freelance career

#5onFri: Five Degrees to Consider in Pursuit of a Freelance Career

Freelancing is a viable career option for individuals in a wide range of sectors. And the number of freelancers globally looks poised to grow in the foreseeable future.  A recent study indicated 58% of non-freelancers are considering a switch to freelancing. Furthermore, another study revealed 53% of freelancers said they believe they will experience greater… Read more »

consistent writing practice

#5onFri: Five Tips to Build a Consistent Writing Practice

Whether you’re a new year’s resolutioner or not, you can’t help but think about your 2022 writing goals this time of year. Maybe one of the things you’d like to achieve is a more consistent writing practice.  For too long, I felt like I didn’t have much control over my writing habits. I thought that… Read more »

HERstory

HERstory: The Woman’s Side of History

I’ve heard a lot of talk lately on “passive protagonists” and it got me thinking about how this plays into the world of historical fiction. I’m drawn to brave, almost heroic women from the past, and isn’t that what everyone wants, a protagonist with agency? Let’s break down how to examine HERstory in a way… Read more »

Christmas romance tropes

But Since It’s Christmas: Making Christmas Romance Tropes Fresh

It’s coming up to the rom-com season of the year: Christmas. And whether you’re writing a novel or a screenplay, it’s handy to know your Christmas romance tropes and important to make them fresh, original, and most of all, interesting. So let’s talk about what the Christmas romance tropes are: “But since it’s Christmas…”  When… Read more »

inner critic

#5onFri: Five Ways to Silence Your Inner Critic

Early in my writing career, I won second place for a short story, “When We Leave Here” in a contest sponsored by the Wyoming Writers Association.  Encouraged by that recognition, I submitted the first chapter of a novel I’d started to a published author at the conference. After being told “Never start a story with someone… Read more »

reframing rejection

Strategies for Reframing Rejection

As authors, surviving rejection is one of our top challenges. However, by reframing rejection, we can bolster our dedication instead of allowing it to chip away at our souls. What is Reframing?  Reframing means looking at something from another angle. When we use our imagination to view an issue from another direction, the fear or… Read more »

write sex that sells

Making Love to the Page: How to Write Sex that Sells!

When I published my first erotica in 2015, I quickly realized there was still a certain level of judgment related to the genre. Sure, we had come far thanks to trailblazers such as Zane, EL James, and Noire (to name a few), but there was an overarching stigma present that the literary community was afraid… Read more »

time skip

#5onFri: Five Ways to Ace a Time Skip in Your Writing

A well-written story is a well-paced story. It is in the rhythm and flow of events that readers find themselves on a heart-thumping adventure with the characters. And there are only a few stories that occur during an uninterrupted, brief period. Most, however, are spaced out in a span of days, weeks, months, or years…. Read more »