Craft
What is Happening to the Book Industry?
Everywhere one turns these days, people are bemoaning the state of the book publishing industry. Even non-book people can be heard citing news reports of the downturn in sales for publishers and book stores. Downsizing, low sales, bankruptcy, returns, closures of independent mainstream and Christian bookstores–all bad news. And then one of the worst reports arrived in…
Writing Takes Discipline!
I have to sit down and work. I have to make goals. I have to meet goals. I’ve also found out that the more discipline I have in life the better my writing goes. I learned that when I have the discipline to eat right and exercise I sleep better, wake up with energy, and…
Creating a Great Villain
Q: What makes a great villain? A: Ah, yes, everyone loves to hate a really bad guy, don’t they? Max Cady (Cape Fear), Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs), Annie Wilkes (Misery), Darth Vader (Star Wars): they all stir something inside us, something that makes us uneasy and uncomfortable with our own feelings. Good versus…
Write for the Reader
“I write what I would like to read–what I think other women would like to read. If what I write makes a woman in the Canadian mountains cry and she writes and tells me about it, especially if she says ‘I read it to Tom when he came in from work and he cried too,’…
To Halve and To Whole
As a writer, I sometimes live disconnected from the world my body actually inhabits. I watch peImage by Ravages via Flickrople, notice their gestures, analyze how they perch on a chair, assess how they dress, listen to their conversations. I’ve learned to dig into the belly of my purse for my notebook and write these…
ACFW conference/booksigning
This week is the American Christian Fiction Writers’ annual conference in Minneapolis. I will be attending and actually this year presenting a workshop on how to write an inspirational romance. Talk about an interruption in my writing schedule!!! But a welcome one. I can’t wait to see everyone, and if you are attending, please stop…
Never Stop Learning
When people start talking about writing conferences, many authors get sweaty palms, second guess their sanity in signing up for agent/ editor appointments and imagine locking their hotel room doors and never coming out until it’s time to go home. I’m guilty of all three. More than once. And even after attending conferences for over six…
Office Must-Haves…
My name is Tricia and I confess … I have office envy. I’ve been talking my some of my novelist friends lately and they have pretty nice offices … A comfy chair? A lamp? A mini fridge??? Sweet! I share my 12 x 12 office with four other people. We have five computer stations, and…
The Cure for the Common Writer’s Block
The dreaded writer’s block. That wall of nothingness that, sooner or later, plants itself directly in front of every writer’s path to creative bliss. That ominous obstruction that fuels frustration and threatens to drive even the most prolific writer absolutely batty. Writer’s block: public enemy number one. Writer’s block is something that affects every writer,…
Sharing the Writing Journey
Be nice to your writing pals because the world of publishing grows smaller and smaller as you go. Not only do you want your friends beside you, but you never know where you will each end up years down the road. A few months ago I participated in a book signing at Barnes and Noble Cheyenne with…