Workaday Writer: The Marathon Writing Weekend

I have an awesome wife.  I absolutely have to put this out there.  Without her I wouldn’t be able to write the books I write.  You see, I also have four children.  I am extremely involved in their lives and love every minute of raising them (even the pre-teen drama). Yet, I am a writer

New Podcast Up: NaNoWriMo and Adaptations

On the latest podcast, Ryan and I discuss NaNoWriMo, our experience with it, some advice to those attempting it this year, and the things you need to know before starting on such a complicated endeavor.  We also discuss our favorite book adaptations and some that are not our favorites at all. Shame on you, Hollywood.

When Life Happens, Change Your Plans

I had big plans for the month of November.  I was going to finish up the current WIP rough draft and then I was going to crank out a 50,000 word satirical novel for the NaNoWriMo. Well…life had other plans. For the past week our water well has been cycling on and off a little

The #NaNoWriMo Checklist

In just two weeks we will be heading into dark territory.  The National Novel Writing Month will be upon us.  How many of you wordsmiths plan on cranking out a novel that month?  Well, you can include me in that mass of lemmings desiring to throw their minds into overdrive to write 50,000 words in

NaNoWriMo Followup Thought: Book Blurb

  You have spent an entire month writing a novel, and now that you have finished it and are working on the editing phase, it is probably a good time to write a book blurb. A book blurb is that paragraph of text on the back cover of books that tell the prospective reader what

NaNoWriMo Tip #28: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

So maybe you’ve finished the NaNoWriMo or maybe you are slaving away at the final pages (and if you are, you need to stop reading this RIGHT NOW and get back to work), but I’m sure that as you peruse the text of your masterpiece you will find some scenes, character dialogue or something else

NaNoWriMo Tip #27: We’re So Proud of You!

As I peruse the blogs today I find many of the NaNoWriMo writers have completed their goal of 50,000 words ahead of schedule.  This is great news!  If you haven’t quite reached the goal, then keep at it, don’t quit, and take a hammer to that creative genie. I think it’s great that many of

NaNoWriMo Tip #26: Don’t Beat Yourself Up

So here we are, and as I’m reading the blogs and testing the waters, I’m finding several blog posts about people giving up hope of ever reaching 50,000 words by Friday.  Many of the posts opine their sorrow of not finishing, feeling like their writing skills are sub-par, lamenting the coveted goal of winning the

NaNoWriMo Tip #25: A Little Encouragement

Here we are one week from the deadline and many of you are still hammering away on the NaNoWriMo.  For most of you this week will be a mad dash to get finished.  I wish you the best of luck. I also perused the internet to find a little encouragement that might help you push

NaNoWriMo Tip #24: Piecemeal Criticism

When I write, I usually end up invariably creating chapters I did not intend to write when I originally wrote my outline.  Usually, they are on subjects or set in places that I did not originally research or intend to include in the novel. For this, I have the glorious internet to thank.  However, the