True confessions time. I love watching cooking shows. And Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen is one of my favorites. Something about a hysterically funny, mouthy Italian from New Jersey who cooks in stripper heels as pointed as her wit just works for me. Who else would do a...
When I first reviewed Rick Gilbert's material, I pointed out that his working manuscript lacked a cohesive argument. The information he presented needed to: Build on--instead of repeat--itself. Always point back to the reader in terms of relevance. I ended my memo by...
Self-publishing used to be reserved for those who could afford to pay tens of thousands of dollars since they had to pony up for big print runs. Print on demand (POD) has helped level the playing field since you no longer have to invest in inventory, but there are...
I missed posting last Friday, I'm happy to say because I was sailing aboard the Schooner Zodiac in a part of the world I've wanted to visit for at least 20 years. I had been feeling stuck, sucked into the daily rhythms of life and work to the point that I had started...
Who are you writing for? If you don't define your audience, it's hard to actually know how to reach them. I can guess what you're thinking. This all sounds obvious, doesn't it? So here's the catch. When I ask prospective book authors or bloggers about their audience,...
After a long gestation period and guidance from people like the wonderful and wonderfully talented writer Ellie Waterston, OSU-Cascade's new Low-Residency Creative Writing MFA Program is now a go. You can find information about the program online at...
The forensic artist below draws individuals based on their descriptions of themselves, and then again based on the description that someone they've just met provides them. As you'll see, most of us are far more beautiful in real life than how we perceive ourselves....
As a literature major at the University of California, Santa Cruz I would regularly meet with other students to discuss themes in the books we had been assigned to read. We’d get together in small study groups and explore what the author was trying to say along with...
If you've ever had to deal with back pain or a teenager, you know how deeply trying either can be. My writing coach client Wendy Coblentz had to contend with both simultaneously. Can you blame her for getting desperate as her back pain continued to...
A lot of my writing coach clients want to write a bestseller. Who doesn't? When I ghostwrote The Legacy of Luna, a memoir about Julia "Butterfly" Hill's two-plus year tree-sit in an ancient redwood to keep it from being chopped down, I had no idea that I would write a...
