Last summer, I wrote a post about dialogue writing. I’m a conversationalist, a dialogue fan.

How S.M.A.R.T. goals support a writer’s plan

From April 5 to May 5, I taught at three writing conferences, hosted the 4th Anniversary of the Books and Beer book club, and led a writing workshop for a total of twelve “event” days. Frankly, I’m a little tired, but I’m also grateful and rather excited to edit my work in progress and start a new project. Here’s why . . .

I'm pleased Amanda Zieba is able to join us again. Amanda is an author, a word nerd, a mom, a wife, a teacher, and so much more. Today she discusses plotting your story or writing by the seat of your pants, aka being a pantser. Amanda originally published this article on her website. The question of whether a writer should carefully plot out a story or whether it is okay to write by the seat of your pants is one that is asked often at writing workshops and conferences.

Often, the first impression people form about authors comes from digital sources – an author website, social media accounts, book sales’ websites, blogs and more. This handy checklist makes sure you won’t miss any of these important ways to reach readers and others in the publishing world. Even for pre-published authors, these digital resources are important. Consider it dressing for the job you want!

Momentary panic set in this past weekend when I came across a count-down-to-Christmas clock on a website. I don’t know what date I THOUGHT it was but seeing that Christmas was about two weeks away made me freak out—just a little bit.

I admire brilliant character names and agonized over choosing just the right ones for my Circle of Nine series’ characters. Assuming every author has this same problem, I’ve invited author Kristin A. Oakley to join me today for a discussion on this topic.