It's that time again! Halloween approaches, and just around the corner is National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo! Whether you're planning on writing your entire novel or just using NaNo to create a habit of writing (always a great idea), I've got a round-up of posts that can help put you in a great starting position. Here, we have my Preptober series, a four-part hot-to prep your book and get yourself ready to meet those daily work counts! I cover everything from getting s

Dear Readers, After a week off for good behavior (I typically don't blog in 5th weeks of the month), I'm back with a cool outlining hack for writers. If you're anything like me, your outline is probably about one-third as long as your actual book. No, but really. *stares in plotter* I do a full chapter-by-chapter outline for each book, revising it in between drafts. I usually have everything from GMCs to worldbuilding notes to actual dialogue in my outline, so it can be chall

Dear Readers, I know many of you are also writers, so I thought I'd share one of my smaller, more subtle pieces of advice for surviving the day-to-day of the writing biz. Receiving. As always, there's a story. Back in 2011, right before I graduated from a grueling but amazing MFA program at Seton Hill University, I was deep in the daily word trenches. At the time, I was working in the medical field, 40+ hours a week at a long-term care facility. It was hard. It was depressing

It's been an exciting April, readers and fellow sleeper-princesses! It was my first RavenCon in Williamsburg, VA, and I loved meeting and reconnecting with friends and industry colleagues and discussing all topics writing and publishing! Thank you to the RavenCon staff, support, and volunteers as well as to my fellow panelists and all my readers and congoers-in-arms! As usual with my con recaps, today I want to tackle a question I'm often asked: Why don't you sell your books

Dear Readers, I'm thrilled to be a guest at RavenCon 14 on April 5-7 in Williamsburg, VA! It's my first time at this con, and I'm looking forward to all the exciting panels and discussions we're going to have. Here's my schedule: Saturday 10 am (Panel) Focus on Dialogue / Room 8 11 am (Panel) Crutch Words and Verbing Adverbly / Room F 12:25 pm - 12:50 pm (Reading) Room 4 6 pm (Panel) Small Presses: How They Work... / Room L Midnight (Panel) Smut, Gore, and More: 18+ / Room 8

This is the week of my birthday, and it's a tradition of mine to try to give a little on my personal new year. So, Dear Readers, I'd like to give you a piece of writing advice I find invaluable. Okay, now, you might be hoping this is the secret to writing a bestselling novel. I. Wish. Seriously, though, this piece of advice has helped me through some tough times: Enjoy the journey. Okay, I know it sounds like one of those affirmations that belongs in a calendar or on a gym wa

It's December, and you know what that means - NaNoWriMo 2018 is officially ended! Congratulations! Whether you "won" NaNo or just dipped your pinkie toe in, developing a writing habit is hard, and you should seriously be proud of ANY steps you took in that direction. But, now what do you do with your 50,000-ish word work-in-progress? A lot of people think that they need to rush out and hire an editor. You could, but ask any published author, and she'll tell you that after one

Hello, my pretties, and welcome back to NaNoWriMo: Preptober planning! If you missed an earlier post, have no fear! Here are some helpful links: Week 1: Preplanning Week 2: The Who, What & Where of Your Novel Week 3: Outlining Your Novel And now, for Week 4! We're in the home stretch, so this post will focus on the practicality of writing, creating a habit that will get you in the chair every day for thirty days. Because remember: butt + chair = productivity. 1. Break it Down

Welcome back, my pretties, to Preptober: Week 3! Last week, we discussed the who, what, and where of your story--your main character (MC), their Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts, and how to detail your setting. This week, we'll go a little deeper into the what. Namely, what happens in your book, the plot. But first, it's good to know that there are two basic different types of writers: plotters and pantsers. Like it sounds, plotters plot out their "what happens," while pants

Hello, my pretties, and welcome back to Preptober: Week 2! Last week, we went over a few things to prepare you for diving into NaNoWriMo on November 1st. This week, I'll talk about my own process for outlining and developing a novel. And now the obligatory credentials post: I'm a senior editor for a romance e-publisher, and I've helped hundreds of authors design, develop, and outline their novels. I find it's helpful to start basic: with the who, what, and where of your novel

