It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The awesome co-hosts for the April 7 posting of the IWSG are PK Hrezo, Pat Garcia, SE White, Lisa Buie Collard, and Diane Burton! This month, I will be talking about my greatest weakness as I look taking risks for the optional April 7 IWSG question: Are you a risk-taker when writing? Do you try something radically different in style/POV/etc. or add controversial topics to your work? Oh, how I wish I was a risk-taking writer! I admire people who try different things (especially if they Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The awesome co-hosts for the September 2 posting of the IWSG are PJ Colando, J Lenni Dorner, Deniz Bevan, Kim Lajevardi, Natalie Aguirre, and Louise – Fundy Blue! Today I will share about my favorite YA author, SE Hinton, as I answer the September 2 question: If you could choose one author, living or dead, to be your beta partner, who would it be and why? Even though I don’t write YA fiction, my choice is the author who is credited with introducing the YA genre: SE Hinton. Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The awesome co-hosts for the August 5 posting of the IWSG are Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey! Today I will share about a time when I played with genre while writing a non-fiction book. August 5 question – Quote: “Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don’t write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The awesome co-hosts for the June 3rd posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, J.Q. Rose, and Natalie Aguirre! Today I will be looking at how I deal with my strong opinions in my writing as I answer the June 3rd IWSG question: Writers have secrets! What are one or two of yours, something readers would never know from your work? Strong Opinions I have strong opinions about everything. Part of being an insecure writer is a reluctance to share my feelings and opinions Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. Note: It’s NOT the 1st Wednesday, but due to technical difficulties, this post didn’t publish as scheduled. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to LAST month’s awesome co-hosts for the IWSG: Lee Lowery, Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Jennifer Hawes, Cathrina Constantine, and Tyrean Martinson! THIS month’s amazing co-hosts are Jacqui Murray, Lisa Buie-Collard, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence! They will be answering the optional question for March: “Other than the obvious holiday traditions, have you ever included any personal or family traditions/customs in your stories?” This week I will be talking Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s awesome co-hosts for the IWSG are T. Powell Coltrin, Victoria Marie Lees, Stephen Tremp, Renee Scattergood, and J.H. Moncrieff! This week I will be recounting my writing journey as I answer the optional question for January 8, 2020: “What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher/coach/spouse/friend/parent? Did you just “know” suddenly you wanted to write?” My writing journey began very early on in life. Before I could even read, Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to November 6th’s IWSG co-hosts: Sadira Stone, Patricia Josephine, Lisa Buie-Collard, Erika Beebe, and C. Lee McKenzie! Today we will look at my internet search history, as I answer the optional IWSG question for the month: “What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever googled in researching a story?” I think most writers fear the FBI may get ahold of their search history. Imagine if Mary Shelley lived in the 21st century. What would her search history look like? Grave Robbing Vivisection Electrocution Daemon Living dead Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to October 2nd’s IWSG co-hosts: Ronel Janse van Vuuren, Mary Aalgaard, Madeline Mora-Summonte, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor! Today we will look at whether it’s better for writers to read or not to read, as I answer the optional IWSG question for the month: “It’s been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts for the August 7 posting of the IWSG: Renee Scattergood, Sadira Stone, Jacqui Murray, Tamara Narayan, and LG Keltner! This month, rather than answering the optional question of the month, I will be talking about starting over as a writer. Starting Over Since Dan died on April 26th, it has been really hard for me to find the “on” button. Finding time to write in the midst of starting over has been difficult. There have been a few Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG: Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre, Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor! Today I’ll be talking about the inspiration for personal traits in the characters I write as I answer this month’s optional IWSG question: What personal traits have you written into your character(s)? For this month’s question, I will formulate my answers using the only fiction work I’ve completed, “The Nature of Murder”. I haven’t finished Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts: Diane Burton, Kim Lajevardi, Sylvia Ney, Sarah Foster, Jennifer Hawes, and Madeline Mora-Summonte! Today I’ll be talking about genre as I answer June 5th’s optional IWSG Day Question: Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why? Sci-Fi Genre with Dystopian Elements There are 3 genres I enjoy writing. Even though I don’t read a lot of it, sci-fi is one of my favorites, particularly those with dystopian Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts: Lee Lowery, Juneta Key, Yvonne Ventresca, and T. Powell Coltrin! Today I will be writing about my experience writing about my husband’s cancer journey on his CaringBridge blog, as I answer the IWSG Day question for May: What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? Maybe it doesn’t qualify as an early experience, but it has by far, been the experience with the most impact. I always loved writing, but I didn’t know Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The amazing co-hosts for April 3 IWSG are: J.H. Moncrieff, Natalie Aguirre, Patsy Collins, and Chemist Ken! This month, I’m talking about action scenes. The IWSG Day question for April is: If you could use a wish to help you write just ONE scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be? (examples: fight scene / first kiss scene / death scene / chase scene / first chapter / middle chapter / end chapter, etc.) Action scenes are really hard for me. I don’t even Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. This month I will be discussing carving a duck decoy, as I answer the Insecure Writer’s Support group question for February 6th… Besides writing, what other creative outlets do you have? When I was younger I easily could have answered this question. I was actually a talented artist. I especially loved watercolor painting and drawing portraits. It’s been years since I’ve done either (although, I Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. This month I will be discussing when people ask a favorite or least favorite question about my writing, as I answer the Insecure Writer’s Support group question for January 2nd. What is your favorite and least favorite question people ask you about your writing? I don’t really have a least favorite question about my writing. But there are some that I love. Here are some Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. This month, I won’t be answering the optional #IWSG question of the month. But I encourage you to check out some of the answers the other fabulous insecure writers have written. Instead, I will be continuing my Goal Post series. Each week we will be one step closer to having a clear plan for achieving your goals in 2019. This week, that step is for Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. Today, for the first time, I won’t be answering the optional #IWSG question of the month (How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?). I just couldn’t come up with an answer. And, after all, it is “optional.” But I encourage you to check out some of the answers the other fabulous insecure writers have written. I will be writing about empathy. Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. Today I’m going to explore self-publishing with print-on-demand, as I answer the #IWSG question for October – How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something? Anything you have ever gone through will affect who you are personally, and as a writer. It will certainly color your writing in subject and tone. When life isn’t going well, it can Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. Today I’m going to explore self-publishing with print-on-demand, as I answer the #IWSG question for September – What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why? When I first decided to write my book, Facing Cancer as a Friend, I felt as though I was looking at a timer, counting down the amount of time I had to get a platform set up and Read more…
It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. I encourage you to check out their website and even sign up for the IWSG Newsletter. Today I’m going to explore how to approach your writing like an Olympian in training, as I answer the #IWSG question for August. What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey? I am not athletic by any stretch of the imagination. Believe it or not, I’ve never even watched the Olympic Games. But I do find the accomplishments of Olympians Read more…
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