For the first article in this series, click here. After attending ThrillerFest, I decided to follow the advice of the pros and take a step back from my book. It was a tough call, and a scary one. I had spent so long with the characters and world, but I knew I needed clear head-space…. Read more »
When I attended ThrillerFest this summer, I was at the tail-end of a long wait for query responses. I’d had a few requests. Some promising leads. But in the end, nothing panned out. I actually received a rejection letter while at the Conference. Talk about a bummer! But, thankfully, I’d spent a day listening to… Read more »
At ThrillerFest, as with all writing conferences, you go into each session with a set of expectations. Most of the day consists of listening to panels on certain topics, and then interviews. Over the course of the day, I heard discussions on everything from reading and editing to villains and violence, from debut authors and… Read more »
This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending ThrillerFest, a fantastic event from International Thriller Writers (ITW). Like last year, the theme that tied together my ThrillerFest experience can be summed in three words: “Expect the unexpected.” You might assume an event put on by thriller writers would have an icy vibe. You might… Read more »
Often when writers seek ways to gain that extra edge in the market, they look to the Internet to reach out to their target audience. One popular option is to create a blog. ThinkingtoInking is the group blog that fellow writer/bloggers Lauren Monahan, Triona Murphy, Stacy Stokes and I created to share our journey and… Read more »
Writing can be lonely work. As writers we spend most of our time working alone so a community of like-minded creative people can bring a ray of social light to an otherwise solitary existence. But how do you go about finding that magical group of writers to call your own? How do you find a… Read more »
Last week, I was inspired. Truly inspired. After several days of chaos and anxiety–worrying about and tracking down friends, family and colleagues–I finally ventured out into New York City to attend the Backspace Agent-Author Seminar. By some miracle, the hotel hosting the conference still had power (the blackout area started just a few blocks south)…. Read more »
Once upon a time, all authors had to do was write a good book. All that other stuff, like branding and publicity, was taken care of by the marketing experts. But times have changed and now more than ever the onus has been on writers to be part of both the writing and business sides… Read more »
This week at DIY MFA, we shift gears a little to talk about why writers need community. There’s something about writers that makes them flock together. Like if you put two writers in a crowded cocktail party, they will inevitably find each other, almost like they have this fine-tuned writing radar. A “wradar” as it… Read more »
