Winning any type of writing contest is fun. Winning a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Rush Literary Award is a cause for major celebration! (Cue the balloon drop and confetti!) In September, the winners of the 2022 RMFW Colorado Gold Rush Literary Awards were announced at the annual RMFW conference in Aurora, CO. The…
There are hundreds of writing conferences to choose from; how to pick the best one? It’s RMFW’s Colorado Gold. That was easy. Shortest blog post ever. Ok, but if you want to go to more than one, here are some factors to consider based on my country-wide tour of writing conferences this year. Size. WorldCon…
Among we mere mortals, “thank you” is one of the first phrases we teach our children. It’s also one of the few phrases (sometimes the only one) we learn in other languages. Most of us are familiar with “Gracias,” “Merci,” “Grazie,” “Arigato,” or “Bitte,” after all. Saying “thank you” is such a fundamental part of…
For more context on this topic, please see my post from last month on how to find an editor for your WIP. As a quick recap, interviewing your editor beforehand will lay the best groundwork for understanding the type of edit you’ve requested and the context for the advice (eventually) given. Now all you can…
When an idea for a book first comes to me, I generally have a fairly good idea of who my characters are and what their conflicts and challenges are going to be. But I don’t always know their names. Occasionally, they arrive with a name that instantly fits them. More often I have to give…