Today is the BIG day! My debut YA Historical Fantasy, The Mourning Ring, is available to order through CreateSpace or Amazon. I am so excited to start receiving feedback on this novel! It has been a passion project for me ever since I started the first draft back in April 2015. If you’ve ever wanted … More Book Birthday – The Mourning Ring
Every November I get excited about participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I like the sense of energy (and urgency) that it creates, whether you’re participating in community write-ins at your local library or sitting at your kitchen table furiously trying to make word count before midnight each day. This year, I had a … More Feeling Drafty: R.M. Romero Talks “Pants-ing” Her Way Through NaNoWriMo
Interview with Illustrator Courtney Trowbridge … More That About Covers It: An Interview with Illustrator and Concept Artist, Courtney Trowbridge
This time of year many people take stock of their lives and recognize the people and things which they are grateful for. I’m grateful for my loving and supportive husband, my family, and my friends. I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to help other adults learn to read. And as an author … More Publication Peak
I’ve spent most of the day puttering around the apartment, cleaning off my desk, pulling out my favorite pens and writing craft texts. Generally, preparing myself for the next 30 days of frenzied writing abandon. I’m talking, of course, about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). A 30-day writing challenge where writers (both professional and amateur) … More Another November, Another Novel: NaNoWriMo 2015
NOTE: Last week I blogged about Dan Wells’ Seven-Point System and dissected some successful short stories to see how their structure worked. I’ll be referring to Wells’ system again this week, so I recommend reading last week’s post (HERE) so you know what I’m talking about. We know that the Seven-Point System works for short … More Plotting with the Seven-Point System
One of my favorite things about being a writer is that my “training” never stops. There will always be conferences, workshops, new (or old) books on craft and technique to discover. When your goal is to be a professional author, the learning never ends. With writing there is always some new technique to learn or … More Short Stories and the Seven-Point System
My experience at the Yale Writers’ Conference. … More The One with the Yale Writers’ Conference
For me, writing is all about sprints, while making a living as an author is a marathon. Stick with me as I unpack this extended metaphor a bit… Writers, like runners, have to build strength and stamina through (writing) exercises, diet (of quality reading material), and specialized training (in the form of workshops and writing … More Running and Writing
Editor’s Note: This week’s guest post comes courtesy of writer Ashley Horn. I thought for a while about the best way to handle the elusive pitch section of the query. I decided that it would probably be best done in four sections because I tend to think of pitches in what I call the four … More The Queries Series: The 4 C’s of an Effective Pitch
Life's Sentences 