It's a gift to be published

My latest accepted poem, "Storm Shelter," was published today at the e-zine Daily Love. You can read this fiction-in-verse piece HERE. Sometimes when I'm drafting, I find it helpful...

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The limits of Google research**

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Google searches in the research process. They can be an efficient way to fact-check aspects of your story. I've at times used Googlemaps street...

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Deja vu: Gene pool--fun with secondary characters

Today is D.L. Hammons's Deja Vu blogfest, when we were invited to repost something we wish had gotten a little more attention. Swing by DL's blog Cruising Altitude to check out...

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Festing, holiday essentials and gaffes

Tomorrow is DL Hammons's Deja Vu Blogfest, a chance to recycle a post you love, or one you wish would've gotten more attention the first time around. I hesitated signing up because...

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Why I love (and hate) Little Women

While laid low with a cold over the weekend, I rewatched the old Winona Rider version of Little Women, an odd mix of wonderful and terrible acting, and a sentimental journey for...

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Fresh eyes and formatting

I am currently buried under an enormous pile of proofreading at my paying job, but I thought I'd pop over here with a recent insight from the experience.Changing page layout will...

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Well, I Never...

Today is Vicki Rocho's "Well, I Never" blogfest. She invited us to share something we'd never done, never thought we'd do (but did) or something that simply puzzles us. Go swing...

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Compare with flair

Dear Editor-on-call,Recently I wrote, "He must have been thirteen at the time, as he was about a year older than I was" on the first page I presented at a SCBWI critique session....

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Forty days?

I just realized--with a sinking feeling--that there are only 40 days left in 2011. That means I need to really get cracking to meet my year-end goals.At the beginning of the year,...

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Feeling festive?

It's been a very long time since I participated in a blog fest. I think the fatigue from my severe anemia had a lot to do with it. But now that I'm power-loading iron and feeling...

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Don a cap if you're proper

Dear editor-on-call,I always forget when certain words should be capitalized, like sir (Sir?). Can you help?Sincerely,Case sensitiveaka Janet Sumner Johnson at Musings of a Children's...

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Buy a book, get a free soundtrack!

Today is THE day to help Jessica Bell's debut, STRING BRIDGE, hit the bestseller list on Amazon, and receive the all-original soundtrack, Melody Hill: On the Other Side, written...

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Gin fizz and gimlets with grammar

I am a sucker for grammar humor, so I just had to repost this hilarious list of jokes from McSweeney's.Seven bar jokes involving grammar and punctuationby Eric K. Auld1. A comma...

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Cure for run-ons

Dear Editor-on-call,I'm weak when it comes to run-on sentences. Can you help?Sincerely,The On-Runner(aka Bish Denham at Random Thoughts)Dear Runner,You are in good company. Run-ons...

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Help for grammarphobes

It has been quite awhile since I last did a post in my editor-on-call series. I got the idea a few years ago after one of my CPs called me late one Friday night with a punctuation...

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#keepingOPENMINDS—The Importance of Theme

by Susan Kaye Quinn, author of Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack Trilogy)image sourceThe very first image—the first brain spark—that inspired Open Minds (Book One of the Mindjack...

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Making of a book launch with Jessica Bell, author of String Bridge

Today my special guest is Jessica Bell, whose much anticipated fiction debut, String Bridge, releases officially on November 1. Jessica generously agreed to share a bit about...

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The power of a name

Giving a name Since I last posted, I've had some pretty weird stuff happen. One I suppose is mostly positive--I at last know WHY I've been so run down for the past seven months....

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Validated by...fear?

Busy day today, folks, so this is going to be a quickie.In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield says:"The more scared we are of a work or a calling, the more sure we can be that...

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How many eyes?

My critique group meets tonight and it was really tough for me to not send bits of my rough draft in progress off to the gang for feedback. But I had to ask myself whether feeback...

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Thanks and joy

I've been reading this book about gratitude called One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It talks a lot about thankfulness as a key to living more fully with joy in the difficult...

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Living forward

As I write this, a work colleague is losing her year-long battle with lung cancer. Her son had written last night to say she was unresponsive and likely to pass on in the next...

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Building a publication history: where to start

Whether your ultimate goal is to secure agent representation or to simply get paid for writing (even a pittance), establishing a publication history will help you.The best way...

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Chat with Angela Felsted, author of Cleave

Today my special guest is Angela Felsted, a fellow crossover writer of fiction and poetry who blogs at My Poetry and Prose Place. Her poetry chapbook Cleave is forthcoming from...

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Putting the con back in confidence? Or the fide?

Periodically I fall into these ditches of apathy, where I have no desire to write or even blog. Every idea strikes me as stupid and I'm absolutely certain I have nothing of value...

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Chat with Elle Strauss, author of Clockwise

Today my special guest is Elle Strauss, one of my first blogging buddies when I started Laurel's Leaves back in 2009. I'm delighted to have Elle here to tell us about the release...

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Exciting new book release!

By Melissa Sarno, HufflepuffHoneywater Press announces the release of WHO AM I by award-winning author Gilderoy Lockhart.The 1,045 page book hits shelves on September 23rd and...

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Navigating through the fog

As little as I've been able to be online these days, I keep coming across stories that have clouded my sense of what publishing path would fit me best.Like this one: He Beats...

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Trailer lessons

I've been trying to learn all I can about book trailers and came across this nifty site, which collects a bunch of MG and YA trailers, called Book Trailers for All. Created for...

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Why setting matters

After all anybody is as their land and air is. Anybody is as the sky is low or high, the air heavy or clean and anybody is as there is wind or no wind there. It is that which...

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