Author Life; Make Your Characters Flawsome
As in: flawed, yet awesome. No one wants to read boring perfection.
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Book Tropes: You Should See The Way They Look at You
Otherwise known as: the fresh scent of pine. Ahhh, this is such a fun niche trope. It generally happens in a ‘hero falls first’ situation, and let’s all admit together that we love us a pining hero. But there is the delicious potential for this uncertainty when any character falls first and is now vulnerable, unsure their love is requited. The best part about all of this troubled water our main character has to paddle through? There’s a happy ending…
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Envy
The awesome co-hosts for this March 1 posting of the IWSG are Diedre Knight, Tonya Drecker, Bish Denham, Olga Godim (hi Olga!), and JQ Rose! And the (optional) question for today – Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy? The answer to this is, of course, YES. In fact, saying ‘a’ line or ‘a’ clever plot twist is rank untruth. It’s more like ‘so many’ amazing, emotional, or evocative lines and ‘multiple’ plot…
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…
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group has you Covered
Welcome to the first Insecure Writer’s Group post of the year for me. Somehow January scarpered, and here we are in the first post for February. If you’re thinking of joining the group yourself, let me reassure you that once a month posts really aren’t as difficult as I’m making it look. Come join us! This month the kind co-hosts keeping us all on track are Jacqui Murray, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Pat Garcia, and Gwen Gardner! Our optional question for this month is…
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…
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and How Writers Relax
Six perfect ways to de-stress during November
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…
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,…
The Insecure Writer’s Support Group and Giving People What they Want
It’s the first Wednesday in August, which means it’s IWSG day! Bask in the support and kindness of your fellow authors, and come join the group if you haven’t already. The group is on Twitter (@IWSG) and uses the hashtag IWSG on social medias, if you’re the masochistic type who flitters around social media. (And we are all that type.) Our volunteer co-hosts this month are Tara Tyler, Lisa Buie Collard, Loni Townsend, and Lee Lowery! Go tell them thank you for giving us…