Hear that whooshing sound? Kind of like an Amtrak train speeding through the countryside? That was the month of November hurtling past in a blaze of turkey and pumpkin pie-filled glory. November was also a month full of words--a little over 50,000, to be more precise--because wonder of wonders, I not only survived my first … Continue reading What I Learned From My First NaNoWriMo
Giving Thanks, Plus NaNo Updates
My daughter came home from Sunday school last week with a paper she was excited to share. "Mom," she said, "we talked about being thankful at church." Then she read me the questions on her sheet, plus her answers: Think about your closet. How many shirts do you have? Sixty. (Just a wee bit high...but she … Continue reading Giving Thanks, Plus NaNo Updates
The Power of Voice
"Vox populi, vox Dei." My kids study Latin as part of their homeschool work (I know, I'm a mean teacher). One of their books last year contained the above Latin saying, which means, "The voice of the people is the voice of God." Now, while I don't agree that people speak in place of God, … Continue reading The Power of Voice
To NaNo or Not to NaNo? That Is the Question.
If you've been in the writing world longer than a millisecond, you've probably heard of NaNoWriMo. For those of you who are readers and not writers, it's short for National Novel Writing Month. Essentially the goal is to write a short novel (50,000 words) in the month of November. That breaks down to writing about … Continue reading To NaNo or Not to NaNo? That Is the Question.
Cover Reveal for The Tank
Happy fall, dear friends! Can you believe 2018 is already nearly to its end? One of my goals for this past year was to publish something, and I'm so excited to let you all know that one of my short stories will be hitting Kindle Select later this month. As mentioned in my previous post, … Continue reading Cover Reveal for The Tank
Interview on My Writing Process (plus a special announcement…)
Hi friends! I'm throwing in a short extra post this month, because I've had the honor of being interviewed by writer Arthur Macabe for his series Interviews from the Void. My interview, Episode #32, just went live this week on his blog. Arthur asks some wonderful, thought-provoking questions about my writing process and pulls together … Continue reading Interview on My Writing Process (plus a special announcement…)
9 Ways to Find Brilliant Story Ideas
Okay, true story. Tonight while I was sitting down to edit a short story, two weeks snuck up behind me and hit me in the back of the head. Ack, how could it be time for a new blog post again already? So, I'm kind of cheating. Here's an expanded version of a post I … Continue reading 9 Ways to Find Brilliant Story Ideas
How Twitter Changed My Mind About Social Media
For the record, I'm one of those weird people who doesn't really like technology. Don't get me wrong, I put it to use--I'm typing this blog post on a laptop. Often I stream music from my phone to a wireless Bose speaker using Spotify. I send emails, watch Netflix, do Google searches, let my kids … Continue reading How Twitter Changed My Mind About Social Media
Late Summer Reflections
August can be a rough month. The heat reaches its peak, and here in Michigan, where people tenaciously cling to the false belief that it doesn't get hot enough to need an air conditioner, we sweat. Humidity rolls in off the lake, bringing along intermittent rain showers that manage to miss our yard entirely. The … Continue reading Late Summer Reflections
Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Tips for Querying Literary Agents
One of the things I love about this blog is being able to share with you what I'm learning on my writing journey. Lately, I've been spending a lot of time reading up on how to query literary agents. As you might guess, thanks to my BFF Google, there's plenty to find on this topic. … Continue reading Putting Your Best Foot Forward: Tips for Querying Literary Agents
