Back in November, I was poised at the starting line of my first NanoWriMo. Time to finish that novel I’d been chipping away at for almost two years. Then came the dreaded e-mail: there had been a confirmed case of COVID-19 at my middle daughter’s elementary school. Her class would be quarantining until ten days…
In the last six weeks, I’ve had to work on edits for two different books for two different publishers. The key word here, I’m finding, is “different”. I had a publisher several years ago, and that book went through three or four rounds of edits. It was an eye opener to have someone see your…
“Everything you look at can become a fairy tale and you can get a story from everything you touch.” (Hans Christian Andersen) Inspiration can truly come from anything, if we leave ourselves open to it. Anything you see, hear, smell, taste, feel, or dream could become part of the story that you’re writing—or maybe the…
This month I hosted my 78th interview for Hear Us Roar where my guests are debut authors of women’s fiction, so it’s a perfect time to share some tips from the last 2+ years about using this medium as part of your book marketing package. As of February 2021, there are 1.75 million podcasts out…
Want to see a writer blanch? Whisper the words “pitch session” into their ear. Just make sure you catch them on their way to the floor when their knees buckle. What is this feared thing? A pitch session is your 10-minute opportunity to talk one-on-one with that most elusive of creatures: an agent or editor….