For the last six years I’ve been suffering from serious writer’s block. I did write three books during that time, but it was a total slog. I made myself write, instead of wanting, yearning to write, which was the way it had been for the previous twenty years. Never before had I struggled to put…
Category: General Interest
What We Like to Hear. What We Don’t Like to Hear. What We Need to Hear.
I remember one or two arguments with my mom when I was little where she insisted she had told me something and I swore I’d never heard it. Later, when I was married, these arguments went both ways—one of us insisting we told the other something and they swearing we never did. I have since…
Crafting Unforgettable Atmosphere
Recently, I’ve been in the mood for a certain type of book—books like Coraline by Neil Gaiman, The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier, and the Lockwood & Co. series by Jonathan Stroud (all of which I highly recommend). They’re all dark, spooky, and supernatural. In other words, they all have a certain atmosphere. Atmosphere is…
It’s October, and Halloween isn’t the only scary thing out there
It’s been a month since the Colorado Gold Conference. Since that incredible high of being surrounded by other writers, listening to speakers, attending presentations. If you’re like me, you came home so motivated to get going on that WIP, or start a new book, or revise, or even submit that under-the-bed manuscript that really IS…
Free Online Marketing Courses
Book marketing. Ugh. Whether your novel has been released by a major publisher or your own indie-publishing company, it’s a grudging fact of life for most authors. I envy those authors who tackle their marketing plans with enthusiasm and endless energy. I’m one of those who has an “attitude” about it. Suffering from an inferiority complex…