After spending a few years playing around with the idea of writing fantasy (and then writing several fantasy manuscripts that I wound up shelving) I decided to go all in with contemporary YA. I knew by the first outline that I was a stronger writer in contemporary YA, I'm going to credit (blame?) my first … Continue reading Fantasy vs. Contemporary
I set the rather auspicious goal of completing a totally new manuscript over winter break, which was about two weeks. I didn't start from scratch- I had a solid outline I'd been tweaking off and on for a few months and a few thousand words. I figured if I had first mess of a draft … Continue reading Goals: Achieved and Set
A little writing challenge for winter break
After a frankly exhausting series of fiction workshops, I took the summer off and did more or less nothing. I needed it, and I'm glad I did it, although I do wish I had been more productive (but if I had, it wouldn't have been a break, so...) But now, in an attempt to get … Continue reading Flash Fiction in a Flash
The last few NaNoWriMos I've participated in, as well as all the manuscripts I've written to date, have been "pantser" novels. As in "fly by the seat of my pants" novels. As in, "sit down at the keyboard and hope something comes out" novels. Lucky for me, things have been coming out. Well, they had … Continue reading Outline Outline Who’s Got the Outline
The day I discovered that I could run and listen to audiobooks at the same time was life changing. I subscribed to Audible that day. It's a little shameful, actually. My library's free app, Hoopla, got me started on audiobooks and I don't know why I made the switch from complimentary to an app that … Continue reading Reading the Genre
Despite literally doing social media for a living, I am missing out on an entire writing community on Twitter. I tend to tweet and provide social media for brands and spend little to no time on my own social media. That means my personal branding is limping along. At the urging of a friend, I … Continue reading #WritingHashtags
This weekend, I planned, booked, and paid for two weeks away from my house. I am very fortunate to have an employer with very generous leave policies and I don't gain anything from not taking allotted time off, so I'm resolved to use all of it this year. The first trip is my elopement/honeymoon. My … Continue reading A Tale of Two Vacations
I've been struggling lately with my manuscript, Hot Mess #1. I made a bit of a breakthrough last night, but I didn't do anything in December and January has been a slow start. My laundry list of excuses includes: Several instances of snow, which somehow made it impossible to write. Illness, where I spent several … Continue reading Level 3 Writer, Level 34 Human
When I was a teen, I had a habit of getting books I loved, reading them, then leaving them all over the house so I could pick them up and read them at all times. My mother loved finding paperbacks strewn across the kitchen table, between couch cushions, even by the toilet. There was a … Continue reading Jean Ferris Is Dead
The Merry Manuscript 