There’s one question writers seem to get a lot. We all get it. We all have a rote answer for it, that differs from writer to writer. Here’s the question: Where do you get your ideas? My answer to this is: from everywhere. Ideas are literally everywhere. I have twenty ideas for stories every morning before I have my coffee. They’re not GOOD ideas, all the time. They need to […]
The Truth About Ideas Read More »
Saving My Spoons! Social Media for the chaotic Author Ok, so a while back I decided to be more intentional about what and where I posted on social media. I developed a couple of flavors of posts I felt comfortable with, and (and this is important) that I enjoyed. I upgraded to a Facebook professional account and became verified. I started posting on Instagram, Facebook, Threads, and BlueSky. Those were
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Whenever you try to live a life where you are producing creative work, there is a trap you can fall into. At least I do, all the time. I look at my rate of productivity, do some math by determining the available hours I have, and make goals for myself. This is not, in itself, a bad thing. I am a planner, and nothing would get done otherwise. However, just
Personal Work/Life Balance Read More »
No one is an island, least of all creative people. All of us who are engaged in creative work need to have lives that support that work. But what does it mean to have a support system? What forms can that take? A major kind of support, and perhaps one of the most important, is the support of the people in your life, at least some of them.
Your Support System Read More »
I do this occasionally, talk about things that are giving me pleasure or helping me get through a tough week. I stole the idea from the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, which used to end every episode with each guest making this kind of selection. So, for February of 2025, here are three random things that are making me happy! La Brea (Peacock) I will admit that I don’t
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I’ve been playing D&D Regularly since 2021, after a lifetime of wanting to and never finding a group. It is, hands down, some of the most fun I’ve ever had. I play an overpowered half-elf Oath of Devotion himbo Paladin. I’m one of the group tanks. This is a character very much unlike me in real life, and that is a feature not a bug. He’s also just recently graduated
Everything I Really Need to Know in Life, I Learned from Playing Dungeons and Dragons Read More »
I’ve been doing a deep dive into worldbuilding lately because that’s where I identified I most needed to level up. And I have so many ideas for worlds, characters, and stories that the hard part is realizing that I can’t do everything at once, and I know from experience that I can’t draft more than one book at a time. So, I used my favorite coping strategy, making a
The State of Things Read More »
I’ve read a lot of writing craft books over the course of my life, and I thought it would be interesting to talk about my favorites. In general, I don’t like books that are very proscriptive. The ones who give you one correct path you must follow to accomplish your goal. The best ones help you think about things in new ways, and help you put your work
My Favorite Craft Books Read More »
A lot of people consider those of us who are labeled as ‘creatives’ a mystery. They don’t get it. ‘I could never do what you do,’ they say, and I am here to tell you that is patently untrue. All of us are born creative. We are usually in touch with it as children, and then somewhere along the way, it gets programmed out of us. We learn not to
5 Ways to Get in Touch with your Creativity Read More »