My longtime Bear Valley, California friend, Matt Welch, who passed this spring, was an amazing writer with an unparalleled talent for incisive humor. I truly believe that with a little work and plenty of editing, his hilarious book, Tales From the Barside,...
Pamela Moulton had finished her first novel and had it professionally line edited. So far, so good. Too many aspiring authors don't even get to that stage. She knew she needed to self-publish. She just had no idea how to do that. Her editor referred her to me. Most of...
Do you really know when to use me not I, or have you joined the apparent national movement to get that wrong? The trend drives me so nutty that I'm going to do my bit to reverse it by reposting this Grammar Outs rant every quarter. Of course, it's hard to...
Why do most of us write? Some of us have that story or message inside that we just have to share. For others, writing is just one of those things you do—like walking, or cooking, or connecting with a friend or family member. Also, a lot of people realize they can...
I had a full-circle moment last month. To understand, I need to provide you with a bit of my history. When I graduated from college, my plan was to become a schoolteacher and write during the summers. But I needed a break before continuing my education. So, I took a...
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,...
