Limited time for blogging folks. It’s November 1st and NaNoWriMo is on!! Whoo hoo!!

For those of you who don’t know what it is, it is National Novel Writing Month. Yes, you have the 30 days of November to complete your 50,000 word novel. Check out the web site NaNoWriMo.org and join in. It’s a blast! (I’ll do my best to keep you updated as the month continues.) Maybe I’ll see you at a write in. Wish me luck!!

I was talking with some other moms and we were talking about what chores our 10 year old sons are responsible for. Continue reading →

Because writing is hard and the successes few and far between, I am going to use Mondays to encourage and celebrate the success of fellow writers.

Today I would like to give a shout out to my friend Louise Allan, who has secured a publisher for her manuscript.  Yay!  Visit Louise’s facebook page to read all about it.   Louise is also contributing an essay to the anthology “Writing the Dream” which will be published in November.  You can read all about it here on Louise’s blog.

I would also like to say congratulations to my friend and fellow writing group member, Bennett  North, who has recently had a short story published in “Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine”.

Check it ooouutt!!

Here’s a quick link to Amazon.

Let’s all keep the good mojo flowing!

I love to learn. I wish I knew more. I’m endlessly curious about life and people and how we express ourselves.

But at the same time, Continue reading →

     Don’t sigh and roll your eyes. I’m serious. The romance genre gets a bad rap. Want to write stronger emotional scenes? Read romance. Want to understand body language like it’s nobody’s business? Read romance. Want to master emotional nuance? Read romance. Want to build a strong emotional vocabulary? Read Romance

Romance novels are chock full of emotional conflict, and we know that these emotional conflicts stem from the beliefs that the characters hold. (Sound familiar?) Continue reading →

Yep, I submitted a piece of written work to a magazine for consideration. I don’t know any sane person who would put themselves through this kind of torture.  I’m excited and afraid, hopeful and doubtful, and just a little bit proud for taking a chance on myself.

I’m already trying to frame my rejection in the best possible light, because you and I both know the probability of rejection is high. So, this is what I’m telling myself;

If I’m lucky, I’ll get genuine feedback on my work and not just a form letter.  A note shows interest, right? I can work with that.

If it flat out gets rejected, I’m going to have to rework it and send it back to my beta readers.

Okay, good I have a plan.  I have mentally steeled myself for the worst.  But really, I’m not so sure this pep talk is going to work. There are too many butterflies swarming in my stomach. Plus, I know I could have tweaked that story some more, put some more polish on it, probably rearranged whole sections. (Thank God for deadlines or I’d never submit.)

I know, it’s crazy that my happiness depends on strangers thousands of miles away from me who will read my story, form an opinion, and say yay or nay in like five point two seconds. But, what are you going to do? That’s the writer’s life. I should have some type of response in six weeks or so. I’ll keep you guys posted.

I have to be careful when I go to the book store. It’s way to easy for me to get distracted. I pick up books off the nearest display tables devouring the blurbs on the jackets, curious about the story but also curious about what prompted the author to write this story. What drove them to want to write about a faded picture of a young girl from 1862 who as it turns out is intrinsic to the current day dilemma facing our young twenty-something protagonist? So clever, I think as I put that book down and pick up the next one. Continue reading →

I am pleased to announce that my personal essay “Back in the Saddle” has been published on Louise-Allan.com.  Louise, a fellow writer and good friend who lives in Australia, (don’t you love the internet) had a call for submissions and accepted my essay. This is my first published piece and I’m thrilled to be a part of her blog. I hope you will stop by and check it out.