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

20 Useful Tips for Writing a Novel

Today I decided to compile a list of one line tips that help me keep focused on writing and observations I have made since gaining a literary agent.  Here they are in no particular order: Don’t play video games. 1000 words a day is healthy. Make time for your family….but not too much. Write a

Landing An Agent: The Steps Taken

By God’s blessing I have an agent who is going to pitch my book to a couple of publishing houses (small ones, because you have to start somewhere), but this kind of stuff doesn’t happen overnight, and I have been on a long winding road to this point in my writing career.  I decided to

On Speaking to a Literary Agent

Today I stressed all day because I was to receive a phone call from a literary agent from Glass Road Media Management.  I was so excited to get the phone call, and had a great meeting with Rebeca and Charlie Seitz who own the company.  Our meeting went well, and we spoke for nearly 90

This Writer’s New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a new year.  Yesterday was a retrospect on what I have done, and today shall be a list of things I hope to accomplish in 2013.  So here goes: 1.  Podcast – Very soon (tomorrow to be exact) I will collaborate with another indie writer friend of mine, Ryan McKinley, (writer of The Pirate

Under the Gun

I have heard two origins of the term “under the gun”.  One definition originates from a military situation when people used to mount castle sieges.  Men who built back a wall that had been damaged with cannon fire while the cannons were still firing were considered “under the gun”.  There is also the simple explanation

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 #18: Focus on the Intent

One thing that is very difficult at this stage in the NaNoWriMo project is the daily grind.  Some writers find it difficult to crank out a scene or will bog down in telling the story or moving the action along.  Where to go next, you ask? One thing that I do that helps me to