fairy tales Knowing When to Turn it Upside Down Although I hate to do it, I find my writerly energies pulled in too many different directions right now, so I’m taking a break from Rapunzel. Ironically, this is the story I most want to be working on, and I think that’s ultimately why I have to do
fairy tales Rapunzel and Research Last week after I finished a scene on my Rapunzel novel, I was struck with the conviction: I have to research now. My initial plan with Rapunzel was to do as much research as possible before NaNoWriMo began last November. I was able to do some research, but not as
creativity My New Guitar -- and the Importance of Writing it Down Last night, my dad and my sister presented me with a new guitar they had made as a belated birthday present. My dad did the assembly and staining, and my sister did the woodburned artwork. The photos don’t do it justice, but she took kind of a “collage” approach,
Book Reviews Fairy Tale Book Review: The Girl in Red by Aaron Frisch & Robert Innocenti The Girl in Red by Aaron Frisch My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a strange little book, recasting the story of Little Red Riding Hood in something of an urban wasteland. It’s unclear exactly who this book is supposed to appeal to — it’s a bit too
editing Week 4: As NaNoEdMo Kicks My Butt As I feared might happen, NaNoEdMo is kicking my butt. Although I’m only slightly behind schedule, finding a “catch-up” time in the near future seems bleak. I was right when I predicted that the requirement of actually putting in the time would make this harder for me than NaNoWriMo,
editing NaNoEdMo: A Little Like Being Locked in a Tower Well, March is just a little over halfway over, and I’m barely a smidgen over the halfway mark for NaNoEdMo, clocking in this morning at 26.88 hours out of 50. Despite putting in an hour and a half per day, the edits sometimes feel as if they are
Catholicism Tuscany Prize Winner - Free E-book! Hey, folks! Do you remember many moons ago when I entered the Tuscany Press contest for Catholic fiction? Although my manuscript was retained (and later rejected) for their young adult fiction startup, I did not win any of the prizes. But now you can all check out who did! For
fairy tales Retellings, Fan-fiction, and Obsession In last week’s post, I reflected a bit on my roots as a fan-fiction writer as it related to my latest decision to self-publish. As I think further on the type of writing I’m doing now, I realize that the subject matter and impetus hasn’t really changed
fairy tales Self Publishing ... Without a Clue Like almost any author in today’s literary landscape, I’ve explored the idea of self-publishing. Although I used to scoff at it, I’ve softened toward the idea over the last several years — not because of one-in-a-million success stories like Eragon and 50 Shades of Gray, but because I,
brainstorming Writing Groups, Critiques, Scrivener, and Long Drives I’ve had an incredibly enriching weekend for my writing life. On Friday I put my dog in the back of the car and made a 7-hour trek up to my old stomping grounds in Duluth, Minnesota. Along the way, I stopped to visit a friend that I met at
fairy tales New Year's Resolution off to a Shaky (?) Start Last week I wrote about how I want to submit once a week in 2013. I attempted this in 2009, and it lasted a few weeks. Last year, I did okay committing to one submission a month, but even that was a bit of a challenge. Because, like many writers,
Catholicism New Year's Writing Resolutions 2013 Well, I hope I’m not jumping the gun too much when I say that the world didn’t end in 2012 — which is great, because it means I have more time to write (and even to write about the world ending!). So without further ado, these are my writing
fairy tales All Done! Announcing my win to the Internet! Now I’m going to go announce it to my husband. And then I’m going to bed. The novel is “complete” at 50,712 words, but far from finished. I can’t wait to take this one on for a few more rounds.
fairy tales NaNoWriMo: Week Four This is it! The final week has arrived, and by Friday, I’ll hopefully have another novel first draft under my belt (my eighth!). I’m close to the end of the story now — the prince has been found out, Rapunzel’s hair is cut, and the witch’s backstory
blogging NaNoWriMo: Week Three So, supposedly Week Three is where things are supposed to start coming together. This is where the NaNo journey gets better. Although I’m not quite seeing it yet … I’m still struggling through mid-novel insecurity, and the negligence of many other areas of my life for the sake of
article writing My Changing Reading Tastes and What It Means for My Writing Over the past year, I’ve noticed a distinct change in my reading preferences. While Young Adult and speculative fiction (even better, both!) used to be my genres of choice, now I find myself more compelled to read memoir and other non-fiction genres. And while I used to regularly read
blogging Blogging and "platform" In the September issue of Writer’s Digest, there’s an article by Nina Amir encouraging writers to “blog their book” — to post a blog with bite-size book content over time to develop a readership and, eventually, attract the attention of publishers. The article has a “hit two birds with
call for submissions How to Cheat During NaPoWriMo After confessing that I was stressing about a poem a day, a friend left a comment with this site that would allow NaPoWriMo cheating, if one does so desire. Here’s the poem I got: A mountainous range stood before the cold Little Red Riding Hood Scoff not at my