By Sharla Rae Let’s face it, mining for the best expression of emotions whether it’s body language, gut reactions, internalization or dialogue can be like panning for gold. A lot of useless grit is sloshed around before you hit pay dirt. Picture this: You’re sitting at your computer; the sun is shining through the window […]

  By Laura Drake Isn't it weird, where you find the ideas for blogs? I never miss Gene Lempp's Blog Treasures (and you shouldn't either)! This week, I found another gem there: Catie Rhodes' Writing Lessons from Song Lyrics. Go check it out - she has a wonderful point - writers can learn a lot from lyrics. A lyricist only has […]

Back on New Year's Day, many of you might have vowed to take your craft more seriously in 2012...before the world ends, of course. This resolution likely means more conferences and many, many more queries. For those of you who have submitted before, ever wonder how an agent can ask for the first 20 pages […]

by Fae Rowen Announcement: Kristen Lamb will be our guest on Friday with "Novel Diagnostics". At the beginning of the year, I usually cycle back to the questions "Who am I?" and "Why am I here?" I was thinking about Chinese New Year and the Year of the Dragon and remembered it's been awhile since […]

By Laura Drake In the spirit of full disclosure, the seed for this blog was something I read over on Writer Unboxed about quirky character names. It got me thinking. I don’t know about you, but character names are as important to me as my titles . . . you don’t go messing with them […]