Cover Art–What to Ask/Expect for Your Cover

Now that we are officially into NANOWRIMO, there is a great article about what expectations publishers have for covers and cover artists HERE. And don’t forget the blog from a few weeks ago HERE. Covers are no less important for self publishers. Get a great illustration for your ebook HERE or check out Kickstarter.com — […]

Getting Ready for NANOWRIMO

Do you have your ‘what if’ ready? Need some inspiration? Is your muse asleep or on strike?

I’m just not that into me

When Tolkien was trying to write Lord of the Rings, he didn’t have a blog. He didn’t even have an agent. He just had a very determined publisher. It took decades to finish and even longer for it to be printed. During this time, Tolkien did not go on publicity tours. He simply continued his […]

Getting Ready for NANOWRIMO

I’ve written two complete novels (neither one published, btw) with NANOWRIMO. I think it’s about the best idea to happen to writers since the invention of ebooks. Everyone has a story in them. Some of them are a little more interesting than others, but the great thing about NANOWRIMO turning thousands of amateurs into dedicated […]

Warming up for NANOWRIMO

Do you have your ‘what if?’ ready? http://www.amazon.com/What-Writing-Exercises-Fiction-Writers/dp/0062720066 http://ezinearticles.com/?Creative-Writing-Prompts—What-If?&id=3952836 http://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/770807-What-if-Prompts http://www.writingforward.com/journal-writing/journal-prompts/what-if-journal-prompts http://murderby4.blogspot.com/2009/07/writing-what-if-scenario.html

When Your Muse Goes On Strike

Many writers, professional and not, are at the mercy of very fickle Muses. Like OWS protestors or Union workers, Muses are very good at showing you their dissatisfaction, but not so good on explaining why or how to remedy it. For this reason I have written a list of common symptoms. The symptoms of a […]

You Think Too Much…

One thing the internet has shown us quite clearly is that everyone wants to be heard. No one understands this desire better than authors. The opposite end of the spectrum has also been exposed through the power of message boards, blogs, fan sites, Goodreads and Amazon.com reviews: You think too much. I read a book […]

Staying True to Your Story & Characters

Last night I was watching Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire with my daughter and I remembered that it was the first book in the series where I felt JK Rowling was starting to manipulate her characters. It wasn’t only that Harry was starting to do things that seemed unnatural, even for a prodigy wizard, the […]

Sick of Writing Advice?

Every morning I get up and I search the twitter hashtag #writing to see if I can find articles by writers with some great advice. I do it as much to network as to find advice because I’m not really looking for advice. I’ve spent more than 20 years writing and the advice articles may […]

Post-It-Note Brainstorming

I have a confession to make: I love paper. You might have noticed this if you’ve browsed my site and have seen my art page. When I write, I do it on a chunky little notepad, sheets of Hello Kitty paper or a spiral bound journal. Even my mouse pad is paper. Sometimes I think […]