The 2024 Colorado Gold Writers Conference, The Next Chapter, starts today! I am looking forward to seeing writers I’ve known for years, greeting social media acquaintances, and making new friends. If this is your first time at the conference, be prepared for a rootin’-tootin’ non-stop weekend. You’ll go home exhausted, but you’ll also go home…
Earlier this month, I had the honor of moderating my first BoucherCon panel, titled Walk the Line, Must Fiction Always Follow the Rules? In preparation, I set about determining which rules we might discuss and quickly discovered, as W. Somerset Maugham quipped, “There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what…
As a writer, finding the right tools can make all the difference between staying a newbie forever or graduating to published author. Over the years, I’ve tried countless gadgets, apps, and software—some were a waste, but others were game-changers. The tools and activities that stuck with me didn’t just improve my writing process; they became…
If you’re a writer, you’ll hear this question a thousand times before you finally brain someone and end up in jail: “What is your story about?” At writing conferences, retreats, pitch events, backyard barbeques, Thanksgiving dinner, the airplane when the passenger next to you asks what you do, and let’s face it, from your cellmate…
When I have the time, and sufficient inclination, I can write a short story in a week. After the first edit, if I’m pleased to find the story sounds pretty good, I leave it alone for awhile. While the new story rests, I send it to an old college friend (actually, we’re both old). This…