Category: review
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Free writers resources
I budget a regular amount of time to read other people’s newsletters, download their reader magnets and attend free webinars. As a member of Behind Our Eyes, the email-based writing group for people with disabilities, I receive information from other writers about resources and opportunities. Clenell Anthony, the author of the romantic thriller Fractured (which I…
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The Newsroom
Sometimes I have to escape the written word. Sometimes my eyes hurt, or my brain runs out of juice. Sometimes I don’t even have it left in me to read for pleasure. So I watch some TV. I love documentaries, and anything about fashion, and stand-up comedy. (I made my…
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14 Day Author Profit Challenge with Bryan Cohen
It happened one week into my 14-day author profit challenge with Amazon Ad guru Bryan Cohen. I had my first click and my impressions doubled. I am the world’s most pragmatic optimist— I want to believe that things turn out for the best but am always planning for the worst. I…
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Poetry Rocks!
A while ago Art Director Gayle Hendricks (who teaches graphic design at Northampton Community College) asked me if I wanted to join her for a poetry walk. These were the details: All are welcome to enjoy a unique experience blending nature, poetry, and mindfulness at the Bethlehem campus’ beautiful acreage,…
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There is no art without story
As a journalist, I know there is always a story. If two people are in a room, I used to tell my interns and new reporters, there is a story. If a meeting gets canceled, there’s a story why. As humans, we cherish story. We may live in day-to-day routines but our entertainment,…
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I went to a writing conference and came home with the keynote’s haircut
I have a “Networking for Writers” talk which I presented at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group a few weeks ago to help prepare members for the conference that happened March 13-15. (You can see the slides as a paid subscriber to my Substack.) In that talk, I assume that everyone listening…
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It’s the Universe that matters
If I learned one lesson recently while reading Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, those books have reminded me that the absolute most important aspect of writing (and reading) is the universe. Readers deserve a universe that is rich, complicated and full of the right details, complex characters and a setting that comes alive. And sure—…
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What our bookstores say about us
I don’t know how I discovered Possible Futures, a bookstore and “community bookspace,” but visiting there was an experience, a special treat for the side of my publisher and academic self interested in critical theory and marginalized voices. I am linking to the about page on their website here, because…
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Review: Janet Evanovich How I Write
I finished Janet Evanovich’s How I Write, and I expected it to disappoint. Evanovich reports in the book that it takes laborious effort to make her Stephanie Plum novels read so simply. So, like the easy tone of her fiction, her writing craft book is also conversational. The book released…
Parisian Phoenix Publishing 