Category: Musings

Saturday’s NARWA meeting went great, and — as usual — I came away inspired. Our guest speaker, Harlequin American author Cathy McDavid, presented talks on characterization and that bane of many writers’ existence (or at least mine), the synopsis. I came away with some great tips, along with some...

After reading my last blog entry, one of my friends from college messaged me with this bit of inspiration about giving characters reasons to love one another: Love isn’t only about the hot sex – it’s about friendship. Cuz when the hot sex goes away (old age, car accident,...

Over at the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood, my writing blog home away from home, I read a fantastic post the other day. It was all about what editors want from a category romance. After reading it, I wonder if Brad and Erin’s story is as ready as I thought. I...

I’ve been trying to catch up on my blog reading, and found Nathan Bransford’s great post on “voice.” The post and the comments afterward are full of great stuff … but all of it combines to make me wonder if I have a developed “voice.” I’ve always thought I...

I was out on a walk Saturday morning, listening to my iPod, when a song by my favorite band came on and it hit me: This could be Mike James’ theme song. Mike, you might remember, is the hero in Bree & Mike’s story (the one with the crappy...

As I was printing out the completed draft of Bree & Mike’s story, I realized something: I HATE the title. The working title has been “To Catch a Wife” … but that’d be coming totally from Mike’s perspective — and only AFTER he realizes he wants one, about 1/3...

I recently discovered the blog of Nathan Bransford — Literary Agent. He’s both witty and wise … and rumor has it that he responds almost immediately to queries, whether he wants to see more or not. I’ve yet to test that myself because I haven’t quite perfected my query...

I thought it was tough to find balance when I was on my own, but this week has given me a glimpse of what writers go through when they have husbands and families. I was on vacation this week, and I spent it with the Boyfriend. Don’t get me...

It’s time to ask my writer friends for some advice: I need to find a way to strike a balance between writing and life. I’ve written about this on my other blog, but not here. It seems that when I’m focusing on my writing, everything else falls by the...

The old saw says there are three R’s — readin’ ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmetic — but I gave up on that last one years ago. These days, I find myself struggling to strike the right balance between the other two. I’ve heard many, many writers say that to write well,...