I see you there—your ink well and your quill and your oak gall ink. Dip, think, scratch. Yeah, you’re writing. Chances are, as a writer, you enjoy being alone. Me, too. Did you ever think about why you like alone time? 2020 has taught us all many awful lessons—but it’s definitely taught me how much…
For me, the answer is an emphatic “Yes!” When I got my book contracts this year, they both came with an attached flurry of things I need to do for my marketing, and many are significantly in advance of my release date. Some of it was fairly easy. I mean, most of us who are…
Last week, Mary Gillgannon wrote about “Your Writing Home“—how some writers need a comfortable environment to help them focus on their writing, whether that’s a special place in their home or a coffee shop. I have a place like that, but I haven’t been able to use it for the past couple of months. I…
I’d always scoffed at folks who diligently signed up every November to pound out a new novel. I mean, I was a writer. It wasn’t a hard job, not like piloting a plane or finding a cure for cancer. All I had to do was put my butt in the chair, turn on my laptop,…
What is the first captivating “thing” company sees, senses, and touches? Large bulbs of color that hang from your gutters. Important? Those lights help place, or ground readers in your setting. Later, those decorated gutters fall off on the new car of your daughter’s boyfriend. The freshest of wreaths hangs on your door. Will that…