Author of lush, romantic fantasy novels.
Welcome to a new blog post series on tidbits of grammar trivia and terminology. We'll cover some interesting things you may not have learned in school, or might have forgotten since then. Today, gerunds! So what's a gerund? It's a tricky little beastie, a word that's based on a verb and looks like a verb,… Continue reading Grammar Quick Bites: Gerunds
First, a disclaimer: I'm in no way affiliated with the Character Trait Thesaurus books I'll be using in this article, and I haven't been compensated for endorsing them. I just really love using them as a resource. Character development. There are worksheets galore on the internet, varying from ones that ask about a character's favorite… Continue reading Using Key Traits to Create Complex Characters
The short version: good, old-fashioned querying. The long version? Well, that's a little more detailed. First we have to go back a little. The book that my agent signed was the second I queried (though far from the second I completed). I'd previously queried another novel, though not very widely. When I queried my first… Continue reading The “How I Got My Agent” Post
Querying is a rough ride. In a single day, you could receive a full request, a couple of query rejections, and a partial rejection. In fact, it often feels like some cosmic coincidence causes a deluge of responses all in the same afternoon. https://media.giphy.com/media/I6nxG7f3h7qww/giphy.gif [GIF: Rollercoaster] While living in the query trenches, self-care becomes extra… Continue reading My Querying Self-Care Checklist
I'm a wee bit of a podcast addict. And my particular brand of 'cast is most often writing-focused. So without further ado and in no particular order, here are the podcasts I listen to most: Print Run Agents Laura Zats and Erik Hane discuss current events in publishing, writing tips, and a whole array of… Continue reading 11 Great Writing Podcasts
Amy Avery / Avery Ames 
