Have you thought about writing historical fiction? After writing her first historical fiction novel, Author Elaine Stock offers some tips. by Elaine Stock With the launch of We Shall Not Shatter, I might appear to have jumped from one genre to another (leaving behind the Inspirational genre), but I’ve doneContinue Reading
Are you battling the self-doubt monster right now? Is it trying to bring you down and destroy your writing dreams? It’s a common theme in a writer’s life. You go along doing well for a while, and then something happens to cause you to doubt yourself. You get a rejectionContinue Reading
Whatever your experience as a writer, there are certain things you learn along the way. Perhaps the most famous lesson is to “develop a thick skin.” We’re told early on that we need to embrace criticism so we can learn to be better writers, no matter how difficult it isContinue Reading
If you’ve been a writer for any time at all, you’ve suffered from a painful experience. Perhaps several. You’ve had your work rejected. You’ve gotten a bad review (or two). You’ve had your story ignored by agents, editors, and contest judges. You’ve heard from your family that you’re wasting yourContinue Reading
by Sienna Tristen It took me five years to write my debut novel, The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming, and I credit it with both the total loss and the safeguarding of my sanity. It would be a different kind of writing, I knew from the start—slower, more introspective, more SocraticContinue Reading
by Iris Yang Wings of a Flying Tiger is a work of fiction. But to me, a Chinese-American, it is also personal. I was born and raised in China. My mother and grandma had lived in Nanking and escaped from the city just days before the notorious Nanking Massacre whenContinue Reading
by Pat Stoltey When I say I’m a dreamer, I mean it literally. I also have nightmares. My dreams are weird and my nightmares terrifying. A psychiatrist might wonder if I had a rough childhood full of traumas and abuse, but my childhood was wonderful. I grew up on aContinue Reading
My mental and physical health are inextricably linked. I’ve shared my personal space with anxiety and depression my entire life, and any attempts to mitigate or improve with medication has run the spectrum from ineffective to disastrous. I long ago learned that physical activity and a carefully tuned diet areContinue Reading
Are you a highly sensitive writer? Do you know what “highly sensitive” is? I didn’t until I read The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine N. Aron. Wow. What an eye-opener. If you’ve ever been told that you’re “too sensitive” and you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend you do.Continue Reading
Are you in a writing funk? You may not have noticed it creeping up on you. Then one day, you’re no longer excited about your writing. You may go so far as to say that you don’t really care if you write or not. What’s going on? Should you beContinue Reading
by K. K. Allen Inspiration for me usually comes in the form of nature and art, which is probably why my favorite place to write is outside, or looking out my second story window. Up in the Treehouse, in particular, was actually inspired by a storyline in The Descendants (BookContinue Reading
by Trisha Faye When my step-father got cancer many years ago, I scurried to the health food store. I took all the classes I could on healthy eating. A few years later, a precancerous diagnosis sent me running to my favorite spot—a mountain stream in southern California. I sat byContinue Reading