Flake-out Friday–Pax Sopranos

Cliffhangers and section breaks are commonly used by writers to create tension and suspense. The key to pulling off these techniques is to make sure you’re not leaving out any important dialogue, plot points, action, and/or drama. For Flake-out Friday, I’d like to showcase an example of what NOT to do…er, unless you’re going for [...]

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Blog–PLUS: Faster’s Funnier..er, I mean Slow and Steady is the Pace

This week, Zoe offers her writerly habits for us on the Traveling Blog! In case you missed Danyelle’s post last week, click here. In this crazy, hectic, fast-paced, frenzied, manic society we live in, striving for fast and easy has become a well sought after endeavor. And, as with everything, there’s pros and cons to [...]

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Mental Health Monday–Fake It ‘Til You Make It

Munchausen’s Syndrome is a psychiatric disorder where the person afflicted feigns medical illness to get attention or some sort of psycholoical need met. To them, having medical attention and support from doctors, nurses, hospital staff is soothing and taking on the role of “patient” is comforting. Unfortunately, some go to the extreme in order to [...]

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Flake-out Friday–Tunes of Inspiration

Is it just me, or does it seem like music is a pretty big part of the writerly life? Soundtracks, inspirational songs, playlists that encapsulate a manuscript–all of these buzz words have been floating around the blogosphere as we’ve taken turns describing our writerly habits and ways. I TOTALLY get in the zone when the [...]

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The Sisterhood of the Traveling Blog–PLUS: Call on a Friend

We’re well into this month’s journey of the traveling blog. This week, Danyelle shares her writerly habits. If you missed Lydia’s post last week, click here. And be sure to round out the topic with Zoe next week! So last Wednesday, I took a risk and confessed my urge to quit writing. Let me tell [...]

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Mental Health Monday–I didn’t know I wasn’t pregnant

So I bet most people who have cable or satellite TV have seen commercials for a program I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant. Well guess what? There is a condition, called pseudocyesis, or false pregnancy, where women believe they are pregnant when they aren’t. Interestingly, it can also occur in other animals, commonly dogs, cats, [...]

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The Blogfest of DEATH!

Oh, this is so cool! Tessa Conte is hosting a Blogfest of Death today where writers share scenes they’ve written showcasing a character’s death. Morbid, ain’t it? Anyway, I figured this would be a great oppotunity to share the opening pages (about 1200 words) of my new WIP, SHARP’S BLOOD. (It’s a YA dystopian where [...]

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Blog Chain! The Revision Mill–Yes, It’s Grinding and Slow, Just As the Name Implies

 The talented Sarah Bromley started this round of the blog chain. Be sure to check out her blog and congratulate her on her recent success of signing with an agent–so exciting! CONGRATS, Sarah! Woot!!!! Her question: How do you handle revisions? Do you revise as you’re writing, or do you wait until you’ve gone through beta readers [...]

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Sisterhood of the Traveling Blog and…a confession

Hey, gang! This week, Lydia takes the driver’s seat and discusses her writerly rituals! **********CONFESSION ALERT!!! TURN AWAY IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ AND DON’T SAY I DIDN’T WARN YOU*********** Sometimes I wanna quit. Yeah. I do. Why? Because if I really admit it to myself and face the worry that grumbles in the back [...]

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Mental Health Monday–Pb and Heavy Metal Poisoning

So, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say most people have heard of lead poisoning. Right? I mean, you know you shouldn’t eat paint chips. Why? Because you don’t know if the paint contains–drum roll please–lead. Luckily, new paints don’t include lead, but if you have an older home…well, you shouldn’t eat [...]

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