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They’re coming to take me away…

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Apr 5, 2016
2 min

They’re coming to take me away…

Well… not anymore, but it sure felt like it a few weeks ago! I’m happy to make a bigger than big announcement that may or may not put a smile on your face but certainly makes me want to do things like cartwheels and back flips, or maybe just go to Starbucks for another latte. I finished editing my book! Yes! The one that was in pieces because I had chosen to cut a few (*read: a heck of a lot*) of words and I couldn’t figure out how it fit together anymore? Yeah, that one. It’

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My poor broken baby…

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Mar 16, 2016
2 min

My poor broken baby…

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men, couldn’t put Humpty together again. It’s a familiar nursery rhyme we’d all likely committed to memory before we could even walk, right? And it’s also the only way I can describe exactly what my current novel looks like right now. Ok, so in a previous post I mentioned how I needed to cut a few words from my manuscript to make it more marketable in the middle grade genre.

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5 Courses of the Rough Draft – Are you hungry yet?

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Feb 28, 2016
4 min

5 Courses of the Rough Draft – Are you hungry yet?

Rough Drafts can be a tricky thing. The process that one author takes will look completely opposite from that of another. Each of us have our own style, techniques, and rhythm we abide by – even if we aren’t aware we stick to a routine. For a while I felt the pressure to write my manuscripts the same way other authors would write theirs – and in the same time frame! One of my favorite authors regularly blogs that she can write a book in about a month. Another friend I spoke t

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What is your writing routine?

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Feb 19, 2016
4 min

What is your writing routine?

I’m often asked how I get so much writing done when I also homeschool my three daughters. And until about a year ago, I would’ve said it was quite difficult, actually. For most of my life writing was a hobby, something I only did every few months when an idea hit me and I could convince my family that ignoring them was in their best interest. (For my own sanity, that is!) It wasn’t until I released my self-published novellas that I decided to refer to myself as a writer, and

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When you’ve got a few words to cut…

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Feb 15, 2016
2 min

When you’ve got a few words to cut…

My current manuscript in revision happens to be a middle-grade fantasy set in a fictional medieval world with fun things like unicorns and magic. Yay, right? Right. Except that my brain had lots of ideas. Lots and lots. And lots. And well, as I often do, I didn’t exactly take a word count until after the first draft was finished. Anyone want to guess where the word count came in? I’ll save you the agony. Over 102,000 words. Ouch. True, this would be considered a short story i

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Parties and snowflakes and books that are finished! These are a few of my favorite things!

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Jan 26, 2015
1 min

Parties and snowflakes and books that are finished! These are a few of my favorite things!

So, I just looked and saw the date of my last post on my blog. *blush, blush* Has it really been that long? Is it any consolation that I’ve been using my time writing and editing? Oh yeah, and throwing birthday parties, playing in the snow and getting back into the groove of school. (Isn’t Christmas break the best?) Having said that, I’m here to say I have not forgotten my New Years declaration of having a giveaway each month! I’ve just been building the anticipation! Check b

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The benefits of stepping back…

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Jan 5, 2015
1 min

The benefits of stepping back…

So, it never ceases to amaze me how a little time away from my writing, can make a world of difference. Each time I step away from a manuscript, I always – always – come back with better ideas, and insight I just didn’t have before. Time and again, I grow frustrated with a work, accepting defeat, admitting that I just can’t be objective any longer. Then I step away for a month. Once I return to it, I am always amazed at the fresh perspective I suddenly have, at my renewed abi

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Story Rx: It’s all in the details…

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Dec 9, 2014
4 min

Story Rx: It’s all in the details…

So, I recently glanced through one of my manuscripts that I hadn’t seen in a while. Partway through, I noticed that I had a child character speaking differently from the others. I honestly couldn’t even remember why I had her speaking like that in the first place. A quick review from earlier in the script showed that she was missing her two front teeth, hence my desire to have her ‘speak’ like she would sound. Here’s the problem: I had just been reading the tail end of the st

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Less is More

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Dec 6, 2014
2 min

Less is More

So, I’m about to lend out ‘Fallen Ashes’ to some beta readers, to (hopefully) enter the final steps of revision. As I went back through my manuscript today, I realized I had cut almost 10,000 words with this last revision. The crazy thing is, I didn’t take out any major scenes! In fact, I added or extended a few. Yet, I lost almost a tenth of the story? Well…. I’m here to say, that’s actually a good thing! You see, my friends, I’m wordy. Wordy, wordy, wordy, wordy! I like to

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Why I have a love/hate relationship with my writing.

