clever pseudonym, and no one need ever know! These days the life of a writer is very […]
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