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2018 Writerland Update

It’s been a ridiculously long time since I blogged here, so I’m starting with an update. Last year I spent a lot of time blogging privately—doing research for a project I’ve been working on when not cooking, cleaning, shopping; organizing child care, birthday parties, vacations, camping trips, backpacking trips, after-school activities, doctor’s appointments, haircuts, field […]

Author Interview: Brooke Warner on Self-Publishing

Today I’d like to welcome back Brooke Warner, publisher of She Writes Press and founder of Warner Coaching. Today Brooke is here to talk to us today about self-publishing and the changes going on with the Big Six Five. Brooke worked in the publishing industry for thirteen years, first at North Atlantic Books, then […]

The Writerland Challenge: Week Three Check-in

It’s time for our week three Writerland Challenge check-in! Yes, it is nearly time for our week four check-in, but my brain went on vacation last week while I ate way too much food, went to the Dickens Faire in San Francisco (which I highly recommend—it runs for four more weekends), roasted marshmallows at a […]

Constance Hale Has a Crush on Verbs

I am thrilled to welcome wordsmith Constance Hale, bestselling author of Sin and Syntax and the just-released Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing. Constance is here to talk about … you guessed it: VERBS.

My Crush on Verbs By Constance Hale

How can a person write a whole book, just on […]

In Real Life Networking vs Social Networking

Social networking, or online networking, is a style of networking that is popular among introverts writers because it allows us to blog, tweet, and post status updates from the quiet of our desk chairs and sofas. We don’t need to articulately deliberate over the national deficit while sipping martinis and munching canapés in some stranger’s […]

BlogHer ’13

Who’s going to BlogHer ’13? It will be in Chicago, Thursday through Saturday, July 25-27, of—you guessed it—2013. Early Bird registration ends Nov. 7. Until then you can register for half the regular price, just $198! No, I’m not advertising for BlogHer. I have no connection to BlogHer, but I really want to go to […]

Should You Blog Your Book?

First, I want to let my Bay Area peeps know that I have a new session of Blogging for Beginners starting next Wednesday, September 19, at the San Francisco Writers’ Grotto, and there are a couple of spots left. If you’re interested in signing up, contact me as soon as possible. And now … Should […]

How to Write Kick-Ass Character Descriptions

I’m guilty of it, too: The description of a new character who has just entered your story as having “big brown eyes and frizzy black hair” or “ginger hair that cascaded down her shoulders and eyes the color of jade.” No matter how creative you get, describing a person according to his or her hair […]

Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women

This week I had the privilege of interviewing Ayesha Mattu, co-editor of the anthology Love, InshAllah: The Secret Love Lives of American Muslim Women and Zahra Noorbakhsh, one of the contributors to the anthology, about Love, InshAllah and the success it has seen since it debuted in February of this year. After being featured in […]

Bisy Backson: The Unsung Value of Idle Time

Happy Independence Day! And congratulations to the winner of the How to be a Writer in the E-Age give-away, Sara Renae. Thank you to Anne Allen for a wonderful guest post last week and to everyone who took the time to comment. I am eager to read Anne’s book, and I encourage you to pick […]