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Please help me welcome C. Hope Clark, a colleague whose newsletters and website help writers on their journey to publication with practical tips and ideas for smaller markets. Her novel, Lowcountry Bribe, is the first in her Carolina Slade Mystery Series, published by Bell Bridge Books. I asked Hope to tell us about her fiction […]
Today I’ve invited a newly contracted debut novelist to share her story. Cheryl Linn Martin has been doing all the right things: writing lots, joining writing organizations, attending conferences, keeping up a blog. When I heard that she landed a three book contract for a middle grade novel series, I was so pumped! Be encouraged, all […]
If I’m learning anything about my writing from the piranha reviews, it’s that when I see the same issue appearing in several reviews, I should pay attention. The Fence My Father Built isn’t perfect by any means–it IS a debut novel after all. The issue I hear from the piranhas is that my story line […]
Buzz. A student from novel writing class told me last night that she cringes when she hears buzz words such as: network or platform. She’d probably blanch at buzz too. It’s all well and good to philosophize about wanting to be above all that. And I agree with a similar comment, that writers ought to […]
This weekend, author Kay Marshall Strom and I will team up to present a series of talks on fighting social injustice at her church, Valley Covenant in Eugene, OR. This Church and Culture event was organized after Kay and I discovered we each had published our debut novels with Abingdon Press and we live in […]
It’s finally here: the official release of The Fence My Father Built. I’ve been so busy teaching writing classes and being in a funk this past week, I nearly forgot to be overjoyed to see my baby in print. They say writers are a moody lot, prone to depression, isolation and abusing the drink. I’m […]
When I was a child, the library was a magical place, where there were more books than I could ever hope to read. I love the smell of a building full of books, the quiet ambience, the ability to try reading new subjects without a commitment to buy. I have librarians in the family and […]
Most of my fiction has been contemporary, so you’d think research might be minimal, but I inisist on writing about topics I don’t know much about. For instance, in my novel, The Fence My Father Built, I needed to understand more about archaeology in Central Oregon, about Native Americans and about life in general on […]
Yesterday we discussed the basics–such as not being so shy you can’t tell everyone you meet about your book. The publishing world is changing very rapidly and a lot of the changes are technology oriented. What I say is essential to book promo today may be obselete by the time your novel hits the stands. […]