So there’s been much hand-wringing lately in internet writing circles about getting experts in a particular lived experience to read your novel looking for ways you may have gotten said lived experience wrong. When we’re talking about someone checking your science fiction novel for math and physics mistakes, we call this an “expert” reader, but …
So I wanted to talk about this phenomenon that I and many other writers experience right before a book drops. I felt this most when I wrote RAPTURE, and I’m here again with EMPIRE ASCENDANT, because these were books I wrote and rewrote massively right before deadline. It meant I didn’t have time to sit …
Do Pro Writers Really Not Know if their Work is any Good? Read More »
I’ve been blessed with some pretty great bosses in my time, folks who recognized that having somebody smart on the team who got things done made them look good, and meant they did less work because, you know, I was doing it. But, being a woman in the workplace, it was inevitable that some boss, …
On Being Too Smart and Assertive in the Workplace Read More »
I’ve been dutifully churning through episodes of Leverage, a sort of modern-day Mission Impossible where a bunch of thieves go about righting wrongs caused to individuals by The Man (big corporations). But though I enjoyed the concept, I just wasn’t getting into the show. I just didn’t care enough about the people involved in it. …
Who cares? On the importance of banter and character-driven narrative Read More »
It’s no big news that I write a lot. Like, a lot. I’m attached to 400-600 projects a year at the day job. I do freelancing work for a couple of clients – blog posts, press releases, that sort of thing. Then I picked up an adjunct position at a local design school teaching copywriting …
On Sticking to Your Guns When the World Wants Posies Read More »
I just read something this week from somebody who said their goal this year was to write something that would “win some kind of award” next year. See my head explode. If you are writing books to get awards, you may want to rethink your priorities. I hate awards seasons. I hated awards season even …
Most food budget tips will tell you to stock up on cheap fillers like rice, potatoes, pasta and canned beans and soups. The canned beans might not be so bad, but if you’re a fickle diabetic like me, you want to stick to a low carb diet. This reduces the amount of insulin you take …