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A recent letter from a fan friend prompted me to share how important memoir is. And this might give you an idea on how to start a project in your own community, paid or otherwise. Dear Hope, I totally concur with you that you never know just how much putting one’s thoughts on paper means. […]

As little girl, I wrote stories. I wrote fiction, silly songs, and bad poetry. In the 1980s, at a friends’ birthday sleepover, when camcorders were all the rage, the mother of the birthday girl pointed the camera at me and asked my nine-year-old self what I wanted to be. “A writer,” I said. “Oh, you […]

Social media tattles on writers. I’m always dumbfounded when new writers fuss in writers groups and on personal pages about things like: 1) I’m sick of people not understanding how hard it is to write a book. 2) I gave away ten books and got one review. That’s theft. 3) Nobody is buying my poetry […]

People are so uncomfortable these days about anything subject to opinion. With just me stating that people are opinionated these days, will most likely result in emails asking me to define what my true intentions were in even saying so. That’s how sensitive people are. These days, we are afraid to write what’s in our […]

The middle grade market is blowing up and authors are scrambling to get their share of the pie. It’s a big pie that seems to have room for everyone. As authors we draw a fine line between what kids deem fashionable reading and adults find cultivating, but how do you the author authentically write in […]

Recently, one of the many groups I follow asked all of its members to join a review group for the summer. The goal was to review each others books, because it’s so difficult to get book reviews. For every review you received you owed a review. All you had to do was list your name, […]

“Write a page a day and in one year you’ll have written a book,” they say. I’ve heard this piece of wisdom many times by many people to the point it can’t be attributed to anyone. I’ve even been known to share it myself, because it makes such simple sense. If you write alongside a […]

Gonzo journalism is a nonfiction style made famous by authors like Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson. Chaotic and crazed, Gonzo puts the journalist in the middle of their feature. Gonzo journalism uses facts, but also embraces emotion and first-hand experience. Here’s how I found my way to Gonzo journalism, and what can happen when […]

As an aside, my Facebook page is where you’ll see a lot me, find review requests (which means free books), hear opinions, and experience giveaways. I’m limited to 5,000 friends, and yes, I consider them friends. I hit the 5,000 mark often and have to spend crazy time getting rid of the odd closed accounts here and […]

On a whim, and since I have a book coming out this week, I asked this question on Facebook: List the top three conditions required for you to buy a book at full retail price. It didn’t take long for 250+ commenters to come forward with 426 replies. The trends popped up early and maintained […]

Part of every day, I scan newsletters, reference sites, suggestions, and requests to post markets, contests, grants, and freelance gigs in FundsforWriters. One would think that the title FUNDS FOR WRITERS would ring a bell to most, but amazingly, some do not grasp the concept that we ONLY consider opportunities that pay. In my humble opinion, […]

In the summer of 2021, as COVID slowed, I found myself with spare time, so on a whim I started a cancer memoir. In addition to the writing, I awoke one night, husband snoring beside me, with an original concept on how to structure the book. Lesson #1:  When the spirit moves you, record your […]