People have asked me how I organize my work. Do I use a stack of index cards? A cork board? Computer files? The answer is yes. I do have a […]
On Writing
Posts about the craft of writing
Handling Rejection
My story didn’t make the cut for the Malice Domestic anthology, which sort of bums me out … but at least they were polite enough to email me and let […]
The End
Book Two is finished … well, the first draft is done This is only the beginning, though. I’ve got the first edit to do – go through reading for continuity […]
Where Do They Come From?
People ask me where I get my characters. I think they’re either worried that they’ll show up in a book – or maybe hoping for that to occur. The truth […]
A Day in the Life
(The typical day of a writer with a day job) People ask me, “What’s your day like?” I also get “How do you find time to write with a full-time […]
10 Steps to Writing a Travel Article
(And a Bonus Step to Boot!) One of my Works in Progress is a travelogue for “I Must Be Off!” Here are some of the tips I’ve learned about writing […]
7 Sure-Fire Story Ideas
Coming up with new story ideas is easy for some writers – they have trouble narrowing their ideas down to just one! However, some writers have more trouble figuring out […]
Mindful Writing
I found this interesting article on mindful writing that might interest my readers. Mindfulness is a technique that focuses on the “now” of your life – paying attention to what […]
Creating Characters
I’ve been invited to create a new character for the Western Fictioneers – something for the shared world of Wolf Creek. This is an 1872 town on the Kansas prairie, […]
Use the Right Word
I’ve been skimming through some books lately, just browsing the genre. Most of what I’m looking at is obviously self-published because there are glaring errors that a professional editor would […]