Hello, my pretties! November is coming up fast, and you know what that means--NaNoWriMo! For those who might not know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It happens in November, and it challenges writers of all skill levels to complete a rough draft of approximately 50,000 words in one month. That's one huuuuuuuuuge task! But I'm here to help you break that huge task down into smaller, more manageable chunks, and soon, you'll be on your way to completing that 50,000 w

Hello, my pretties! This weekend, I'll be a guest author and panelist at the Arisia sci-fi/fantasy/fandom convention in Boston, MA. I can't recommend this con enough! There's tons to do and see, from hundreds of panels on writing, science fiction, fantasy, anime, fandom, publishing, lifestyle, crafting, filking, and science! to amazing events like DJ Xero's Dance Party and the costume Masquerade to the Art Show and Dealers' Room. As for me, I'm on a number of panels, and I ha

Every year at this time, I do a year in review where I take a hard look at my writing process and look for ways to improve. This year, I'm sharing those insights with you, my pretties! I've hit on five basic elements that can vastly improve your writing, whether you're a pro or a beginner. My Top 5 Takeaways for 2017 are: 1. Have Daily Goals I've said it before, but I cannot stress how important daily goals are. Writing daily not only helps you break that 50,000 word manuscri

Hello, my pretties, and welcome back to NaNoWriMo: Preptober planning! If you missed an earlier post, have no fear! Here are some helpful links: Week 1: Preplanning Week 2: The Who, What & Where of Your Novel Week 3: Outlining Your Novel And now, for Week 4! We're in the home stretch, so this post will focus on the practicality of writing, creating a habit that will get you in the chair every day for thirty days. Because remember: butt + chair = productivity. 1. Break it Down

Welcome back, my pretties, to Preptober: Week 3! Last week, we discussed the who, what, and where of your story--your main character (MC), their Goals, Motivations, and Conflicts, and how to detail your setting. This week, we'll go a little deeper into the what. Namely, what happens in your book, the plot. But first, it's good to know that there are two basic different types of writers: plotters and pantsers. Like it sounds, plotters plot out their "what happens," while pants

Hello, my pretties, and welcome back to Preptober: Week 2! Last week, we went over a few things to prepare you for diving into NaNoWriMo on November 1st. This week, I'll talk about my own process for outlining and developing a novel. And now the obligatory credentials post: I'm a senior editor for a romance e-publisher, and I've helped hundreds of authors design, develop, and outline their novels. I find it's helpful to start basic: with the who, what, and where of your novel

Hello, my pretties! November is coming up fast, and we know what that means--NaNoWriMo! For those who might not know, NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. It happens in November, and it challenges writers of all skill levels to complete a rough draft of approximately 50,000 words in one month. That's one huuuuuuuuuge task! But I'm here to help you break that huge task down into smaller, more manageable chunks, and soon, you'll be on your way to completing that 50,000 wo

As a senior editor for a romance e-publisher, oftentimes, my job is to disappoint hopeful authors, to tell them that their work is not up to par. I often joke that my job is to tell people their book baby is ugly. As an author, I know how criticism and rejection can sting. I know the knee-jerk reaction to call that agent, that editor, that publisher a stupid stupidface who doesn't understand you, your work, the genre, anything. I get it. I really do. As writers, we're passion

In my role as an author and editor, I am often asked, what do I consider to be the hallmarks of a professional writer? How do you tell the pros from the amateurs? And most importantly, how do you become a pro? So, I’ve compiled this non-exhaustive-but-pretty-darn-close list based on my personal experiences and interactions on both sides of the publishing industry—author side and editor side. Being a professional writer means: Being creative when you're down or sick or hungove

Fight scenes! Many writers dread writing them, and who can blame them? Writing a good fight scene is an art in itself. Here are some of my best pieces of advice. Caveat: this is not meant to be an exhaustive list. Also, for every single thing I've said here, I will bet you, dollars to donuts, there is a best-selling author who does exactly the opposite. The key is: use and adapt what works for you, your style, and your book. Writing is about constantly, constantly making smar