Getting started is hard. In fact, I’ll even admit to having had a hard time starting this blog post. I procrastinated in every way I could: attending to other projects, watching Youtube videos (even horrible ones, I’ll spare you a link), cleaning, tweeting, talking on the phone, exercising, etc. I knew I had to write […]
Category > Basics
Standing Out in the Slushpile: Some Basic Tips
For the past four-and-a-half months, I’ve hardly written anything, focusing instead on four anthology projects (Broken Time Blues, a reprint anthology, a young-adult anthology, and the re-release of Rigor Amortis). Before I get back to writing, and while the business of editing is fresh in my mind, I thought I should post my own version […]
Resolution: organization
Hellooooooo! Welcome to the new year. If you’re like me, you’ve made some resolutions (you, ten pounds–you’re going down!). If you’re a writing type–also, like me–you’re getting ducks in a row, setting goals and starting new projects. And if you live in the real world (don’t look at me, I just rent on this planet), […]
On spells & spelling: an interview with Blake Charlton
The day I downloaded Google Chrome, I realized something: I’m no longer the spelling queen I used to be. Watching Chrome mercilessly auto-spell-check my Tweets and Google searches made my heart hurt. Spelling sometimes seems trivial, but often I caught myself struggling and failing to spell a complicated word, only to settle for the next […]
What’s on your shelf?
If there’s anything better than writing, it’s reading about writing. Learning the basics, honing our craft, searching for inspiration, we fill our shelves with the wisdom of those who have gone before. The first book on writing that I ever bought was Telling Lies for Fun and Profit, by Lawrence Block. It contains great advice […]
What kind of stories do you write?
There are questions that every author dreads to hear. Usually it’s something along the lines of “Where do you get your ideas?â€, which I don’t actually mind. Mine is “What kind of stories do you write?†It’s a fair question I ask. I often glare jealously at my friends as they whip out answers to […]
Writing Groups: Why You Should Join One
A few years ago I quit my job to focus on writing. Prior to my last day, and in preparation for my new career as a novelist, I took a day course on how to write the break-out novel from respected New York agent Donald Maass, and picked up a few writing books (all of […]
If not “hello,” then what?
Did you know that the word “hello” didn’t reach the English vernacular until the 1800’s?  It evolved from the word “hullo,” which you still occasionally hear in British movies.  So even though “hi” always sounds new-fangled and fun, it might prove to be  a better choice for a greeting when you’re writing historical fiction.  “Hi” […]
