Using the Holidays as a Plot Device – from Perky to Perfect

I’m over at Word Whores this morning, talking about the bad and good of holiday-themed stories.

What to Do When Your Books Aren’t Anything

I’m over at the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal blog today, talking about being a cross-genre write – and why my agent said my books aren’t anything.

Choosing Your Billing

How people bill themselves and their products fascinates me. You know what I mean, right? The “best,” “tallest,” “newest,” “most.” Advertisers have been after this method for years, trying to convince consumers that this particular thing is special, unique, superlative and Must Be Purchased. Of course, there are laws that require Truth in Advertising. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is…

Being Practical about Writing in Multiple Genres

Don’t worry – the snow is all gone now and we’re back to spring sunshine. I just thought it looked really neat, the way the snowy tree made a cave with treasures beneath. So, Rachelle Gardner, literary agent, posted on her blog today a whole bunch of really good reasons for debut authors, in particular, to stick one genre. Yeah,…

Making Marketing Decisions

An oft-lamented part of being a writer is the promotions end. Some writers are good at it, but for the most part, the majority of us are writers because we don’t like to sell stuff. Otherwise we’d have fabulous careers doing that. But we know that’s part of the gig. Even the big, traditionally published authors have to self-promote. And…