Writers are Awesome!



In the years I’ve been involved in the writing community, I’ve come to this conclusion again and again--writers are amazing people! I’ve seen writers give of themselves, lift others up and do frankly stupendous deeds that have nothing to do with writing, but always seem to hearken back to the heart of why we write and the type of personality it takes to live this writing life.

It seems like when we’re not writing worlds, we’re working hard to help our own.

I was feeling a little low last month – sick, no voice, general wonderings of where this path was going and whether or not I’d missed some exit or fork in the road along the way – when I stumbled across the latest example of writers doing good! (It was the Pat Rothfuss article below if you’re curious.)

I shouldn’t have been surprised, because I’ve seen it happen over and over again. And I’ve heard it from all of you too: When we need a pick-me-up, the writing community is there to shine a light.

So, I guess I just wanted to say thanks for being amazing, all of you in the writing world! Published or unpublished, newbie writer or hardened veteran of the query wars, across genres, word counts and nations – you guys rock!

Check out these heartwarming stories of writers in action:


  • Holiday Book Drive
    If you're in Indiana, check out this one sponsored by my friend's bookstore!

  • Mark Koopman's 50 States of Pray
    On Christmas Eve, share a prayer, a thought, a memory, a hope and even a regret about the past and/or a wish for the future. See if your state is one of the seventeen eight! still needed.



And remember these little guys from earlier in the year?

Thanks for being your wonderful selves this year! Wishing you all a fantastic holiday and New Year!

NaNo: Week 4


By now, you may be feeling a little like this.


© Phil Date | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Write, my pretties, write.

It's the only way out of oh-my-gosh-how-will-I-ever-write-this-much-this-was-the-worst-idea-ever-sobbing-so-much-sobbing-and-I-need-more-coffee land.


NaNo: Week 3

© Andrei Mihalcea | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Okay, your initial creative spark may or may not have derailed into, well...

 

            ...creative doodling.


 

That's okay! You'll power through it. And maybe, you know, doodle some words.

NaNo: Week 2

Hopefully, you're feeling like this:

Goin' strong! Word counts met!


© Chronis Chamalidis | Dreamstime Stock Photos



And this:



These last few pages? Pure. Writing. Genius.


© Kutt Niinepuu | Dreamstime Stock Photos
And this:



Yeah, that's right. I just cranked out 5K words. Between laundry loads.


© Dreamstime Agency | Dreamstime Stock Photos

NaNo: Week 1

© Julie Bush | Dreamstime Stock Photos

A blank page.

        So many possibilities...


© David Coleman | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Pens and keyboards at the ready, distractingly cute YouTube videos and Pinterest crafts - Exiled!

 

It's NaNo time!


I'm doing a hybrid write-as-much-as-you-can version of NaNo and might be scarce from the blog this month. Good luck to everyone doing the whole enchilada!

Take a Tour of the 12 Districts!

Okay, this is way too cool not to share! Shutterstock is promoting its stock video options by compiling mini-tours of the Hunger Games' 12 Districts. How creatively awesome is that?!

Literary Titles for Favorite Genre Books

© Dana Rothstein | Dreamstime Stock Photos

Hello again, blogosphere pals! I'm back from my little hiatus with query materials, new pages for Book #2 in my space opera series and some awesome beta feedback.

What have you guys been up to?


The flurry of new books being released this fall also got me thinking about titles, and it struck me as funny how vastly different literary and genre titles are in style and tone. This isn't really a shocking news flash, of course, but I'd never stopped to think about it before.

As a genre gal myself, I'm drawn to those kinds of titles--punchy, intuitive, action-oriented. Whereas, literary titles often are more subtle, thought-provoking and beautiful in sort of a you-won't-understand-this-until-you-read-me kind of way.

It made me wonder what some of our favorite genre books might be called if they were accidentally stocked on the literary shelves:

Dragons in Winter - Game of Thrones
The Secret Keeper's Godson - Harry Potter
When Faces Lit the Sky - Hunger Games
Of Oceans Born - Percy Jackson
Love's Undying Thirst - Twilight

Okay, I had way too much fun with that!

What literary titles would you give your favorite genre books? I'd love to hear 'em!