Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
September is always a busy month for me, and this year is no exception. Today I’m doing a super fast and fun YouTube post. I got the idea from a guest post I did last week for Comparative Geeks. For those of you that don’t know, YouTube is positively bursting with great stuff for writers. …
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Are you ready for disaster to hit your family? Most people aren’t. I live in California, a place blessed with world-class beaches and a climate that lets us enjoy them almost year-round. Plus we have rugged mountains and huge tracks of still wild landscape. It’s been the home state of renowned writers and the setting …
Continue reading “Bugout Tips for Authors”
For some reason, the term beta reader confuses a lot of writers. They are not sure what they are, or why they need them. Even experienced writers often don’t know how to use these readers effectively to improve their work. For a well-constructed book, beta readers are the last stop before the proof editor. And …
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It makes sense that when your book comes out, you turn to your writer pals for a jump-start on those much-needed reviews. Except a few months later you notice those friend reviews on Amazon are gone, along with most of your other good reviews. And those were from people you’ve never even heard of. Worse …
Continue reading “Reviewing a Friend’s Book on Amazon?”
I love finding tools that help me work more efficiently as a writer. I’ve already written posts on using several of these tools, particularly Trello, a project management app I’m crazy about. I also use Dragon Naturally Speaking. This is a voice recognition software program that allows for hands-free writing. I used Dragon the first …
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As promised back in July, I’m revisiting the topic of the ongoing developments in the Amazon Kindle Unlimited program, or KU2 as some people are calling it. Now that the actual first per-page rates have been revealed (this came out on Aug. 15th) everyone knows exactly how much royalties they’ve earned in July. The numbers …
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Frenemies are the staple for conflict-packed stories. It’s a relationship dynamic that runs the gambit of emotions. It’s the subtle barbs of a disgruntled coworker. It’s the lingering sad but quietly malevolent vibe of a jilted ex-lover. And it’s the deliberate backstabbing of a fair-weather friend. Frenemies of every kind are particularly popular in teen …
Continue reading “Writing Frenemies: Love, Hate, & In-Between”
A few weeks ago I wrote about the great untrunking of Harper Lee’s GO SET A WATCHMAN. It sparked much debate in our comments section. Many felt Lee’s book was never intended for public eyes and should have stayed trunked. While others felt glad the book came out of hiding. True confessions time: I’m a …
Continue reading “Trunking Exposed: 4 Reasons to Trunk a Novel”
A few weeks ago, Heather told everyone about her experiences writing a video-game script for LongStory. The branching, non-linear style of the game structure was very different from the TV scripts Heather normally writes. At the time, we discussed how much the structure reminded us of interactive novels. These are books often marketed under one …
Continue reading “8 Tips for Interactive Storytelling”
If we were having coffee, I might not be in the best mood. I would still welcome you into my home. And serve up your chosen beverage. Hot or iced? You’d know from the bags under my eyes and the fact that I’m not serving fresh baked anything, that something is very wrong. The news …
Continue reading “Coffee Share and Cat Care”