Whoever said that writing is easy has clearly never written a book. Ditto when it comes to publishing. As much as we’d all love to believe that if you write it, they will come, things don't seem to work that way. You actually have to court your readers by promoting...
A few months ago, my dear friend, Kathleen McDonough, invited me to join her in Cozumel. She had a day of pilates-related business in nearby Cancun (she’s an unparalleled physical therapist and nationally certified pilates instructor). So, she figured it made sense to...
You’ve finished your book. Again. This time, you really need some people who aren’t your friends or your family to read your manuscript and provide you with some objective feedback and perspective. While you can always hire someone like me to critique your manuscript,...
I will confess right here and now that I haven’t been an AI enthusiast. I’m just not crazy about a computer replacing a writer’s inspiration and craft. My concern about using AI when writing is not unmerited. Over the last couple of years, a glut of AI-generated scam...
Have you ever noticed that in life, things are rarely exactly how we want them to be? You almost never find the perfect house that doesn’t require a compromise or five. Ditto on the partner, work, and physical fronts. But if you pay attention and are true to yourself,...
A few months ago, I received an email from a writer who had been referred to me by an editor I routinely work with. The writer had finished her novel. She’d had it both line edited and copyedited. Despite this pro move that way too many people want to skip, she had no...
Earlier this summer, I had to write an obituary for one of my oldest and closest friends. The task was made even tougher because of our falling out during her final years of life. Sadly, her decision more than a decade ago to crawl into a bottle rather than wrestle...
Jeff Hutcheson was closing in on the end of the third novel in his Lost Key cozy mystery series. “I might want to think about doing a little marketing,” he told me. “A discount book promotion followed by Amazon and/or Facebook ads is a great idea!” my...
I’m not a runner, but I know a thing or ten about marathons since I write books. While the occasional sprint is not out of the question, too hard and too fast usually leads to collapse before the finish line or right after if you do make it to the tape. Coming in...
Is fear impeding your writing? As this dog-inspired writing lesson is about to show you, it sure doesn't have to. My friend Deborah and I had just pulled up to one of the lakes on the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway outside of Bend. At the time, I had three pups with a...
