One of the tough things authors have to do is to write a query letter for an agent or editor. Your query letter, according to Jane Friedman, should contain five […]
creative writing
Polishing Your Work
Book 3 is finished at last, and I’m doing the first of several edits and polishing jobs. Here are a few tips on polishing your work until it sparkles. Read […]
How to Avoid Being Published
Here are 10 ways NOT to get published – unfortunately, most of them are tried and tested. Stick to your first draft. After all, your writing is perfect as it […]
How to Win NaNoWriMo
I’ve finished a day early – 50,000 words in 29 days. Here’s how to do it: Write every day – this isn’t an option during November. Even if you don’t […]
NaNoWriMo – Pantser or Plotter?
Current word count: 30,433 … and I’ve just come up with a major subplot for the lads Thought I’d discuss the two basic types of writers this post. Well, actually […]
Organization
People have asked me how I organize my work. Do I use a stack of index cards? A cork board? Computer files? The answer is yes. I do have a […]
Get Out of the House
Sometimes the same old writing space just isn’t stimulating your creativity any longer. If you’re staring at your walls waiting for inspiration, try shaking things up by getting out of […]
Handling Rejection
My story didn’t make the cut for the Malice Domestic anthology, which sort of bums me out … but at least they were polite enough to email me and let […]
The End
Book Two is finished … well, the first draft is done This is only the beginning, though. I’ve got the first edit to do – go through reading for continuity […]
Good News!
I just learned that I placed first in my group for a flash fiction challenge. We’re starting with around 60 groups and weeding down to one winner in December. […]