I’ve worked remotely as a writing coach online—and on the phone—since I fell into the work in 2004. When literary agent, Linda Mead, needed help drafting her book proposal and sample chapter about Pantone, she asked me to help. After she got the book contract, she...
The hunt is on. The chipmunk has scooted to safety under a sizeable lava boulder toward the top of the ridge, but Misha, my two-and-a-half-year-old Aussie-Shepherd-Husky mix, and his sister, Harley, just know they can still reach it. They sniff, they circle, they dig,...
I've loved historical fiction ever since I was a kid. When growing up in Paris, I got hooked on The Three Musketeers and eventually powered through the unabridged versions of all the rest of Alexandre Dumas' novels (in French, mind you!). Decades later, the sister of...
If you’ve toiled over the writing, editing and publishing of your book, you know how sweet book sales are. The money is welcome, of course. So is the validation of you, the author, and your book. Writing is an amorphous and highly subjective endeavor until book sales...
Did you know that while there are more than a dozen and a half fiction genres, each fiction genre has sub-genres? Add all those up and you wind up with more than a hundred. Why should you care? Because understanding your exact genre and sub-genre will help you market...
Dialogue is a great way to bring your writing to life and move your story along. But only if it's authentic dialogue. And only if it's not exposition disguised as dialogue. What's exposition, you ask? The dictionary defines it as "a comprehensive description and...
My pups have taught me about using unpredictability in writing as well as being open to surprise. As my friends, Deborah and Frank, and I headed out for a scenic walk, I didn’t expect that I would wind up with a lesson about pacing in writing. The Deschutes River...
I should have known. After all, it was a drought year. Instead, I plunged in full of anticipation, still reveling in the prior year’s unprecedented success. Yes, this year, once again, my newfound prowess as the tomato whisperer would be on display in the garden and...
I talk a lot about what I call story showing. Letting readers experience what you’re writing about rather than just telling them about it is clearly the best way to communicate, an insight I share liberally. “Show don’t tell,” I say again and again in as many ways as...
So, you want to write a kids' book? I know the feeling. I came up with the idea for my children’s easy reader book series after a friend told me the nicknames she and her little brother had been given growing up. That gave me my children’s book characters. I quickly...
