Valentine’s Day as a lover’s holiday has obscure beginnings. The 8th-century Gelasian Sacramentary recorded the celebration of the Feast of Saint Valentine on February 14. The day became associated with romantic love in the 14th and 15th centuries, when notions of courtly love flourished, apparently by association with the “lovebirds” of early spring. Before the 18th…
DetailsIt’s First Wednesday so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group post! February 7 question: What turns you off when visiting an author’s website/blog? Lack of information? A drone of negativity? Little mention of author’s books? Constant mention of books? When I visit another author’s website, I like to see someone who seems as…
DetailsWell, I got yet another rejection from an agent. The one I met at the SCWA Conference last Fall, who had requested a full manuscript, has decided she has enough authors after all and she needs to concentrate on the ones she has instead of taking on any new ones. I’m really not certain if…
DetailsWe’ve been working hard at MailerLite’s demand. Seems that free email servers like gmail.com are no longer welcome. Email from those servers seem to be routed to the spam folders in most email accounts. I’ve never noticed any problems with my gmail account, but MailerLite is requiring that you validate a new email address (think…
DetailsWhat exactly does the life of a semi-retired writer look like? I generally go to bed fairly late, so I sleep in until 7:00 or 8:00. Once I get my chosen bottle or cup of caffeine in my hand, it’s off to check email and post on my social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Patreon, and…
DetailsWe have started the year off as best we could. I stayed up until midnight and toasted the New Year with a glass of champagne (the roomie crashed on me). On New Year’s Day, we ate black-eyed peas and collard greens for luck. Let’s hope it works. I’ll be working on Book 2 this year.…
DetailsIt’s First Wednesday, so it’s time for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group post! January 3 question: Do you follow back your readers on BookBub or do you only follow back other authors? I’m not a big BookBub afficionado so I don’t follow a lot of people over there. I spend more time on Goodreads and…
DetailsSeems as if we celebrated the New Year only a few weeks ago, but here we are again getting ready for 2024. Here are some of the most popular resolutions for 2024 so far: We’ll probably sweep out the house (Irish and Scottish tradition) at midnight, then on New Year’s Day eat collard greens and…
DetailsThere are at least 10–maybe 14 or 15–holidays this time of year to celebrate. I’m not even counting National Cocoa Day or International Animal Rights Day or even National Joy Day. Whatever you celebrate, I hope your holidays are merry and bright and your New Year is a good one. See you in 2024!
DetailsIt’s that time of year again–time to shop for your author! If you’re clueless about what to look for, here are fifteen great ideas that will thrill your writer and not make too sizable a dent in your bank account. For your future best-selling author: a mug that states the obvious! This is under $20…
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