I am an alumna of Pixels to Platform and DIY MFA 101. In my writing and life as a writer, I incorporate practices from my teaching as a certified Breath Qigong Yoga and Tai Chi instructor. I am also studying to be certified as a WELL Accredited Professional for health and wellness in building design…. Read more »
If someone had told me in my twenties, I’d write a memoir about my mental illness, I’d have replied that they were crazy. Having been diagnosed with mental illness since I was a kid, it was something I’d always felt the need to hide. It was shameful, ugly, and not for polite company. Certainly, not… Read more »
In How to Write a Romantic Comedy Novel, Part 1, I spoke of the highly recommended, must have at your fingertips tools to gather prior to writing a romantic comedy. Among those tools, a styptic pencil rated at the top of the list. Why? The secret is out. Each word is bled, drop by precious… Read more »
The sticker on my laptop reading “I am silently correcting your grammar” might make me chuckle, but it is not, in fact, true. As an editor, people sometimes send me screenshots of misspellings and grammatical errors that they found funny. Again, I may chuckle, but before I declare that writing “wrong,” I must first make… Read more »
So, you want to write about your dysfunctional family. Well, good for you. (And if you’re one of the lucky few who wants to write about your functional family, I’m not your Huckleberry). Family dynamics are difficult enough to grasp, let alone write about. But when properly explored, they make for powerful stories. Here’s a… Read more »
I have a confession: I love personality quizzes! For the 16 Personalities, I’m an INTJ all the way, and according to the Four Tendencies, I’m definitely a rebel (surprise, surprise). But my favorite personality test of all is the Sparketype Assessment, developed by Jonathan Fields of the Good Life Project (GLP). I was a speaker… Read more »
It happens to all writers. Your head is full of ideas that paint great pictures in your head, which you’re longing to put on paper, but the muse Calliope just isn’t there with inspiration for you. But if the mountain does not come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain. In other words,… Read more »
I came late to the writing life. When I did arrive, it was with misconceptions, fantasies, myths, and misinformation. I discovered that I was not alone in this, but rather many other newcomers were also finding their hopes and dreams rooted not in reality but in wishful thinking. It’s a tough dichotomy: writing fiction requires… Read more »
If you’re supposed to write what you know, then it makes sense you’d want to linger in the good moments. Food nostalgia is especially intoxicating — the way the salty air bounced off of your cappuccino on a rooftop in Positano or how your main character sat on her porch every evening eating cheesecake and… Read more »
Let me confess, I’m a bit of a notebook addict. There’s nothing I love more than a new notebook brimming with blank pages full of potential. At the start of this year, I received a big, beautiful notebook from my mother-in-law, who is an avid reader herself. The day she bought me this notebook, we… Read more »
