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Outlines for People who Prefer to Shoot from the Hip
On January 12, 2019 by adminI have always admired organized people. These are the people who always know where their car keys are, who can manage to fold and put away their laundry, and whose desks aren’t stacks of papers and disorderly sticky notes. Amazing. I applaud you (from behind my piles of sticky notes and index cards). My disorganization doesn’t just stop
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How to Set and Meet Goals
On January 5, 2019 by adminEvery year around this time, the blogosphere erupts with New Year’s resolutions, goals, objectives as well as the various claims from those who adamantly reject New Year’s resolutions, but instead find other, more nuanced ways of describing their personal goals. Let’s face it– goals are what keep us going. We need to have something that
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First Drafts are for Scribbles
On January 1, 2019 by adminFirst drafts can be the beginning of something beautiful, but they themselves aren’t meant to be beautiful. They are meant to be scribbles. They are meant to be raw. They are meant to make you cringe a little. One lesson that I have learned over the past few years is that the single most important
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Progress is not a Straight Line
On December 22, 2018 by adminIt’s important to capture snapshots of success, even amid what can feel like a path of failure. There are times in life when we cannot live up to the goals we set for ourselves—even the smallest of goals. The key, in my mind, is to never give up hope that today will be the day
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Writing Off-the-Grid
On December 17, 2018 by adminSome of the traits that make us good writers are also some of the traits that make us good not-writers. Let me explain. We are writers. By nature, we are susceptible to wandering thoughts, we are victims of sparks of creativity that hit completely unannounced and sometimes at the most inopportune times (which is why
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Thank yous, promotions, algorithms, reviews…repeat!
On November 16, 2018 by adminFellow Scribblers, So a crazy thing happened this week. White Dove shot up to #2 in its genre for about 36 hours on Amazon. I have no idea how many books exist for sale on Amazon in the genre of “historical fiction, war”, but there have to be at least 384 because this is where
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Armistice and Updates
On November 11, 2018 by adminGreetings Scribblers, I’ve spent the last few months toiling away at my next big project, working title Forever England. As usual, writing occurs between an ever-increasingly busy schedule of actual life, but my characters, plots, transitions, are always on my mind. While the first book of the Shadows in Drab and Green trilogy focuses on the characters
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Remember the Touchdown Dance
On June 1, 2018 by adminI am one of those people who always neglects to celebrate. I participate 100% in the lead-up to an accomplishment, 110% in the self-chastisement of not yet reaching a goal, but never stop to tell myself, “hey… awesome job!” when I finally achieve something I’ve worked for. I just move onto the next item on
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Publish Eve
On April 30, 2018 by adminI’ve had a lot of awesome experiences over the past year or so getting White Dove ready for publication. So, on the eve of its official debut (though the eBook has been flying off the digital shelves this week–wow!), I thought I’d recount some of the most awesome moments of this final push to publish. So, for
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Five Thoughts on Rocking this Writing Thing In Between Your Actual Life
On April 26, 2018 by adminA lot of people ask me about how I find time in my day to do the things that I do. It is probably the most common question I get, with the exception of “Are you crazy?”– which for some (undetermined) reason is another question I frequently field. I answer these questions pretty reliably– first,