Blogging

My Favorite Characters that Provoke a Little Hatred

Also known as: characters I love which other people love to hate This may be the trickiest prompt I’ve ever done? Obviously this will be a super subjective list and your mileage may vary, standard cautions, etc & etc. Except for Dolores Umbridge, who we can all agree is virulent bullying toad slime wrapped in sickly pink cardigans, there isn’t really a ‘universally hated’ book character that I know of. I’ll do my best with anti-heroes and obnoxious characters who…

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Breaking Down a Romance Plot

For this post, let’s break down a well known romance plot to see where the story beats are going. This is an exercise I’d really recommend for authors of any genre. Take your favorite story, or movie, and break it down to see how they made everything work. You’ll be surprised how much it helps you break down your own story! And yes, this is the movie I’m turning into plot points, but it still translates to novel form. Beauty…

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Adding AllAuthor to Your Author Toolbox

Yes, there is BookBub.com. It’s right up there with the ginormous Goodreads as a top spot for recommendations and book lists. Pretty much every post or anecdote I’ve heard about BookBub emphasizes how amazing it is when it comes to promotion. I believe those posts, and I’m happy for those authors but . . . BookBub will promote you, and it will work, but it’s also common knowledge that it will cost you roughly an entire month’s worth of income. At least. If you’re…

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The Great Blogging Wrap-Up of 2022

Lets get to some numbery-maths for the year. I’m still at the point where I genuinely have a lot of fun breaking my blogging year down in stats. If you’re interested the 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017 breakdowns are linked. Just as a note: I’ve spent zero pennies on marketing of any kind since I started this blog in November 2016. Instead, I’ve focused on blog-hops and building relationships. That means super slow growth and also super low stress levels. (If slow is…

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The Insecure Writer’s Group and the Holiday Haze

It’s the first Wednesday in December, so you know what that means! A hastily written post full of little substance and much snark to get you through another month. Our co-hosts this month are  Joylene Nowell Butler, Chemist Ken, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine! And we absolutely owe them a thank-you visit and comment for adding this to their already full loads in December. The question for December 7th which I will happily answer is: It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time…

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Autumn Favorites: Pumpkin Spice Horror Edition

AKA my Favorite Fall Weather Reads Yes, I am one of those annoying people who love pumpkin spice and celebrate the season it shows up in everything. I admit this with zero shame, because pumpkin spice is the best. And you know what’s even better? Apples. And caramel. And caramel apples. And butternut squash, pecans, maple, cinnamon, cloves…basically every food item in autumn. I have learned how to make pumpkin spice (it’s super easy) so I can include the flavor…

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It’s Release Day! (Again!) The Sidekick and The Supervillain by SE White

Here we are again, my bookworm friends. Yes, the IWSG romance anthology and my own book came out within days of each other. It’s just the way things worked out, timing wise. As of today, you can get your hands on Michaela and Hiro’s story and it’s a good one. It’s someone with a devoted romance background (hi, it me) taking on superhero tropes and adding a happily ever after to the kind of stories which don’t often get their…

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The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Loves Us at Our Worst

It’s the first Wednesday of the month, so it must be time for us Insecure Writers to shine! More specifically, it’s time for the support our fellow authors offer to lend us a temporary sheen of confidence. It’s like an all-purpose glitter bath for the soul, and you can sign up for it yourself here. Every month some members of the group volunteer to keep us all on track, and keep the conversations going. We owe our thanks to Kim…

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SE and that Summer Classical Feel

The recent recommendation posts going up on my site may lead readers to believe that all I ever read is filthy, filthy smut. And this is 90% accurate. But I am also an intense mood reader and sometimes I’m in a different reading mood. Then I turn to either horror, or my other surprise favorite: classical literature. I know. I know. Wtf, SE? How random can you get? Just wait, it gets even less comprehensible. Because if I’m being honest,…

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