Mentors and Contests and Reviews, Oh My!
I have been writing, off and on, for a long time. I'd go through spurts of activity, then get busy with other things and not do much for a while, then have another spurt of activity.
I wrote a number of poems and stories in college and...
Find Your Niche
Well, my track record for getting into the HWA's Poetry Showcase remains unbroken. I didn't even get the formal, we enjoyed your poem but... I got a brief, "we did not accept your poem". It's not the first time, and it won't be the last. I either have...
Seeing the Fruits of My Labors
For me as a writer, this has been an incredible year. It started last fall when I submitted stories and poems to several anthologies and to a magazine.
But it wasn't until this year that those bore fruit. Well, except for one anthology....
Using Pseudonyms
This is a sample blog post
I've been on a couple of panels about pseudonyms over the years. I use one. Soon I'll have two. So, I thought I'd share why.
As I've said before, my first publication was in high school, thanks...
The Benefits of Writing Groups
When I was in college, I was invited to join a writing group called "Xenobia." It had writers like Dave Wolverton, Lynn Worthen, M. Shayne Bell, Kathleen-Dalton Woodbury, to name a few. They were writing and publishing. I…had some poetry in "The Leading...
LTUE 2023
LTUE 2023 had a number of really good panels this year. There were some writing panels I would have liked to attend if I had more time. I missed the first day, but I was pleased by what I saw.
I especially enjoyed the two panels I was privileged...
Here's To the Night Owls!
I have always been a night owl. In high school, I'd regularly be up until 1 or 2 in the morning, then get up for an early-morning class. (There were too many classes I wanted to take, so I always took an early morning class.)
In college,...
New Year, New Goals (2023)
I don't make New Year's resolutions. I don't believe in them. What I do believe in are goals. A calendar year is a good time to set a new goal—or a series of smaller goals. It's a measurable, finite period of time that can be broken up into months,...
Dialog Tags and NaNo 2022
I've heard writers and editors talk about dialog tags for years—decades. Some explain what you can use and how. Some say never use an adverb. Some say use it sparingly. Some say don't use "said", some say it's "invisible" as we generally don't notice...
Homepage Chatter to August 2022
Wow! I didn't attend Quills Conference because I've been putting my writing money elsewhere (Cozy Mysteries), but my husband and I attended the awards banquet to cheer on our friends. I submitted ten poems in two categories: Light Verse and Sonnet....