Microsoft Word 2010 and I have not been getting along, unfortunately. I’ve been very good to back up, as well as to save work as I go…but I’ve still experienced data loss. Yesterday [...]

One exhilarating thing about writing is that there are so many choices for our story. When I’m working on the Memphis Barbeque series, the plot possibilities are endless. There are dozens of possibilities [...]

Patience is the trait that I admire most. Unfortunately, it’s one of the traits I’m lacking. :) Actually, I think if I had to name my biggest fault, it would be my lack [...]

After I finish a first draft, I start into my edits right away. And boy, is there usually a lot of editing to do! Looking at the manuscript as a messy whole is [...]

There’s a term that I keep tripping over—’best practices.’ I’ve seen it in literature my husband brings home from work, and my son has been studying it for a business class he’s taking. [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

I have a neighbor who is interested in my writing and frequently asks me questions about it. She’s from South America and expresses herself in refreshing ways sometimes. One day this week she [...]

Panels are usually pretty easy, even for those of us who aren’t crazy about public speaking. Usually you’re seated (and frequently behind a table.) You’ll need to remember to bring a book and [...]

I’ve had two interviews in the space of a week, and I’m headed to a conference next month to speak on a panel—so I thought that a post on interviews might be timely. [...]

I’ve recently gotten a couple of emails from writers asking for tips on starting out with blogging, and gaining blog followers. I’m definitely not an expert, but I’ll share what I do know [...]

I love making lists. I make lists of things to do, things to get at the store, and things I want to accomplish for the year. And, as I mentioned in this post [...]

I’ve never thought of myself as a good book reviewer. I’m definitely not a good critiquer—my technique is really just an overwhelming desire to rewrite a problem area in someone’s manuscript. I can [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

I’ve forgotten a lot about learning new skills as a child. Riding a bike? Roller skating? Swimming? I learned how to do those things, but my memory is shaky on it. It comes [...]

In my role as Mommy, I drive a carpool with another neighborhood mom to the elementary school and the middle school. I drive mornings, and she drives afternoons. The carpools are early, with [...]

Yesterday, I was interviewed by Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn for an upcoming post on a new video blog she’s launching soon. I’m on Skype, but pretty new to it. After tinkering [...]

Today I’m welcoming fellow Midnight Ink author, Lois Winston, to my blog. Lois’ book, Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, has recently released to strong reviews. She talks a little here about multitasking…something [...]

So it’s the day after the big snow and my son wants to join all his friends at a house in another neighborhood. They’re playing video games and watching movies and having a [...]

Hope everybody had a great holiday and New Year celebration. I missed the blogosphere while I was gone! I also hope y’all got home safely, if you were traveling. There has been bizarre [...]

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and a Happy 2011 to all! Taking the lead from many of the blogs I follow in my Google Reader, I’m taking a week off from blogging [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week.  The list will be a little shorter this week because I’m going on tweetcation (most bloggers seem to be taking [...]

The practicing is really the thing that made me grow the fastest as a writer.  Everything else I was doing (reading books, craft books, blogs, industry news) was definitely helpful, but the one [...]

Once I decided that I wanted to write for a larger audience than just myself, I made a goal to improve my writing skills. The nice thing is that now there are so [...]

The beginning of the new year is always the time when I start assessing my writing goals for the year. It’s the perfect time to do it, since resolutions are on everyone’s brain [...]

I’ve always thought that books made the best gifts. I think I can remember every book I’ve ever gotten as a gift. And I’ve got a lousy memory. But it always struck me [...]

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand [...]

Margot Kinberg had a nice post yesterday on character traits that are off-putting to readers.  She made a good point—as a reader, I’ll give up on a book that has characters that I [...]

My daughter got it into her head last week that she wanted an easel and a beret for Christmas. She sat on Santa’s lap and told him on Saturday. Actually, she told anyone [...]

Thanks Elizabeth for hosting me. I met Elizabeth at a Blog Book Tour Yahoo Group last year. That’s when I first learned about the term cosy mystery from her blog. I read romance [...]

Just a quick post today on keeping motivated. During NaNo, I noticed on Twitter, Facebook, and writing blogs that there were writers who mentioned that they’d gotten frustrated with NaNo and stopped participating. [...]