It’s a necessary evil for authors. I’m talking about the M word. Yes, that’s right. Marketing. If you’re like me, you’d rather be churning out pages toward your next title, or even editing the one you have, OR talking to other authors about the challenges of selling books these days. But the hard part, the … More The Writer Who Speaks
One of the real perks of teaching is that I often find myself learning more than I think the students themselves are learning. Out of the mouths of babes, and all that. I was thinking back on a statement that one of my otherwise not-so-impressive students shared in class several years ago. It had a … More You Have to Have Something to Say
Ever since I started this blog back in 2006, it’s been my pledge to be totally honest about the writer’s life and what’s going on in mine. And so it’s time to talk about the dark side that happens to some of us. I’ve been struggling with a bout of depression for the past ten … More Dealing with Depression as a Writer
When I listed on my bio on Twitter a couple of years ago that I write Christian suspense, one of the writers who connected with me asked (partly in jest and partly serious, I think), “What is Christian suspense?” I then had to explain that a Christian suspense novel is like any other suspense novel, … More How to Write a Christian Thriller
One of the bad–and good–things about teaching other people how to write is that you have to stop and think about the process yourself. I’ve been teaching writing as a professor now for about 20 years, and taught writing workshops before that, so I have a little practice. But even so, I find myself scratching … More How do I do this? I really don’t know.
It’s my week off for Thanksgiving break, and I have a to-do list a mile long. I also feel like doing nothing. It’s also National Novel Writing Month. For those who aren’t familiar with it, that’s when I and a hundred thousand other crazies pledge to write a 50,000-word novel during the 30 days of … More Raking Leaves and Telling Stories
NaNoWriMo is halfway completed, and so am I. Sort of. Well, I have almost 25,000 words written, but the book isn’t anywhere near halfway done. In fact, when the rough draft is done, as any of you who have written a book know, the work is just getting started. I mentioned on Twitter the other … More Halfway There
NaNoWriMo is coming along swimmingly. So far, I’m ahead of schedule. I’m not killing myself off, both because I don’t have to and because I don’t want the quality of my writing to suffer (too much). But I wanted to take a moment to think about projects that didn’t make the cut. Sometimes you write … More Where do you bury the bodies?
Let’s see. Have I touched base with you since I got back from Maryland? I don’t think so; not really. We’re in Day 6 of National Novel Writing Month–or NaNoWriMo as the natives know it. This is probably my seventh time in the past ten years doing it, and I have successfully completed it five … More I’m getting better. I’m still the same.
Hiya Folks: Here I am again, talking to you somewhere between writing life and real life. And that’s what I want to talk about today. How do you live in both worlds peaceably? Writing life: I just came back from the Society of Adventist Communicators in Columbia, Maryland. Before I left, I told a woman … More Reality Check
The Great Adventure 