As a novelist, you pour your heart and soul into your writing, and it’s natural to want your work to be the best it can be. But no matter how hard you try, it’s tough to get an objective view of your own writing. This is where a critique partner can help. They provide you…

“Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.” – Jo Harjo In my fiction writing, I examine the complexities of familial love, usually as it relates to the bond between mothers and daughters and how it can be fraught with challenges, maybe…

During a podcast interview last week, my guest remarked that, though she’d won two prestigious awards for her women’s fiction debut, she wasn’t sure she’d enter any competitions for her next book. Since most awards charge a fee of between $50-$150 per category, she questioned whether that was a wise use of money. And there’s…

I thought I’d prepared myself. I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. My novel, Truth and Other Lies, released into the world in early March. It was a labor of love for four long years. I lived through fifty agent rejections before signing with a small press which then proceeded to go bankrupt. I dusted myself off,…

You finally type those final two words – THE END – and sit back in your chair, put your hands behind your head, and let out a deep sigh. The manuscript is done. You’ve revised the plot, you’ve deepened the characters, you’ve proofread each line and corrected the typos and the dangling participles. But believe…

Because my first book publishes in March, I’ve been approached for a few months now to speak at various events, primarily on the subject of debut novels and my journey to publication. None of these venues have offered to pay me, though others on the panels are being paid either a speaking fee or given…