Do you know how you have so much going on and there are small things that you mean to check on, but they slip through the cracks? Then you remember them again…then you [...]

Today, I’m welcoming Hart Johnson to the blog. Hart is currently working on the third book of her Conspiracy trilogy and blogs at Confessions of a Watery Tart on writing, digressions, and her [...]

Blogging is one of my favorite activities. Whether I’m reading blogs or writing them, or tweeting about them, I feel like I’m learning an incredible amount from the process. I blogged daily from [...]

I’ve noticed that many people I know view life through a lens. Some of them use a political lens—they look at everything in relation to politics. Many use religious lenses. There are some [...]

My now eight year old daughter was in preschool for a couple of days a week to give me a break—and some time to do some writing. This always seemed to work out [...]

Sunday morning I woke up with a stiff neck. Since Sunday was really busy for me, I just ignored it. I continued ignoring it the entire day…until I sat down to write this [...]

I took a quick trip to South Carolina Friday and Saturday to see my folks and talk to Mama’s book club. On the way back home Saturday morning, I suddenly realized I needed [...]

Okay, y’all know I don’t usually post a video. But this one, if you’re a writer, will put a smile on your face if you have the time (1:58 length) : The video [...]

Today I’d like to welcome Bob Sanchez to the blog. Bob, a retired technical writer, has published two novels, When Pigs Fly and Getting Lucky. His blog is http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com and is the webmaster [...]

My third grade daughter brought a children’s chapter book home from her school library a week ago. The book was about a fifth grader who decides that grades and standardized tests aren’t accurate [...]

My husband’s sister and her husband live in Africa where they work as translators. My sister-in-law speaks French fluently and perfectly accented. Her husband speaks 5 or 6 languages, including Swahili. For years [...]

My upcoming Delicious and Suspicious will be released July 6, 2010, under my pen name Riley Adams. Just in time for the backyard grilling season! Here’s the back cover copy: Welcome to Aunt [...]

I get a lot of emails for different organizations that I either volunteer for or belong to. Sometimes I want to get out my highlighter and mark the information I need. Frequently I’ll [...]

I belong to a couple of Yahoo groups for cozy authors. One subject that’s been hot on the boards lately is the way some authors argue with their readers on (mostly) Amazon. It’s [...]

I have a subplot in my current WIP that wants to take over the world. In the same WIP, I have a small subplot that stays meekly in its place. Subplots are a [...]

Photo by Dana Geary Kit Dunsmore is a contemporary fantasy writer living in northern Colorado. She’s currently working on a novel about a witch who tries to rescue her best friend from a [...]

Today I’d like to welcome Kathy McIntosh to the blog. Kathy is an editor, PR expert, professional speaker, and professed word lover. BRAINSTORMING FOR FICTION WRITERS: Get Drenched in Ideas Whether you have [...]

All day on Monday, I had the feeling that something was wrong. I’d set my writing goal for the day. I had a couple of errands that I needed to do. But I [...]

Potholes aren’t usually a problem here in Matthews, North Carolina. That’s because we’ve been in a drought for years–there wasn’t any moisture on the roads to cause any potholes. Now, of course, we’re [...]

You wouldn’t think those three inches of snow we got Friday would make such a mess of the roads. The brine and the melting, muddy snow was tossed up on my car from [...]

I have a hard time keeping my seventh grade son in books. It’s a nice problem to have. After scouring some book blogs, I came up with four books that had been highly [...]

First of all, I wanted to mention that Cleo’s interesting discussion on genre blending continued far into the comments section yesterday. She made some fascinating points about transitioning into a mainstream author if [...]

A former journalist, Alice Alfonsi is a multi-published author in several genres and a New York Times best-selling media tie-in writer. Under the pen name Cleo Coyle, she pens two nationally bestselling mystery [...]

Today I have the pleasure of having Margot Kinberg guest post on the blog. Margot is a mystery writer (her newest, B-Very Flat has just been released.) But Margot is also a mystery [...]

Literary snobbery has been a topic on a couple of blogs lately. So today, I’m blogging at A Good Blog is Hard to Find about how writers can handle encounters with book snobs. [...]

I was in—as usual—the grocery store on Saturday afternoon. As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted with a big smile by a couple of men at a table. I [...]

I’ve gotten to that point in my manuscript where it’s time to include some secrets. I love secrets in books. They work really well for mysteries—in fact, it’s fun for all of the [...]

I’m one of those writers who doggedly writes each day, no matter what. Frequently? I’m not inspired. I think that’s the dirty little secret of a lot of writers. We may get ideas. [...]

One reason I don’t look back over the previous day’s writing is because I know what I’ll usually see: Blah, blah, blah. When I get an idea or have characters in a conversation, [...]

First of all, thanks to my guest blogger, Charlotte Bowen today! Charlotte blogs at http://www.fictionette.org/, is revising her first novel and writing her second. She’s on Twitter at @acbowen. ****************** Historical Research. Those [...]