First off, a disclaimer: This list is purely subjective. None of the covers in the "rants" section are actually bad design, they're just specific trends I personally dislike. Same goes for the "rave" section. Your opinion may differ. Art and design are very individual, and the things that make me swoon might make you roll …
Indie Author Spotlight: Blair Cousins
Introduce yourself! Tell us your name and one interesting or unusual fact about you. Hi, my name is Blair Cousins and one unusual fact about me is that I am very good at tossing trash into dumpsters. It's weird I know, but a very useful skill in my line of work, for my day job. …
Short Story: Speechless
This story emerged from a prompt in my writing group: "A scene without dialogue." An idea sparked to do a brief retelling of The Little Mermaid using that concept. I may have skirted the "no dialogue" rule a bit, but I really enjoy the end product and thought I'd share. Speechless Could one steal a …
Sacrifices Indie Authors Make (and why they’re worth it)
This is another one of those "things I wish I'd been told earlier" posts, so buckle up. First, a bit of backstory. Yes, I queried traditionally before deciding to self-publish. No, indie was not a "last resort". I only queried briefly before taking a step back, reviewing the feedback I was receiving, and deciding my …
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Cambiare Cover Reveal!
Today is an exciting day... I get to share Cambiare's cover with you! D.C. McNaughton did the most gorgeous job depicting Cirelle and Ellian, as well as a few other notable characters. It's stunning, and I notice new details every time I look at it. (Let's be honest... it's less "looking" at it and more …
The Importance of Writing When You’re Not Writing
I know, I know... I can hear you reading that title and asking, "Wait, what?" Bear with me. This makes sense, I promise. I do most of my writing when I'm not writing. This week a friend asked me how I'm so productive on my lunch hour. (Even with taking a few minutes to eat, …
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5 Common Mistakes Made By Beginning Writers
So recently I went back and looked at an older draft of Cambiare out of sheer curiosity. I wanted to see how far I'd come in the past couple of years and umpteen drafts. And I noticed some patterns. Writing tics that I've also noticed in beta reads, but common mistakes I also made. Here's …
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Elements of Story: Voice
Today I'm starting a new blog series about various elements of storytelling. It'll be an occasional feature whenever I feel like rambling about some specific part of writing craft. This article is about one of the most elusive but integral parts of writing: voice. You'll see it popping up a lot in agent MSWLs or …
Troubleshooting: When You Hate Your Writing
It happens to all of us. You boot up your laptop, open up your manuscript file and think, "I hate this entire manuscript. I'm a hack. Why am I even doing this?" So what do you do when you start to feel down about your writing? Step 1: Take a few days off. You might …
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5 More Hard Truths About Writing
So after last week’s blog post, I realized there were a few points left untouched. So without further ado, here are a few more things I wish I'd been told before I started writing with the serious intent of publication. 1. You won't be able to read for pleasure as often. How many books did …
