The other day, I went to tuck my daughter in bed (she’s still young enough that she needs to be tucked) and discovered that she had taken a copy of my romance in with her and was trying her very best to read it. Since it’s a short, sweet contemporary, I wasn’t worried that the content was…
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How to ask for blurbs
Recently, a writer approached me about blurbing her forthcoming book. (A blurb is a brief testimonial you often see on the back of a book.) Since her book is in my non-fiction niche, I agreed to take a look. She’s not the first person to ask me to blurb her book, but she is by…
Staying positive amid the negativity
I know things are tough in media. I know freelancers are struggling to get assignments and make ends meet. Seems like everyone is having a bit of a slog, except maybe some of those executives who did such a nice job of melting down the global economy and pocketing big bonuses for doing it. …
Technology, Luddites and Writers
Today a friend I met at the coffee shop where I work on my fiction expressed surprise that I have a blog. This is because I seem like such a Luddite (that’s my phrasing, not hers). I write fiction in longhand, in composition books with cardboard covers, then type everything into my computer, then print the…
How knowing what you want simplifies everything
As a freelancer, I spend a certain amount of each day trying to get work. The difficulty comes in evaluating the different opportunities that present themselves. Sure, if someone wants to offer me a gazillion dollars for my latest book, I’m in, but between those delightful events are whole acres of less clear-cut opportunities. Should I pitch an idea…
How Droll: Pet Peeves
I’m usually a pretty patient reader, willing to give a writer the benefit of the doubt, but occasionally I come across a writer whose verbal mannerisms take me out of the story repeatedly, and then I stop being so patient. Recently I picked up a novel by a much-loved author (loved by other people; I hadn’t…