Half a year in

I didn't actually post goals back at the beginning of the year, but looking back on the past six months, I'm reasonably happy with what I've gotten done.

Check out the post on my blog to see the details.

June MGR: Improving Craft

This month we're talking about improving craft.  I recommend a three prong approach.

Improving Craft

Three Tools to Improve Your Craft

Write a journal -


It's been said before by many people that keeping a journal helps improve your writing. The act of throwing the words out on the page gets you into the writing habit (a very good habit to have!)

I've never been a journal writer, but I can't argue with the logic. There have been countless journalists over the centuries who have poured their emotions into a diary and became successful authors.

If you're finding yourself stuck, maybe you should sit down and write whatever comes to mind. You can't find the diamonds without digging through the mine.

Continue Reading...

Improving the Craft

In my mind, there are three ways to improve one’s craft, and I actively participate in all three, sometimes binging on one form over the others for a perspective change. There’s input, output, and one-step-removed analysis. Continue reading here.

MGR: Finding A Life

How does one balance writing and life?  I'm sure there are as many ways as there are people.  Come see my thoughts on the subject here.

Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour: Work/Life Balance

Writing can be all consuming. I get a story in my head and I want to start writing and keep on writing. But, I can't write all the time. If I did, where would my ideas come from? So it's important to get up away from the computer and interact with other human beings.

Click here to read more.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com!  Up next: Jean Schara!

Finding a Life - The Balancing Act

The Dilemma

As a writer, it’s more than just a day job and a family life to juggle (unless you’re fortunate and don’t need an outside vocation to survive.) The writing has to be done too, and that will come at the expense of your friends and family. You’re not carrying a full-time job — you’re working two jobs, one of which has you at the corner desk in the bedroom, pounding words into your computer.

The difficulty lies in perspective. You need to concentrate on attaining your writing goals or you won’t be a success at writing. Your family, no matter how accepting, will experience feelings of neglect because you prefer your fantasy worlds and characters over them. I know. I have a super-supportive woman at my side who still feels ignored when I get into a story.

Continue Reading...

Flexible life

Productivity tools come up a lot in my blog because I have a lot of things I'm trying to keep in balance. Swing by my blog to see the latest method I'm using.

Other Bloggy Blog Blogs

Blogs. Blogs. Bloggie blogs. They're everywhere. Read about which ones strike ma' fancy...

MGR Tour: Blog Share

We're talking about blogs we visit regularly this month.  I think you'll see some unexpected options to consider.  Go here if you want to read more.

Merry Go Round Blog Tour: April - What are Three of My Favorite Blogs?

Owl Uses Computer by RedPigeon via www.DeviantArt.com

I go to quite a few blogs every morning. Picking three favorites is pretty tough. One I have delivered to my email inbox is Kristine Kathryn Rusch's blog, http://www.kristinekathrynrusch.com/ . I especially love her business articles. As a new writer I need all the help I can get and she writes easy to understand articles on how to go about making writing a business. Read more here.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com! Up next: Jean Schara!

MGR: What Makes Me A Unique Writer?

Welcome back to another edition of the Merry Go Round Blog Tour.  This month we're discussing what makes us unique as a writer.  Why don't we discuss what make me not unique as a writer?  As in the problems slush pile readers endure.  I have a terrible tendency toward narrative.  I spend a lot of time in my character's heads.  I don't do conflict very well.

Continue reading here.

Merry Go Round Blog Tour: What Makes Me A Unique Writer?

Picture "Unique" by Mazyono from www.deviantart.com

The prompt for the month asks what makes me a unique writer. Hmm. Any answer I give could come off sounding flippant. I'm a unique person, of course. No one has my exact background. No one has read the same list of books. No one has had my experiences with family, job, travel, or children.

What makes me a unique writer is that my experiences provide areas of overlap with many people.
Read the rest here.

The Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour is sponsored by the website Forward Motion (http://www.fmwriters.com). The tour is you, the reader, travelling the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. There are all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s always something new and different to enjoy. If you want to get to know the nearly twenty other writers check out the rest of the tour at http://merrygoroundtour.blogspot.com!  Up next: Jean Schara!

The World Needs More 'Niques!

Everybody's unique

And I don't mean peculiar (though some folks certainly wear their freak flag well, don't they?)

Another word for people is "individuals." And isn't being unique, one of a kind, also a single individual? (Makes sense to me.)

There's an old Emo Phillips comedy sketch where he discusses religion. He meets a man on a bridge and neither wishes to make room for the other to pass, so they begin to narrow down their choices:

"He said, 'Well, I'm a Baptist.' And I said, "Ha! I'm a Baptist, too!' What a small world!"

It takes several back and forths between the two before they find the one point of scripture they disagree with, and then Emo delivers the punchline.

Continue Reading...

Am I unique?

What would make someone who doesn't know me pick up one of my stories rather than somebody else's? What is it that I bring to the table? Head over to my blog to watch me talk around the question.

Villainous Villainy

Recently, I read one of the best blurbs from Sir Anthony Hopkins: "I don't play villains, I play people."

Read more while eating fava beans and a nice chianti...

MGR Tour: Villains

This month I talk about our common villain.  Do you know who or what it is?  Come see if you guessed right.