Thirty-Six Hours in a Remote Corner of Texas

In the final days of 2020, I managed to secure one more publication for my writing. One writing goal I gave myself at the beginning of last year was to submit all 15 of my short pieces for publication, but that was an uber-ambitious goal. Only one of the pieces was finished at the beginning … Continue reading Thirty-Six Hours in a Remote Corner of Texas →

Still Love

I wrote this story originally about three years ago and back then, it was about one-third the length. I gave it to a critique group I belonged to at the time, which has since disbanded, and then to a professional editor. It wasn't well-received and everyone had a lot of suggestions for improvements, which I … Continue reading Still Love →

Read Me!

Last week, I wrote about how this blog has helped me develop a writing practice and become better at the craft. I'm a late bloomer when it comes to writing. Although I've been writing for a long time, I've always been a dabbler, trying this and that style, starting projects I've never finished, getting easily … Continue reading Read Me! →

Cheers to Five Years of Blogging

WordPress has informed me that I started this blog five years ago today. I won't link to my first post because it's not anything worth linking back to, but I remember the feeling of putting content out into the world publicly for the first time, even if I didn't have any readers. Nerve-wracking! I still … Continue reading Cheers to Five Years of Blogging →

The Novel: Which Novel?

So...I kind of have a reputation for being a starter and not a finisher, especially when it comes to writing. I lack the ability to resist the next bright, shiny thing. I have a lot of ideas that I get excited about, and I have a hard time sticking with previous projects, making revisions, and … Continue reading The Novel: Which Novel? →

NaNoWriMo

Today is November 1st and that means National Novel Writing Month. I signed up two years ago and didn't get very far, but this year, I'm all in. I went to two Boulder region kick off parties, I have eleven write-ins on my calendar, and for the past eight weeks, I've started attending the Friday 500 … Continue reading NaNoWriMo →

Kill Your Illogical Darlings

Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings. - Arthur Quiller-Couch If you've taken a few writing classes, you've undoubtedly heard this piece of advice. I heard it many, many times, but didn't really grasp its application until … Continue reading Kill Your Illogical Darlings →

The Novel: The Real Writing…Doesn’t Begin

This was not a very productive month. We only wrote about 3,000 words total. Ironman was working full force on a side project and I, well, I have no excuse. I was in a massive slump from the time I got back from Spain until my birthday. I didn't feel like doing anything. I didn't … Continue reading The Novel: The Real Writing…Doesn’t Begin →