What do I read? That was one of the first questions I was asked when I pitched my first book. That worked out really well, because my new favorite author was represented by this particular agent. However, this is not the reason I read. Mostly I read to escape. Maybe that’s why I read across…
This last week the registration for The Surrey International Writers Conference opened on Wednesday, June 6th at noon. By 1:30pm they were 1/2 sold out. I expected to register at 2:30pm, on my lunch break. But 1/2 sold out, can you believe it? I was scared I would be left out and be unable to…
More “Onward and Preparation for the Next Writers’ Conference” »
This coming week will be the first chance to sign up for the Surrey International Writers Conference in Surrey, British Columbia. I’m still going back and forth on who I should pitch and blue pencil with. I’m not sure that pitching is going to work for me. I have pitched several times in the past….
This week I’m determined to work through another edit of the first chapter of my book. I never thought I would enjoy the edit as much as I enjoy the original creation, but I do. More than that, it is like having a small shed and transforming it into an gleaming sky scraper. Over twelve…
This week I continue to work on the edit of my first book. I should have more time on Friday and Saturday. A local resort, The Oregon Caves Chateau is the home of an evening meeting for the Illinois Valley Grants Pass/Josephine County Chambers of Commerce. I’m taking it as an awesome opportunity to experience…
The more I work on my writing, the more excited I get. I’ve started another edit of “Not Too Late Forever”. So far, each week at my writers’/critique group, I’m getting better and better feedback. Whichever of my two genres I work on, Soft Science Fiction with elements of romance and Midgrade Urban Fantasy, the…
When I talk writing, my mind takes control and starts planning. Today, I read a fun little blurb on Twitter. It ended up with a child saying all stories were better, if they have dragons in them. Hummmm. I could write a story with a young dragon protagonist. What would her problem be? Maybe it…
I love my writing, but sometimes I procrastinate and don’t get as much accomplished as I need to. What stops me? First is playing on the internet. Do you remember the times when we did not have Twitter or Facebook? I do, but we also did not have Google and Wikipedia. Do you remember before…
It seems many times that I reach that point when it’s time to stop working on my writing. After all, I could easily sit on the couch and read books other writers have published. There are many waiting for me. Multiple problems arise with this. I would be giving up on the characters who have…
As I write and share, I find there is so much more to add to what I already have. Each time that I ask for feedback, I get it. So the only thing to do is to take what I’m given and work with it. Tonight I got advice that made sense. I was told,…
The past two terms at the local community College, RCC, I’ve been playing pickleball on Monday and Wednesday nights. Because of this, I’ve been a real slacker on working on “The Creative Hour”. Well, those school terms are complete, so here I am at Starbucks, spending time on my creative passion. This week I’m back…
I have thought many times about giving up on my book “Not Too Late Forever”. There are those who tell me that I need to either give up on it, or cut it up and throw half of it out. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately I am not able to do that. So many of the…
I’ve been working on my first book off and on for a very long time. There are other stories I’ve been working on, so I don’t feel bad about the time. The effort will be worth it. I keep hoping the work will lead me to an agent and editor who want to work with…
To me, it’s really quite interesting to see how many writers choose to go somewhere, rather than the isolation of their home to write. I don’t think it’s because they have more ability to surf the internet. Personally I seek out the power and energy of other human beings. Today I’m at a local coffeeshop….
I’ve been concentrating on the query for my first book. The webinar that I signed up for is really amazing. Lots of good information. I’ve listened to it all the way through once and plan to do it a few more times. It’s still not easy to get the story concept down into a few…
The nerdy girl in class with the broken glasses, that was me. Not good enough at sports to always be included, or more often chosen as a last resort, and usually too smart for her own good. It’s hard having a good memory. I’ve learned over the years to at least keep my mouth shut….
I have been letting my writing slide lately. With this Flu/Cough that ‘s going around, many times I just want to curl up on the couch. Now that I’m feeling much better, I need to start putting more effort back into my writing. I signed up for and need to follow through on Writers Digest…
We’ve made it through the horrendous year of 2017. It’s really hard to understand many of the things that happened with our country. I was called fragile and a snowflake, because I would not give in to condescending meanness. I enjoy a good discussion, and a person does not have to agree with me, however…
I’ve been talking to my character for the short story I thought I was going to write for my latest contest. For now, It is just not coming together. Therefore I will resort to editing and building on another story that I have previously written. Last week at my writers’ group I worked up the…
It’s hard to work on my writing when so much is going on in my country. The negative of the current hierarchy, makes it heart wrenching to work on my writing. But what happened in Alabama tonight gives me hope. There needs to be more good going on. Tonight I see that. This gives me…
During the months of November and now into December, I have been working on the story that I want to submit to my next contest. NaNoWriMo write-ins helped me understand more about the story. I still need to spend more time getting to know a couple of the characters. One of the newer characters in…
I’ve enjoyed concentrating on my writing each day in the month of November for NaNoWriMo. This year I will not claim being a winner by writing 50k words or more, however I have a very good start on a short story for “Writers of the Future”. I’ve also concentrated on the new beginning scene of…
Hello all, Many writers, like myself, are typing away working to pull in enough words to be considered a winner during this run of the words in November 2017. I have been typing away, however the hope of getting 50,000 words this year, is less than a dream. In three projects that I am switching…
I continue to work on two books and a story. Now I need to look into gathering more words and putting them into print. First I’ll get busy and write the short story that I promised to submit to the contest “Writers of The Future”. I’m not sure exactly what it will be about, but…
My first day at #Siwc17 is complete. Interesting things happened, not all joyful. For the first time in a pitch, I did not get asked to submit. This affirmed my thoughts to turn to self-publishing. I don’t want to diminish my experience with Angela Ackerman and my blue pencil. Brilliant suggestions have motivated me to…
More “My Time at The Surrey International Writers Conference” »