Thank you, brave soul, for trusting me with your work. I hope you find this helpful. I chose this month's submission to explain the difference between 'good questions' you can leave readers with, and 'not good questions', and how to use emotion effectively in your writing. A friend had a suggestion for me on these […]

Fae Rowen It's been almost ten years  since I hosted my first writers' retreat. It was a low-key get together for my five-person critique group, which had been meeting for just a few months.  We already met weekly for face-to-face chapter critiques, but we wanted time to discuss writing, trade ideas and things we'd learned […]

    Thank you, brave soul, for trusting me with your work. I hope you find this helpful.   I chose this month's submission to help explain a closer POV. This reads like a movie script. It is omniscient POV (mostly), which was great in the 1800's, but today's reader wants an immersive experience...they want […]

I'm taking a break from first page critiques this month, because something is bugging me and I have to get it out. Continue to send your pages, though, I'll be back next month with a crit!   I traveled to speak at a writer's group last weekend (I do that, you know. Contact me if […]

If you follow me on Facebook you know I'm the Queen of Pinterest (and if you don't, why not? Beauty pics, cat memes, inspirational quotes, odd Victorian photos — COFFEE! It's a sea of happy in a chaotic world. LauraDrakeAuthor). When I saw this the other day, the photo caught my eye first. Then the message slammed […]