Author of lush, romantic fantasy novels.
Beta swaps and critiques are the lifesblood of networking with other authors, and there's a lot to be said for getting beta reads on your own work. But there are a lot of benefits to offering critiques for other writers as well. 1. It can improve your own writing. There's a lot of focus on … Continue reading 4 Reasons You Should Be Betaing for Other Authors
In the buildup to Pitch Wars submissions, a lot of queries are flying around the writing world right now. And I'll admit, I'm a bit of a query junkie. I write them for works-in-progress as practice. I've read the entire QueryShark archive and listened to every Print Run query episode. I spent hours in the … Continue reading 5 Quick-&-Dirty Query Tips
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
This is part one of a two-part blog series on critique swaps. Keep an eye out next week for part two: Receiving Tough Feedback! So, after you've finished a draft, you've looked around in writer's groups, social media, or forums, and found a potential critique swap partner. Hooray! First off, swap sample pages to see … Continue reading Critique Etiquette: Giving Tough Feedback
Revision. Some writers love it, some hate it. I fall into the first camp. Give me a rough manuscript over a blank page any day. But I have a very visual brain and I tend to get overwhelmed by large tasks pretty easily, so my setup is mostly designed to break everything down into bite-sized … Continue reading My Writing and Revision Process
Amy Avery / Avery Ames 