Madeline McEwan is back as this week’s guest blogger… This month, September, represents a series of firsts for me:- First visit to New York City, even though we’ve lived in the States for more than two decades. First interstate flight for my two autistic adult sons—they’re coming with us, reluctantly. First book launch for the…
Author: This Writer's Life
Wednesday Writing Prompts-The Road to Fall
It’s now officially fall (well, maybe spring for some of you), so I thought we’d use a fall prompt. Your character journeys along this road. Where is it and why have that chosen this route? Are they going to meet someone? If you’re journaling, you can use this photo to write something about a fall…
What’s On My Bookshelf-Stein On Writing
Thought I’d give you another glimpse of what’s on my bookshelf…books that I consider keepers for writers. This time it’s Stein on Writing by Sol Stein. This is a book I wished I’d had from day one but it came into my possession late in my career…years after I was first published. However, I always say an…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Fall Reading List
It’s almost fall but this week it’s felt like summer. Hot, humid, and air conditioning time again. The leaves are falling and piling up. There’s something about raking them when it’s hot that feels strange to me. Years ago, it used to be chilly and you’d want to head indoors for something hot. How things…
When One Door Closes…
Judy Penz Sheluk is back again and shares with us a story that illustrates how when one door closes another one opens… It was July 7, and I was enjoying a well-deserved six-week vacation at our camp on Lake Superior when the email arrived in my inbox: my traditional publisher, Barking Rain Press (BRP), announced that…
Wednesday Writing and Journaling Prompts-Strange Objects
For this week’s short story prompt, another photo one. Your character opens the front door to see these three figures sitting outside. How did they get there, who put them there and why? For those of you opting to journal, has anything strange like this happened to you? Objects mysteriously showing up and had no idea where…
Writing Rituals
Last week, I listened to an interview with an artist who was talking about how to free yourself from a creative block. She gave lots of great tips but one in particular struck a chord with me. Rituals. You’ve heard me mention many times that I didn’t write novels for almost a decade after my…
Monday Motivation-Make A Reader Happy
This might seem like a strange quote to motivate you to write, but think about this. What if the story you’ve been hesitating to write, putting off finishing, or even too afraid to submit, is one that’s going to bring a smile to someone’s face? A story so beautiful it turns a bad day into…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Friday the 13th
I hadn’t realized today was Friday the 13th until I turned on my laptop this morning. I come from a family with tales of just about every supersition that’s out there. Still to this day, I still won’t put a hat on the bed or new shoes on the kitchen table, I could go on for quite awhile….
Writing for Fun
Today’s guest blogger is Mike Lord who shares with us his writing process and why he decided to self-publish his books… People often ask me when I prefer to write. With me it’s not like that at all: When I think of a story I work out the plot and an outline of the characters…