Blogging

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group Gets Gritty

It must be the first Wednesday of June, because here I am posting for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. In addition to the delight of many silly gifs in this post literally no one asked for, you get me as a co-host for the IWSG, along with the wonderful Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguirre, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray! And our question for this first day of June is:  When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to…

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The Basics of Romance, for Your Author Toolbox

*Sings* Do you want to write a romance? If you do, you’re in good company. Millions of books printed and sold every year (and probably hundreds of millions of Ebooks downloaded. I haven’t done the research, but I’m feeling pretty confident with that guess.) Thousands of authors. HUGE part of the publishing market share. But . . . where to start? How is a romance different from any other fiction novel? What defines “romance”? At the basic level: A romance…

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Bookish Worlds I Would Live In Tomorrow, and A Few I Wish to Avoid

Today I’m making a half-and-half list. Five bookish worlds I would move to in one second, no questions asked, YES my bags are already packed; and five bookish worlds where I’d last long enough for one good Hollywood scream. First, the top five worlds I would disappear to in an instant if it were somehow possible: 1. Narnia If you tell me you never wanted to live in a world where the animals could wish you ‘good morning’, I will…

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Hidden Book Gems You Need in Your Life

I have a suuuper soft spot for these six lovelies. Some of them are older and therefore mostly forgotten, what with all the shiny new stuff coming out every year. A few are newer, but might not have had the best marketing. Whatever the reason, they’re the underdog and we all know I’m a complete sucker for the underdog. (Book descriptions come from Goodreads and let’s face it; I’m totally trying to suck you into reading them) Beauty Robin McKinley –Of…

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Top Ten Please Just Stop the Series

Slightly cheating for this week’s top ten, but I hope you’ll forgive me. Waaay back in October, 2017 I wrote a post for Books Rock My World that has a lot to do with the chosen topic for this week. If you didn’t know I write for that site, now you do know. [Unless you hated one of my articles, in which case haha, NO, that’s totally another SE White. It’s a very common name. Don’t flame me.] Anyway. Leaving a series…

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10 Books That Have All the Sensory Feels

This is all about the trip down memory lane. It sounds strange at first to think a book, dead leaves stuffed full of inky imprints of soul, could come with a strong sensory memory attached to anything other than your eyes. But if you think about it, a lot of different things combine to be part of the reading experience. Where you were, what you were going through at the time, your environment, even what you were eating. Most of…

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Top Ten Awful Books I’m Glad I Read

To preface this list: I try hard to stay away from bashing bad books. In the first place, I wouldn’t like it done to my books. That shit hurts. Second, I might meet the actual author some day, and that would be awkward AF. Can you picture it at a convention? Me: “Oh, hi, you’re [author]? You must be the one who wrote [this book, which I totally trashed in a review].” Poor Author: “Yep, that’s me. So you’ve read…

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In Which the Author Continues Interviewing Herself About Her Books

Who was your inspiration for Colton Johnson in “Step Into Love?” My youngest sister was partly the inspiration for Colton. She deals with a lot of similar issues in her daily life, although she’s never been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This might be because she absolutely loathes going to the doctor’s office and getting her to tell a doctor how she’s actually feeling is like squeezing water out of a rock. His outlook on life is very similar to hers.…

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#AuthorLife: Tell Me How to Show

This post was part of the author toolbox blog hop, created and hosted by Raimey Gallant. It has gone on hiatus, but there are still plenty of great posts in Raimey’s archives to help you out! Do you know how to tell, at a glance, that you’re dealing with a new, inexperienced author? Telling. When the writing is chock-a-block full of telling, it’s a gargantuan, neon clue blaring out: This author is still learning. This author is hacking out the…

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In Which the Author, Who Assures You She is Definitely this Odd in Real Life, Interviews Herself

What were you like as a child? Okay, first, this is an awfully personal question to lead off an interview with and I’m already questioning your motives, interviewer. I’m told as I child I was energetic and active, to the point of being annoying. I would walk up to perfect strangers, to introduce myself as “shy”. I sang Disney songs ad-nauseum. And I liked to create lots of little stories with my friends. I also remember being dreamy and distracted,…

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