Gift Ideas for Writers
by,
December 7, 2021

Struggling with what to get for the writer in your life this holiday season? Here are some creative gift ideas to help inspire, motivate, and comfort. And remember to shop early this year to get ahead of the expected holiday shipping delays! Notebooks and journals This may seem like a given, but trust me: writers really do love getting notebooks. And no, there’s no such… [Read More]

Waiting to Write
by,
April 5, 2016

Do you tell yourself you need a couple of days when your calendar is free from distractions before you can sit down and start to write? Then when the weekend arrives you sleep late, catch up on correspondence, watch a movie, and maybe make time to stare at a blank screen. In a block of eight hours without any other commitments, you’re lucky if you… [Read More]

Dealing With Rejection
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July 21, 2015

Let’s skip the stories about famous books that were rejected thirty, forty, or fifty-seven times before getting published and becoming well-loved classics. And forget about Stephen King’s nail on the wall that became so heavy with rejections it pulled loose from the wood. Intellectually, we all know rejection is a part of the game, but emotionally… well, emotionally, it’s a different story. So how can… [Read More]

Nom de Plume: permission to write with abandon?
by,
December 23, 2014

French for ‘pen name,’ a nom de plume is a fictitious name under which an author publishes. Mark Twain was the nom de plume of Samuel Clemens. George Eliot sounded more serious than Mary Ann Evans.  Theodore Geisel was known as Dr. Seuss. In 1899 William Sydney Porter took the name O. Henry so editors might never know the stories were submitted by a convicted… [Read More]

Best Books for Writers
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May 16, 2014

In the special part of my brain reserved for book related ephemera is a running list of my all-time favorite novels. I update the list quarterly in the event that I must spend the rest of my life on a remote island and will only be permitted ten books. So when this happens, I’ll be ready. I’ll shrug and say, “Sure, give me a minute…. [Read More]