First Bookstore Event… the bar was set high!
The very first bookstore event I attended as a published author was on May 7th, for the Mysterious Galaxy’s Birthday Bash. Located in my hometown of San Diego, Mysterious Galaxy celebrated their 23rd year as the premiere bookstore dedicated to a passion for books of “Martians, Murder, Magic and Mayhem.” Arriving early (theater people know arriving […]
Award winning mystery writer, Allen Eskens: The Interview Part I
Your education as a writer started in Journalism then went on to graduate work at the Minnesota State University, the Iowa Summer Writing Festival, and The LoftWriting Center. How have those different experiences helped you forge your voice? Before studying creative writing, I already had a degree in journalism and had excelled in legal writing […]
Spotlight on author and scientist, Pamela Hobart Carter
Pam grew up in Montreal. A geologist by training, Pam taught everything from preschool to science pedagogy for thirty years. She practices timed writing with two Seattle groups. With Arleen Williams, she founded No Talking Dogs Press which puts out short books in easy English for immigrants. She is writing a novel.
Spotlight on Deborah Schneider
Deborah Schneider writes Western and Americana romance novels. Her publishing career began when she won the Molly Award for the most unsinkable heroine from the Denver Chapter of Romance Writers of America. She was a finalist in the New Historical Voice contest sponsored by Romantic Times Booklovers Magazine. Although she didn’t win the contest, her consolation prize […]
Honoring Drusilla Campbell
Scroll Down To Read Further Tributes I met Dru Campbell when I was just a kid, in the early 1980s. She was the first “real” author I ever knew. Holding her books in my hands, I had the realization actual people wrote books. Flesh and blood, living, breathing, walk-down-the-street-like-the-rest-of-us, people. She became my role model. The person […]
Spotlight on Nick Stokes
Nick Stokes writes novels, plays, fictions, nothings, arrangements, pieces of prose, and other undefinables. His novel AFFAIR was serialized online at and published as an ebook by The Seattle Star. AFFAIR is available in print and ebook formats at major online retailers. Other writings have appeared with Bumf, Paper Darts, Crab Orchard Review,Word Riot, Creative Colloquy, Mixer Publishing, Atticus Review, Waccamaw, Prick of the Spindle, Knock, and others. […]
Spotlight on Motivation! How do you keep writing…
The last few weeks I’ve covered some things to think about before you submit that manuscript you’ve been working on for the last ________ (fill in the blank: month, year, decade). These tips have probably given you ideas to take into your next rewrite or maybe confirmed you really are ready for submitting. But regardless […]
Staying Motivated to Write: Part II
Last week I compared writing to going to the gym. You know you’ll feel good after you get there, but it’s hard to get off the couch. I’m going to stick with that comparison again and talk about scheduling your writing time. Just as people are more likely to stay with an exercise regime if […]
Motivation Part I
One of the hardest things about being a writer can be sitting down in front of the computer day after day, without knowing if anything will ever “come” of all the work you’ve been doing. Regardless of whether you are thinking about the New York Times Best Seller List or just finishing a first draft […]
A Few Things To Know Before You Submit
You work for months, maybe even years, and finally get to type those two, beautiful little words: The End.Now what?Look for an agent? Self-publish? Submit to Independent Presses? There are lots of roads an author can go down, but are you ready for that step?June’s Spotlight will highlight some areas you might just want to […]