I have seen a common theme in many RMFW posts lately on a subject I am quickly learning is key to success: gratitude. As the year wraps up and my dreams of being a traditionally published author are just days away from fruition, I usher in my favorite season with a warm “soul blanket” of…
Author: Dacia Arnold
Dacia M Arnold is an award-winning American novelist, freelance writer, mother, and ten-year Army Veteran. She is the author of a science fiction series and a small collection called The Brightest Firefly. As a freelance writer, Dacia contributes monthly to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s blog where she shares her relatively short experience in the literary world. She will never turn down an invitation to karaoke, because she is here to party but also be in bed by 8pm.
The Angst
The angst. There is a substantial possibility I’m of the rare variety of writer who harnesses performance anxiety into hyper-performance. There is a unique variation on a familiar saying: “Do what you love, and you’ll work super hard all the time with no separation or boundaries and also take everything extremely personal.” This statement is likely true for…
How and Why I Mastered Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a foreign language to most authors. The goal of SEO is for your audience to easily find you by searching your name or your book title. Most people never search past the first page of results given by the search engine. So, you must optimize your search-ability within these…
A Basic Guide to Flash Fiction
A few years ago, I hit writer’s block. I was halfway through writing my first novel and I was stuck. I needed a side project, something to give my brain a break from my work-in-progress but keep me on track with my writing habits. This was when I discovered flash fiction. Flash fiction is an…
Sisters in Arms: Female Characters in Contemporary Military Fiction
I am a U.S. Army veteran of ten years. I deployed twice to Iraq with a Combat Support Hospital (think M*A*S*H* but in today’s wars). Now I’m a 34-year-old mom of two small children. One thing I experience as a female veteran on all platforms is that many people forget women serve and have served…