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The Art of Focus
For years now I’ve had people in awe of my writing output. Some people have asked, “How do you keep it all straight?” I’m never sure how to answer this. The reality is that working on 2-4 projects at a time with more on the back burner is never easy. If I told you I navigated my chaotic writer brain flawlessly all…
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New DB Publishing Guidelines
Updated DB Publishing Guidelines (They were needed sooner rather than later.) Due to the high volume of unprofessional first time authors, we now only accept agented manuscripts or manuscripts from established authors. Manuscripts should be edited for grammar and spelling errors BEFORE submission. A poorly written MS is grounds for rejection no matter how brilliant the subject matter. Before submitting…
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Reclaiming Joy #amwriting #success
I’ve always loved writing. Writing is my meditation. My escape. It’s my happy place – my joy. Then it became my job and I loved it even more. But there was a brief time period after Switched came out (autumn of 2012), where, with success, came pressure. For me, that pressure started sucking the joy out of writing and I had…
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My Crazy Cross-Genre Life
This past weekend I attended a friend’s birthday party, at which I met a wonderful couple who were readers. The standard questions came up like “What have you written?” and “Where can I find your books?” Luckily I had bookmarks with me and it turned out I had a series for each of them to try based on their interests…
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Making Time to Write #amwriting
Since it’s so hard to FIND time to write, perhaps it’s time to MAKE time to write. Let me help you through each of the steps… The first thing you need is an unrealistic deadline. Or a realistic one if you’re not a masochist. Next, it helps to realize and acknowledge you’re nowhere near being done. A little panic goes a long…
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Write Which Way?
Since I often find myself being asked which word processing software I use, let’s talk about writing and word processing programs. One would think that all word processing programs are created equal. That Open Office and Word Perfect are just as good as MS Word, or that your OS’s included text editor is just as good as Scrivener – and if you’re…
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book signings, book tour, business of writing, education, guest appearances, Publishing, social networking, the writing life
The Introvert Writer at Conferences & Conventions
I am an introvert. I have discussed my introversion previously in this post. Today I read a blog post by fellow introvert writer Ashley Hodges that gives tips to fellow introverts who want to attend writers’ conferences. I kind of have a unique take on conferences and conventions. I did quite a few of them back in the mid 2000’s. There’s a…
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Anne O'Connell, Audrey Brice, Politcial Mumbo Jumbo, Publishing, rants, S. Connolly, S. J. Reisner, the writing life
Controversial Topics in Fiction
There’s that old adage out there that states, “Never discuss religion or politics if you want to be liked.” Well – the truth is I don’t write just to be liked. I began writing for me, and when I discovered other people liked what I was doing – I began writing for them. I know that sounds self-serving, but it…
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The Worst Writing Advice
A friend recently asked, “You’ve given a lot of writing advice over the years, but what’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever been given?” I actually had to sit down and think about this because most of the writing advice I’ve actually taken to heart over the years came from long-time professionals who have always been honest and sometimes even bitter…
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Honest Encouragement
It’s my belief there are two types of encouragement in the world. The first is unconditional. No matter how unrealistic or idealistic one’s goals are, unconditional encouragement is where you tell someone they can do whatever they want no matter what. My mom gave me a lot of unconditional encouragement when I was growing up by telling me I could…