Hi there. It’s been months. I’m not sure if anyone is still reading this, but if you are, welcome. I got my graduate degree in counseling psychology years ago. But for the last decade, I’ve been working as a writer. The more I wrote, the more writing seemed to circle back to the same themes of health, wellness and spirituality. My tagline once was I used to be a therapist now I counsel others on the written word. That’s what I want to do here. Offer advice for writers looking for help dealing with all the negative emotions that surface…
-
-
I haven’t blogged here in awhile. Mostly because I’ve been working on my crazy ambitious goal of publishing essays, picture books, a middle grade novel and adult novel (saved for someday). So far, I haven’t been that successful. But I thought I’d document my process here. What I have been successful at is learning about the process. For example, part of my work includes reading books like The Creative Curve: How to Develop the Right Idea at the Right Time by Allen Gannett. While reading it, I recognized a few surprising truths that make picture books successful and can help all…
-
I had the honor of attending the Wanderlust Festival on Oahu this week. It’s only my second time in the five years that we’ve been living here. Having gone again made me wonder why I don’t make it out there every year, and then I remember the price and how far the drive is. But this one was definitely worth it. While Wanderlust is primarily a yoga festival and I was in my yoga pants, I did not do a stitch of exercise. The most I did was walk near the ocean during our lunch break. But what I did…
-
Guest post by: Tara Mandarano I’m staring at the stain-glass tower on the church outside my bedroom window when my five-year-old daughter bursts in. It’s after school, post after care, and I am exactly where she so often finds me: lying in bed, curled up with pillows, painkillers and my rose-gold computer, writing. She is my muse and my teacher, challenging and charming at the same time, and I have been chronicling our lives together for over three years now. It’s not easy putting your private life out there for public consumption, but there is no better way for me…
-
If you’ve noticed, my site has been dead as of late. See the tumbleweeds blowing? Okay so what’s my excuse? I don’t have any books to reveal or amazing opportunities to share. I’ve been busy getting rejection after rejection. And rejection takes a ton of work and time. It’s a full-time job this rejection thing. But I’m thinking if you found my site, you might be getting a few rejections too. So what do you do? How do you keep yourself motivated when you’re getting daily rejection letters for your manuscript or pitch? I didn’t know either so I reached…
-
The question that comes a lot as you write is whether what you have is ready to be published, submitted and posted. How do you know when your piece is fully baked? Sometimes you don’t know until you send it off and realized in excitement you sent it off prematurely. Sometimes you wait too long until you’ve poked and prodded it so much that what you have is a shriveled shell of the original manuscript. This quick writing tip helps me in the words of Kenny Rogers: “know when to hold ’em Know when to fold ’em” It’s also the…
-
These two books are taking real estate on my nightstand. After finding so many gems, I wondered how I could have possibly grown as a fiction and nonfiction writer without it. If you’re looking for fresh reads to give you a new perspective on your writing, you might want to add these to your reading list. Fearless Writing: How to Create Boldly and Write with Confidence by William Kenower If you want to grow as a writer, at some point you’re going to need to get deep. This is particularly the case if you’re writing fiction or a personal essay.…
-
I’ve always been a storyteller. I should say, “I’ve always told stories.” This was to the chagrin of my elementary school classmates who hid from me because they couldn’t stand to hear yet another story. You would think this would clue me into my lifelong dream of writing fiction especially when I have a blog all about finding your purpose. But so it is with things that are precious to you. You build walls around it as you get older so no one can touch it. As I began taking writing courses to fulfill my degree in English literature, I…
-
I’ve devoted a decade to nonfiction writing, but my love for reading and writing began with fiction. This is the first of what I hope will be many posts on the art of fiction writing. And it’s a good one! I’m pretty proud of this girl! I met her when I started my first local writing group and she’s been supportive, and helpful in her advice, feedback and edits. While other members have gone off to complete manuscripts, she is the only one I know who has not only finished a book, but published it in a short amount of…
-
Once in awhile, I’ll get an email from a writer curious about the writing life. I thought this was a particularly good one and asked if I could share it here. Here’s her question and my thoughts on how she can build her portfolio while she’s starting out and what’s really blocking her from writing success. Q: I’m a novice writer and I found your website while I was looking for examples of good online portfolios. I have the opportunity to have a web designer make a site for me by bartering my husbands services but I have no clue…