How do you feel about banned books? I’m pretty opposed to banning books. I don’t think every book should be read, but I don’t think anything good can come of trying to ban books. In fact, I have a lovely coffee mug from Book Riot via Quarterly featuring the titles of banned books. I’ve heard… Read more »
Big Ideas
Picture Book Workshop and Manuscript Submission
In June, I attended a picture book workshop hosted by my local SCBWI chapter and led by editors Harold Underdown and Eileen Robinson. In addition to the picture book workshop, Harold and Eileen provided manuscript critiques and tips on revision. I submitted my story Mission: Compostable! for critique. Harold gave generally positive critique and suggested I… Read more »
Writers Rejection Slips
Do you keep track of your writers rejection slips? Way, way back when I first started submitting my short stories to literary magazines, I kept a big file full of all my writers rejection slips. Since I followed the advice of all the big writers’ advice magazines, I was sending out stories to ten different… Read more »
Regional dialect and writing
Does your story require writing in a regional dialect? I recently finished reading two books, Porgy and The Owl Service, that I believe were dependent on regional dialect to truly convey the stories and characters. Last year, I picked up Porgy after I heard an interview on Fresh Air with one of the performers in… Read more »
Writing Your Truth
Back in February, I attended the SCWBI Winter Conference. When people in my critique group, or other writers that I know online ask me how I felt about the conference, I answer that I felt both elated and deflated. I learned a lot, but I was also reminded that I had a lot more to… Read more »
Word Count
One of my favorite parts of NaNoWriMo is the word count widget. I love feeding my daily total into the widget and seeing the graph jump up, seeing the daily words increase, seeing the decrease in words per day to finish on time. I lost my first NaNoWriMo back in 2011, but won in both… Read more »
How to Stop Procrastinating
Just change your perspective.
Recipe for Success: Working Mom Tips
As a contributor to 30SecondMom, I have connected with interesting, motivated and funny moms across the country. These moms also offer some really excellent working mom tips, and as a working mom myself, I often find my balance shifts day to day, hour to hour. That’s why I’m proud to share this interview with fellow… Read more »
Writers Can Learn from Composting
Composting Composting can teach writers a lot. I am an avid composter and have trained my three sons to compost as well. In addition to being good for the environment, I have recently discovered how useful composting is for writers. I’ve often sat and thought about the magical process that transforms fairly gross old… Read more »
Great Ideas Waiting
(Click on the photo above for some great ideas.)