By Jeanne Stein Recently I was asked to talk about what inspires me as a writer and a person. My first automatic response was everything. But then I realized I might be confusing inspiration with the process of creation—-taking an idea and developing it into a story. Two different things. The muse that sparks an…
Category: Blog
The Second Book is Like Sex … by Aaron Michael Ritchey
My first time with actual sex was a disaster. I won’t go into details, but let’s just say no one, not the warmest, fuzziest romance writer nor the sleaziest porn producer could capture the tragi-comedy of my first sexual experience. But I’d like to think I got better with the whole sex thing. I did it right at least twice: both the sex thing and the book thing.
Early Influences
By Katriena Knights I’ve been watching a lot of retro TV lately, as I mentioned in some of my earlier posts. I’ve also been reading books I read when I was in junior high (shut up—that’s what we called it back then…) and high school. To my surprise, I’ve been enjoying most of it,…
J. Ellen Smith; Pioneer in Modern Times
Champagne Book Group publishes both electronically and in paperback formats, and Ellen will be coming from their offices in High River, near Calgary, Alberta to speak about the publishing process, meet new talented writers, and accept pitches at the Gold Pitch Sessions. She expressed a small concern, however, that writers use a professional attitude during the conference time.
Six Short Story Traps and Quick Escapes, Plus a Giveaway
Henry David Thoreau once wrote: “Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” Henry nailed it; writing short is more challenging than writing long. There is promise and magic inherent in the short story, but there are common common traps that waylay unwary writers.