Daily discipline has never been my strong suit. Anyone who’s ever asked me about my writing process for read an interview or post about it, knows that I am deadline driven. I write more (more words, more often) the closer I get to the due date. That method has problems though. Not every project has […]
All For Writers Posts
Nancy Pearl’s Four Doors to Reading
Nancy Pearl is known in bookish circles as the Super Librarian (she even has an actual, real-life action figure). Besides being an all around awesome librarian, she has one particular theory that is especially helpful for writers. She has identified the four doorways into reading, aka the four reasons people fall in love with books. The Four […]
My 10 Year Writingversary
Picture it: Madison, Wisconsin, December 2013. My mom and I were traveling for her work, and while she was out doing business during the day, I hung out in Starbucks finishing my first ever book. That book, a never-to-be-published Regency historical romance called Summer Sapphire, was not the first book I started. But it was the […]
Essential Writing Low-Tech
Late last year I wrote about my essential writing tech (including my Alphasmart, earbuds, and Write or Die) but I need to give equal respect to the low tech side of my writing life. As much as I embrace technology in my writing and everyday lives, I depend just as much on some low tech […]
Essential Writing Tech
One of the most common questions I get when speaking at a signing or event is about my writing process, what a typical writing day is like for me. Or even what is my must-have item for writing. My first response is usually that I have to leave the house. I write most of my […]
On the Topic of Reviews
Reviews. Love ’em, hate ’em, never read ’em. No matter your policy, they’re always causing a stir. Reviews they are critical responses (whether good or bad) to something very emotional. If the act of creation is painful, then sending the created work out into the world is pure torture. It’s like offering up your bare […]
The Joy of Writing
A funny thing happened yesterday when I was working on my short story for the faerie anthology… I actually enjoyed writing. This may sound strange, coming from a professional writer, but I have a love/hate relationship with the actual physical act of writing down words. There are many things I love about the writing process: […]
Twists and Turns in Pantsing
As most (many? all?) of you know, I’ve been posting chapters from my unpublished chick lit novel, Eye Candy, on the blog every Friday. Rereading this book chapter by chapter is taking me down memory lane. This was the second book I ever finished and the first one I wrote by the seat of my […]