I don't care how brilliant or inspired my writing is on any given day, it loses steam if I'm doing everything on my own. There's something indescribable about sitting right next t to someone while I work that transforms me, my work, and my time into something of increased worth. Whether it's cleaning house side by side, brainstorming creative ideas together, or just voicing fears out loud to…
I took this photo as I was getting ready for a sprint during NaNoWriMo. My friend, who has done NaNoWriMo several times before, (I consider her one of the hardened, battle-ready pros), told me to take a "before" and "after" shot of my workspace, because it was about to slide from well-intentioned organization mode down the slope to complete insanity survival mode. The office didn't get quite as messy…
Last week I received my first writing review with some serious professional clout. As you know if you've been following this blog, I was a quarter-finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards this year for my novel Moonlight and Oranges, which is a huge honor and a nice pat on the back. I'd never made it this far in a large contest before. After the quarter-finals, comes…
Give a song lyric and a one sentence pitch for what your story is about. This was the prompt that lead me to enter the writing contest hosted by Larry Brooks at www.Storyfix.com The idea inspired me. Writing contests are great practice for presenting yourself, but it's even better when they stir something inside you. A week later I was in for a delightful surprise. I sifted through the words…