20 Gifts for the Writer

It’s that time of year again — time to think about the perfect gift for your writer friend or family member. Not to worry, though. Here are XX great ideas for your author. And you’ve still got nearly a week to pick them up! The Writer Emergency Pack ($14) – 26 illustrated idea cards and…

The Traveling Writer

For my sixtieth birthday (that can’t be right!), I spent a long weekend in New Orleans. COVID-19 has changed the landscape nearly as much as Hurricane Katrina: no open jazz clubs, no bus tours of the city, far fewer walking tours and everyone on edge about wearing your mask at all times. However, The Traveling…

The Aging Writer

In two days I will be 60. That just can’t be right, can it? I can’t say I’ve been a writer all those years, though I have been a storyteller since I could speak coherently. My early writing is unpublished and rightly so! However, I feel I’ve progressed as a writer until the point where…

Writing the Perfect First Page

Robin Gainey did a great webinar for my writing conference about “First Page Perfect.” Here are some of her suggestions: In the perfect first page, the main character must be sympathetic and introduced in a setting: Here are some things she recommends you not do: Robin says you should read and question. Read your story…

Query Letter Pitfalls

I “attended” a virtual query letter “boot camp” last month. Angie Hodapp talked about some pitfalls you might fall into while writing your query letter pitch — the part where you describe your story and try to hook the agent or editor. First, here are some awkward phrases to avoid: “Have you ever wondered…?” “What…