Nora Roberts isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Every time I see or read an interview with her, I’m impressed. Her recurring theme when asked how she manages to pump out five books per year, year after year, is, well…it’s her job. Or, in typical writer-style emphasis: It’s. Her. Job. She sits down
Just like two scoops of raisins are better in your bran cereal, two computer monitors are definitely better on your writing desk. I used the two-monitor trick to great effect when I worked in the technical realm. Now in my ongoing quest to improve my productivity–and make use of that extra screen that’s been lying
Have I mentioned how much writers hate crafting query letters? Yes? Oh, fine. Well, maybe it’s just me, but trying to boil my story down to 2-3 paragraphs that will catch an agent’s eye is excruciating. Today, I spent some time perusing blogs by literary agents Nathan Bransford and Kristin Nelson, looking for inspiration. I also
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” – Aristotle According to success guru, Brian Tracy, it takes 21 days of repetition to form a good habit–although bad ones seem to require a much shorter period! So, how does one form a habit of excellence? Discipline! I’ve heard
Okay, celebration over. It’s time to get back to work. (Productivity guru Brian Tracy would be so proud.) Winning doesn’t mean anything except that a few people liked my writing enough to vote for it. If I want to get that writing published, there’s work to do! With helpful feedback from my awesome critique partner,
“I won! I won!” she yelled as she bounced around the room like a rubber ball… Okay, seriously. I just found out that I won the Contemporary category of the Heart-to-Heart Contest for Unpublished Authors, sponsored by the San Francisco Area Romance Writers of America. Woo hoo! Just to make sure it doesn’t go to
When I was in grad school at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA (or SLO, pronounced “slow” by the locals), one of the things I loved about the campus was all of the outdoor nooks and crannies where I could hole up and study while surrounded by trees and plants. The weather was spectacular