Most people might assume that once they become a parent, there is no time for writing. And if they manage to find some spare time, they are too exhausted to make any headway on a draft. I used to think the same thing. However, I have surprisingly made the most progress in my writing after becoming a mother.  This might sound crazy to some. I am a mother of the most determined...

Picture yourself getting ready for a writing session: fixing up your drink of choice and maybe some snacks,  getting out all your notes and opening your files, reminiscing on the great ideas you had last night while you were trying to fall asleep or this morning when you were in the shower.  You’re excited.  But then your fingers hover over the keys and…nothing.  Those notes you scribbled down in between...

Does something feel… off in your writing life but you can’t put your finger on it? I may have some insight. Writing can be lonely (even with the supportive #writingcommunity at your back!) and sometimes we don’t realize when we fall into bad habits that hurt, not help, our writing. If you feel like something’s missing, here are five question to analyze if you have toxic writing practices that might...

There is nothing more painful for authors than the rejection that comes during the publishing process. (Well, maybe writing synopses, but we don’t speak of that.) When I started querying my novel, I tried to think of a way to make the inevitable rejection a fun and inspiring part of the journey. Rejection needed to spur me on rather than discourage me, and as with any unpleasant task, a little...

Beginnings. They seem innocent, yet they possess the inexplicable ability to bring a writer to their knees. First lines haunt us late into the night until we spring up from bed only to greet the sun with the rhythmic pounding of the backspace key. The words come to us, but as soon as we see them on the page that little voice in our head (all writers know this voice)...

Today, I’m thrilled to talk about a part of the writing journey that’s incredibly close to my heart: Rejection. Admittedly, the topic of rejection sounds like a bummer, but it doesn’t have to be! That’s why I’m here—I want to give you several reasons to keep going after the rejections begin to come in. You may only get a few, several dozen, or hundreds during your writing career.  Right now, I...

It’s 2021, which means 2020 is finally behind us! I don’t know about you, but I have some exciting writing goals I’m ready to tackle this year. I’m motivated, have all my journals ready to go, and I’ve even organized all of my pens by color. Now I can sit at my computer and write my rough draft of the book I’ve been dreaming about for years. If 2020 has taught us...

If you are like more than half of the people in this country, you probably have a job that takes up forty or more hours of your week (cue Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”). As a school teacher, I am currently taking on an abnormal amount of work. Busy would be an understatement to describe my current situation, and one thing keeps getting put on the backburner… my writing routine....