• Fiction - Writing

    Creative Thoughts on Creating Fiction

    Tweet When I was frantic last week, a few fiction writers graciously helped me out. And so did an article I picked up today. As I side note: Did you ever notice that answers come when you ask the right questions? The surprising source was one of my favorite home decor magazines, Coastal Living. In their November 2011 issue, Million Dollar Decorators star Kathryn Ireland answers a few decorator question. I skimmed through them until I stopped at this: If you can’t make it out, it says: What are your rules for hanging art so that it looks pleasing and…

  • Fiction - Writer Challenges - Writing

    Fiction Anxiety – Help!

    Tweet I’m venturing into an unfamiliar territory. Fiction. Ack! Talk about anxiety. Fellow fiction writers I welcome your input on this one. Anyway, I let my husband read passages from it every once in awhile. And while I wait, I try to appear calm, but I’m really scrutinizing every eye movement, every shift in his position. What I got from him this time scared the bejeezus out of me. “It’s good. But I’m worried about one thing.” “What?” I asked. At this point, my mind went to horrible, bad plot, unbelievable characters, amateur storytelling. What he said was, “I’m worried…

  • Guest Blogs

    On Becoming a Writer

    Tweet I love hearing about the journey that prompted other writers to write. Some writers believe they were born with it-a passion for writing that began as soon as they learned how to write. For others, writing came later in life. Something spurred them to get words down on paper and their career took off from then. My guest blogger this week is author Jessica McCann. She’s another writer that I’ve admired from afar and it brings me great pleasure to share where her writing story began. It’s a good one! by: guest blogger One Saturday morning, not long ago,…

  • Expert Series - Freelance Writing - Writer Challenges - Writer Issues Solved

    Overcoming Self-Doubt in the Writing Process

    Tweet This post came at a perfect time! After just spilling my guts about how I sometimes fake it as a writer, I received the post below from author and editor Sarah Nagel who I’ve been following on Twitter. It gives practical advice to overcome the self-doubt that writers and all creatives face. I’m so grateful to have her here. You’re going to gain a lot from this post. by: guest blogger The first time I saw my name in print, I was ridiculously excited. I yelped and called my sister over to the magazine rack to show her the…

  • Guest Blogs

    The Holy Trinity of Writing

    Tweet {Photo credit} Some days I feel oh so lucky! That’s what I felt with author Dina Santorelli asked me to guest blog for her and then sent me this jewel of a post here. If you’ve ever wanted to be an author, then you’re in luck too. Read her inspiring story about how she completed half her first novel in about 6 weeks! All you NANAWRIMOs out there will appreciate this one. On August 9, 2010, I completed my first novel, Baby Grand.It was one of those wonderful, fulfilling moments when you not only finally achieve a career milestone,…