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Dec 3, 2014
2 min

Why I have a love/hate relationship with my writing.

So, NaNoWriMo is officially over and I’m happy to say that it was a great encouragement to get me moving on editing my upcoming novel. Yes, I know the idea was to write a new manuscript, but I’ve already got a pile of those sitting around 😉 The book I worked on editing was actually written almost 18 months ago. The idea came to me one day, then I spent another day sitting in Starbucks banging out an outline, and three weeks later, it was written. I loved it! And my Alpha rea

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NaNoWriMo – Day 6

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Nov 6, 2014
1 min

NaNoWriMo – Day 6

Almost there! Tomorrow will be one full week into 2014 NaNoWriMo. How is it going? Have you begun writing yet? What are you writing about? Are you going in circles trying to even get started? Yeah, I’ve been there, too – no shame, my friends! I’m happy to say that for this NaNoWriMo, I’m well into my project of doing a major edit on my novel, “Fallen Ashes”. Each night I lie in bed and think about the story, where it’s going and how I’m inspired to make it better. Counting th

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How Bethany Beach made me a better writer

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Oct 3, 2014
4 min

How Bethany Beach made me a better writer

A month ago, we had our end of the summer hurrah by visiting a beach we’d never been to before – Bethany Beach, DE. We’d heard nothing but good things about it from countless people and needless to say, the anticipation for this weeklong venture was monumental. And then a curious thing happened. Between our family and friends, we got three tickets in our very first day. Ouch. That hurts. So badly. How on earth could we, alone, get two in one day? So, we did what any modern fa

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Why I am going to miss my deadline; and this is a good thing.

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Sep 22, 2014
2 min

Why I am going to miss my deadline; and this is a good thing.

Dear friends, The next and final installment of my novella series, “Now I Sleep” is slated to be published by the end of this month. I’m sorry to say, that’s just not going to happen. Phew! There! I said it! Honestly? I’ve been dreading telling those that have faithfully been following the series, that they were going to have to wait a little longer to find out the fate of Sadie, Gabe, Levi and company. I didn’t want to have to come out and admit defeat – I just haven’t had t

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My Beta is my Alpha and why I feel stuck

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Sep 11, 2014
3 min

My Beta is my Alpha and why I feel stuck

So, I’ve been doing this writing thing for a while now. (Technically ever since I can remember.) Even before I published my first novella back in April, I had done months (read: years) researching publishing options, reading books and blogs on honing my craft and basically trying to figure out how to hit this thing without looking too much like a newbie. (Not sure I accomplished that 😉 ) So pretty much since day one of pubbing the “Now I Sleep” series, I’ve been stressing ab

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The Inspired Writer

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Aug 23, 2014
3 min

The Inspired Writer

Recently I read a post by another blogger who posed the question to other writers, Are you currently in a writing mode? It was an interesting question, one I hadn’t considered recently, as I’ve been caught up with things of life. My writing has always gone in waves, some months much more productive than others. I’ve written entire 80,000 word novels in 3 weeks but have also taken 6 months to complete a much smaller manuscript. A few months ago, I was in a particular ‘writer’s

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On writing…

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Jul 20, 2014
2 min

On writing…

I am writing. Yay. (This is me writing. Happy, happy, happy.) I can’t tell you how much I love when I get to write. It’s been a while, since I’ve been spending most of my time editing each of the novellas in the ‘Now I Sleep’ series and my upcoming full length novel ‘Fallen Ashes’. My manuscripts go through this process every few months – I will do nothing but write for a while, which will then leave me with nothing to do but to edit. I really don’t like editing. Actually, I

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