Tag: women writers
My Journey of Writing and Autoimmune Disease
It’s been almost a decade since I began writing to share with others, I was blessed, I was offered two different publishing contracts and within six months became a best-selling author. I was living my dream. After only a few years life had different plans. I began getting sick and didn’t even realize it. I […]
5 (Just The) Tips for Writing Authentic Sex Scenes
Several years ago, a Danish friend of mine made a casual remark that stunned me. “Growing up in Denmark, sex was just another way of hanging out,” she said. I stared at her, trying to make sense of this statement. “You mean . . . like watching TV together or going for coffee?” “Yes,” she […]
Manifesting Time and Me – Leah E. Reinhart
Being a new author comes with its fair amount of challenges, especially when juggling multiple jobs. It can be expensive and extremely time consuming. But, I’ve never been one for doing things the easy way. For example, I finished my first manuscript during the time I opened up my business; The Wellness Garden Tool Shed, […]
On the “Critical vs. Creative” Divide
As an English instructor, one of the most common claims I hear from students is that they are either “critical” or “creative” writers. Academic writing is dry and logical and difficult, they insist; by contrast, fiction writing is freeing, enabling, liberating. Sometimes they put the two into a relationship: creative writers make the art, and […]
Giving Ourselves Permission to Write
Most women writers I know—published, unpublished, bestsellers and beginners—are wrestling with the problem of balance. How do we find time for our writing when we are also responsible for kids, households, pets, partners, aging parents, social expectations and day jobs? Far too often, by the time we work our way through the To Do list […]
When Abandoning Your Novel Makes Sense
I have five novels in print, one in the drawer, and last month I abandoned my latest manuscript after a year. While my self-esteem is in free fall, I’m not second-guessing my decision. That manuscript needed to die. Abandoning it was easy, a quiet moment of truth born from an epiphany: I’d woven together two […]
How I Learned to Improve My Craft
Everyone imagines sending their book off to an agent and magic happens. When I put my first finished novel in the mail, I thought it was going to be a best seller. Then I got form rejection after form rejection. I know now that a form rejection means the agents probably weren’t getting past the […]
Authors Interviewing Their Characters: Jacqueline Sheehan
In the novel, The Tiger in the House, Hayley, a six year-old girl, is the survivor of a triple homicide. Due to her age, but more importantly the trauma, she is unable to give Delia, a child protection worker, any information that would find Hayley’s parents or information about the violent crime. The author, Jacqueline […]
Why do I write?
Why do I write? I want to give a noble answer – like saying that I always knew I’d be a writer, that I worshipped Louisa May Alcott, that I wrote my first story at the age of three. I want to say that I need to write like I need to breathe. To feel […]
Characters and Craft – Learning To Leave Yourself Behind
Literary fiction is a strange, yet compelling animal. So much emphasis on language, rhythm, imagery. And let’s not forget character. Some novels are all about the character and the mad world behind her eyes. When I started writing fiction, my characters had a bad habit of sounding a lot like me. Sadly, they suffered from […]
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