Good news for most writers comes, rarely at best. So I was particularly pleased and grateful to achieve two noteworthy goals in the past few weeks. Not quite Champagne-worthy (I’ll save the Dom Perignon for when my first novel is Continue reading Writing Milestones–One Large, One Small
I’m doing something way out of my comfort zone during the month of November and participating in National Novel Writing Month. It’s more or less a massive group marathon fiction writing event, where writers across the nation (maybe even the Continue reading Ready or Not, NaNoWriMo, Here I Come!
I had the pleasure of participating in my first official wine judging competition (my local county fair–one of the best in the nation and the biggest county fair in the great state of Minnesota!) where prizes (ribbons) were awarded. It Continue reading What does a county fair wine judging competition have to do with writing?
I just returned from the University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute conference in Madison, WI over the past weekend. This was my second year attending. I went back for three reasons: First, I got great value for what I spent in Continue reading Thoughts on a Recent Writers’ Conference
It’s been an interesting month and will soon get “interestinger” next month. Gorgeous Wife and I took a trip to Arizona to visit the Sedona area and then drive down to Green Valley to visit my Dad, his wife, and Continue reading Random Thoughts
I attended an excellent workshop at the University of Wisconsin last weekend with the aforementioned title. Designed to give you a jump-start on your work no matter what stage of creation you are at—just starting, ready to publish, or somewhere in Continue reading Impressions of “A Weekend with your Novel” workshop
All writers claim to have writer’s block at one point or another in their careers. It’s sort of a badge of honor: if you haven’t broken through that dam of stopped-up prose at least once, you can’t really call yourself a Continue reading Thinker’s Block vs. Writer’s Block
I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 22nd Annual Writers’ Institute last weekend at the beautiful Madison campus. What follows are some of my general impressions. I may comment on some specific workshops and speakers in a future post. Overall impression: Continue reading My First Writers’ Conference
When prepping a manuscript for submission, whether for an agent, editor, publisher, or even a critique group, I prefer to have my submission as clean and perfect as possible. I was inspired to become a better proofreader and revisor by the Continue reading A Useful proofreading tool I’ve developed
