I’ve heard publishing professionals say that when they want to know if a prospective fiction client can write, they flip through the manuscript in search of the first section of dialog to see if the author has mastered the art. Dialog is that important. So today I’m going to give you my top ten tips…
Thousands upon thousands of people are interested in writing–everything from books to blogs to memoirs to articles. You name it, tons of people have thought about writing it. And you’ve probably heard all the statistics–how hard it is to get published. But maybe you haven’t heard the other part to that statement–because here it is…the…
Why are we passionate about writer’s conferences? At my first writer’s conference at University of Oklahoma, I met Kathryn Fanning. A few months later I attended her freelance writing class at the library. That led to being in her critique group, and the first thing Kathryn taught was to write what you know, which for me was: children,…
You’ve seen images like those above all over Pinterest. Or other social media outlets…giant “word lists” as I call them, designed to help writers. This boils down to opening a thesaurus, right? You need a different word so you google it, pin it, look it up. But creating this habit–the habit of switching one word…
Give your ears some momentum! Listen now: 0.75x 1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x 0:00… Interview on Writers & Authors on Fire Podcast AppleGoogle PodcastsPlayer EmbedShare Leave a ReviewListen in a New WindowDownloadSoundCloudStitcherSubscribe on AndroidSubscribe via RSSSpotify Want to hear a bit about how I come up with ideas and write my books? Check out the newest…
“What age are your books written for?” I get this question quite often, and the answer is both easy and difficult. The easy answer is, for most my books, “middle graders.” If you go to your local bookstore and look for my Super Sleuth Investigator mysteries, or if you see a magazine ad for the…
Sneak peek: It’s up! Hear about my new Jones and Parker Case Files book on the Adventures in Odyssey podcast! Co-authored with Bob Hoose, it’s full of 16 original solve-it-yourself mysteries. Check it out! Find out more at the Adventures in Odyssey website with Focus on the Family!
In this video, Darren Hardy shares insights from when he interviewed Jim Rohn. In short: Don’t wait for things to change. Change and things will change with you. We often wait for our job situation to change, our family situation to change…but they will change with us if we make a change. Success isn’t something you…
I’ve long been a proponent of contests when it comes to getting your work published. They’re a great way to get your manuscripts before editors and agents and avoid that dreaded slushpile. If you’re looking for a good contest location, check out Writer’s Digest. They regularly hold contests over a variety of topics, genres and skill…
Weird Al’s done it again.