As we hit the middle of NaNoWriMo, many of you are shooting for your 1,667 – 2,000 words per day and trying to meet your deadlines. Fear of falling behind and the constant, looming sense that you aren’t writing fast enough dogs many writers at this point in the process, and I want to step...Read More

One of the things that I realized was never taught in any of my creative writing courses in college or even discussed a lot in most of the writing groups I’ve been in is exactly what it’s like to work with a professional editor. So, since I have been on both sides of that experience,...Read More

One of the things I have noticed most keenly as someone who works from home without keeping formal hours is that things often don’t go as planned. What feels like nothing — say, skipping a planned break because you’re in the groove — adds up swiftly to an avalanche of things and turns into all...Read More

Writers are typically categorized into two camps: plotting and pantsing. And never the twain shall meet. These two categories have been around as long as I’ve been in the industry (over fifteen years now), and they’re talked about in countless books about writing and publishing as the two primary methods used to craft a book....Read More

Anybody who knows me at all knows I’m horrendous at self-care. I’m excellent at tending to the needs of everyone around me, but when it comes to myself? I’m awful at it. Boundaries are really hard for me given that I am the child of an alcoholic and was a parentified child (which, if you...Read More

Since August 1 is apparently “National Friendship Day,” I wanted to share a story about one of mine. Chris has been a friend of mine for twenty years, and if I’m honest, he’s the closest friend I have beside my husband. We know each other’s secrets, and we share triumphs. He’s everything a person could...Read More

As I write this in early July, there’s something going on, on TikTok which, you may or may not know, is my primary marketing platform. I have between 1,500 and 1,600 followers as I write this, and the number is slowly growing and reflects a lot of hard work and time I’ve put in over...Read More

Since my writing retreat, I’ve noticed my life is very cluttered. There’s so much… stuff. Some of it’s physical possessions, some of it’s mentalities that don’t serve me, some of it’s routines that aren’t helping me get what I need done. There are a lot of places in one’s life where clutter can collect like...Read More

Recently I’ve been trying to get myself back into reading more. I fell out of it for a long time because, honestly, when you read for a living, it can really damage your ability to just enjoy a story. I found myself having to fight to stop the analytical part of my brain from constantly...Read More

This is part one of a three-part series I’m doing over the next three weeks where I talk about book taglines, book blurbs, and marketing hooks for authors. I know marketing is about as exciting as watching paint dry for a lot of authors–either that or they feel like it’s going to bite them–but I...Read More