If you write young adult or children’s stories or pen historical romance novels, check out my interview with Dawn Carrington, editor in chief of Vinspire Publishing because on June 1st they’ll be opening up unagented submissions… This Writer’s Life (TWL)-Can you tell us when Vinspire Publishing launched and the types of books you publish? Dawn Carrington…
Category: Writing How Tos
Hi Susan-What Do You Retire A Story?
Time for another Hi Susan. This one was sent to me by Janey who asked… I wrote what I thought was a great short story but I’ve sent it to just about every publication on my list and still no luck. When and how do you decide to call it quits on getting a…
Don’t Make Writing More Difficult
I don’t know about other writing teachers and coaches, but the first thing I ask my students is why have you picked that genre? Most of the time, the response is because their romance fans or always loved mysteries. However, sometimes I hear these words…it’s the hottest genre right now and I’ll sell a lot…
How to Get Published with Hallmark
One dream 99 percent of my students share with me is, I want to write a Hallmark movie or novel. I call myself a dream inspirer. While I can’t guarantee any of them will one day pen a movie that airs on Hallmark, last week, I took the first step that I hope will get them one…
Saturday Seminar-Writing With Five Senses
Welcome to the first Saturday Seminar. What’s a Saturday Seminar? It’s a post that will focus on improving your writing. One small element that can make a good story, great. This first one will focus on writing with all five senses. One of the biggest challenges for us writers, is figuring out how to transfer what’s…
The Value of the Delete Button
Here’s today’s guest blogger D.V Stone with why the delete button is a good thing… Shakespeare said in Merchant of Venice, “All that glitters is not gold.” Unfortunately, for an author, neither are all your words. Many people think editing is chasing down grammar and punctuation issues. That’s true, but editing a novel is so…
How I Plot My Novels with Joan Ramirez
Say hello to this week’s guest blogger, Joan Ramirez, who tells us how she plots her novels… I’m a great believer in exercise as stimulus for writing a novel. While doing yoga, I tune into my inner psyche to think about my protagonist and how I will introduce her to the reader in the first…
How To Be A Great Hooker
Did the title of this post get your attention? I’m guessing some people will seek this out thinking it’s about a very different topic. I could have said how to write a great opening to your story. My aim wasn’t to fool anyone but to show you how you can draw readers into a story. Or, in this case,…
Monday Motivation-Tiny Achievements Big Results
You know by now I love taking a quote and giving it a writing centric twist. This one reminds us to celebrate all successes no matter how small. The first letter to an editor ever published. Your first byline. The first published short story. The first time you win a contest. The very first…
Creating Character Boards with Victoria Jayne
Have you ever thought about creating a character board? Here’s guest blogger Victoria Jayne to tell you all about them…. If you don’t already know, one of the cool things about Thursdays is #ThursdayAesthetic on Twitter. This hashtag is great for writers because it gives us the opportunity to share our visual inspirations with the…