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Last week I wrote in my weekly newsletter how I was dealing with COVID, on my 8th day of it, as a matter of fact. Well, I returned to the gym and three days later I had a bit of a relapse. Guess I jumped too soon. But that meant my world slowed down, during […]

I’ve spent a lot of time recently trawling through directories of agents and publishers, and I’ve learned some things. Some of these no-nos are golden oldies, but others are newer. Tech avoidance They receive a lot of stories set in the near past – say 20 or 30 years ago – which they put down […]

What writer hasn’t wished for regular income from a regular column? This year is my third year as a columnist, and I love it. Believe it or not, some markets are looking for columnists. They are also open to serials, which are similar to a column. You can pitch column ideas to your local newspaper, […]

I received a sweet email from a fan of my novels. “Hi Hope.  I just wanted to thank you again for your newsletter and to let you know I requested Murder in Craven at the Vancouver, WA library. I have a goal to read forty books this year and am hoping to add the Craven […]

Artificial intelligence has led to job losses and client cut backs. However, it’s important to notice that AI has been used mostly to replace impersonal, cheap copywriting or content jobs. High-quality sites and news-worthy publications won’t replace their authors with artificial intelligence anytime soon. If you’re an author, your stories are still human enough to sell […]

While at a recent writing retreat, an attendee cornered me, asking questions about entering the freelance writing industry. She told me what she’d like to write about, but she felt she really wasn’t an expert at anything. So I mined her life. That lady left floating off the ground, so thrilled, so empowered, and so […]

Do you have a passion for video games? If you do, breaking into the video game article market could be a good way to expand your freelance writing business. Countless video game websites and magazines cover console, mobile device, and Windows PC gaming, many of which are open to freelance article submissions. I have been […]

The new reason you need a website is going to be different than you might think. Artificial Intelligence – AI. Many writers these days deem themselves “writers” because they’ve learned to access AI programs, tell it what they want to pitch, and have it either write the query letter or the article itself. Some call […]

In the gym today, my trainer advised that if you want to improve and build muscle (i.e., get strong), you push the last three reps/times such that you think you’ll fail at any moment. In other words, you push to failure. You push, seeking that point when you just can’t. He said he’s had clients […]

Businesses increasingly use AI to draft and edit content – blog posts, case studies, training outlines, policy documents, contracts, presentations and more. I heard about a life-writing company that uses AI to ghost books based on an interview transcript, and only brings in a human to edit and sense-check the final draft. Many may deplore this direction, […]

Recently a long-time fan wrote me, saying she kept some of my words for ready reference. She came across a particular essay that really resonated with her, and she asked that I repeat it, because what applied years ago, still applies today. It’s pretty evergreen, I think. “The world is hurting, and it doesn’t know […]

As a journalist, the most common question I receive is about the source of my story ideas. Sometimes, newspapers assign me work which saves me the brainpower of having to come up with ideas. In the unfortunate case that I must come up with my own stories (most of the time), there’s a few tricks […]