I’m calling mine a StayWriCation, because I plan to host my solitary writer’s retreat here in the most comfortable, lovely place I can work — home. Many writers escape to rural retreats where they often share solitude (how is this possible?) with other writers in an unplugged, calm setting, in order to make progress on whatever they’re starting or working on. I can’t afford travel, hate planes and airports, miss my dog when I leave…
Should be easy, right? After all, many of us set a word count quota for the day’s writing, somewhere in the thousands of words. Surely we can spare 200 or so for a short blog. But deciding what to write about is what always stops me from blogging. Who am I as a writer? Do you really want to hear about the Green Veggie Smoothie I just made with my food processor, throwing in fresh…
Writing Tips from Jane Austen? Yes, please! Virginia Woolf observed about Austen, “Of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness”, and that made me study Jane Austen for writing tips. I’m a devoted Austenite (for example. I have upstairs and a downstairs complete sets of her work). I’m writing a book whose characters are based on the Dashwood sisters from Sense and Sensibility. I’m not the first…
It’s the best of times — having a book or two or more out in the world, for people to read. It’s the worst of times — feeling the constant pressure to get books into readers’ hands and Be An Author, publicly. I’m feeling the best and worst times right now, as I prepare to have two new books launched in 2018. What to do today? That’s the first thing I think of, not the…
Happy Fourth! But this post isn’t about our national celebration of Independence — unless I can conflate America’s with my own independence as a writer. There. Done that. I’m celebrating today and in general because 2018 will see TWO OF MY BOOKS PUBLISHED! Both my fourth book of poetry and my novel The Renaissance Club (forthcoming from Fiery Seas Publishing, 2018) will appear next year on Amazon and other places you can buy books, in…
If you’re picky about history, but love a time-traveling heroine going back in time, if you love love stories and romance, but don’t like the formulaic romances the major publishers put out, you might find it hard to locate books you like. I do. My must-haves for a time-travel love story include: good historical research, a well-defined sense of place, believable characters, and love that goes deeper than just a steamy attraction. That’s a lot…
What’s so great about Italy, and why did I spend many years of my life writing about it, culiminating in my novel The Renaissance Club, which features Italian sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini? Good questions. What I keep coming up with is that Italy is Bernini, and Bernini, Italy. I mean the place is full of gorgeous, sumptuous, emotionally moving art. It’s a place so full of art you start to take it for granted that you’ll…
CATEGORIES! I know it’s all about discoverability. I know that Amazon ranking depends on choosing the right category and tags for your book. I know, I know … and I hate fitting into boxes. I finally figured out where my book fits on Amazon, and I can’t say I’m happy. But I’m going to be in: Kindle eBooks : Romance: Fantasy: “love stories historical fantasy” When I was going after agents, I was all, like…
If you’re considering “going indie” (self-publishing), consider the category of your fiction. Publishing categories matter in the success of self-published books. Author and editor Jane Friedman has a helpful article on deciding if you should self-publish: Jane on how to make the decision. But one thing most people don’t discuss is how to self-publish mainstream fiction (including women’s fiction). Most successful self-published authors write genre fiction.
In honor of Mother’s Day, which often coincides with or cozies up to my birthday, here are two poems I wrote for my mother. She wasn’t the problematic parent, so she got fewer poems than my father, the riddle of whom I keep trying to figure out in verse. But poems for her and for the mothers intrigue me this year, in which I lost a stepmother. So maybe more to come. Apple Pie Order…