As of yesterday, I’m about 15,000 words into my first draft. Drafting has always been hard for me, but I’ve finally figured out a system that works for me. I set myself a daily word count goal and make sure I meet it every writing day. Once I do, I’m free to do other things,…
Before the Draft: Outlining in Scrivener
I know I promised the last post in this series last week, but I spent much of the week at the hospital or at my parents’ house as my mom recovered from her hip replacement. She’s doing great, by the way (Hi, Mom!). In any case, I did meet my daily word count goals for…
Before the Draft: Character Development
I know I promised I would start writing today and you could all hold me accountable. The thing is, my mom is having her hip replaced today, so I’m hanging out at the hospital. Prayers are welcome. But, the good news is, I’ve finished my “Before the Draft” steps and I already started drafting. Ok,…
Thoughts on Movie Adaptations and THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS in Particular
A couple of weeks ago, in preparation for “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” movie, I read CITY OF BONES. I loved it and couldn’t wait to get CITY OF ASHES. I’m still waiting on CITY OF GLASS, but the fact that I’ve only read the first two is an important point in this post….
YA Review: BABE IN BOYLAND by Jody Gehrman
It’s been months since I wrote a young adult review, so I figured it was time. Plus, it helps that I just read a great one :). Natalie is Dr. Aphrodite–the love guru for her high school paper. But Natalie’s relationship advice is totally bombing, especially when it comes to knowing what guys really think…
Before the Draft: Procrastination
When I started this series a few weeks ago, I thought I’d be much further along in the process by now. But then there was WriteOnCon and a contest for which I needed to critique others and my son started Kindergarten and … … and those are all excuses. The truth is, I hate drafting!…
Middle Grade Characters and Trust in Authority Figures
I don’t have an MMGM review today, although this post was inspired by a middle grade book–one I’m not going to name because it would lead to a bit of a spoiler. Here’s the situation: The main character places her trust in two adults who turn out to be the bad guys. Why did she…
Why The Supplementary Novella Trend Works
I am really loving this trend of authors writing novellas to supplement a series. With the exception of authors I’ve been reading for years, I typically don’t buy books unless I’ve already read them. Plus, let’s be honest, it would get very expensive to buy every book I want to read. So, I check them…
MMGM: DESTINY, REWRITTEN by Kathryn Fitzmaurice
A few weeks ago Kimberley Griffiths Little reviewed this book, and I was immediately intrigued by the premise. An eleven-year-old who loves romance novels? This was so me, except I’ve never read Danielle Steel. I’m totally with Emily on the happy endings, though. Anyway, here’s the description. Eleven-year-old Emily Elizabeth Davis has been told for…
Make Your Pitches Specific and Other WriteOnCon Takeaways
Another WriteOnCon is over, and once again I feel energized and ready to get back out there with my manuscript. It’s amazing to me how different the conference is from one year to the next. The organizers do a great job coming up with new topics and presenters. In case you missed it, here is…
How to Stalk WriteOnCon Ninja Agents
Please see my 2017 post, which is updated for the new forum platform. Note: I’ve postponed the MMGM I had planned for today due to being lost in the WriteOnCon forums. What’s that, you may ask? Read on. If you write for kids, teens or new adults, you should attend WriteOnCon tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s…
Inner Peace
On Wednesday, Kip Wilson Rechea tagged me with the Inner Peace Award. Thanks, Kip! I was going to respond next week, but then I decided to rearrange a few posts and figured I’d go ahead and do it today. The rules are to share seven things my blog readers don’t know about me. I had…
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