Prose Pet Peeves

Posted by on Jan 23, 2012 in Books, Editing, Writing | 9 comments

Over the past two years I’ve tried to be a good little author and read things I “should” not just the things that I’d have picked as no more than a for-pleasure reader. I’m glad I’ve done this. I’ve run across some gems I would otherwise have missed, and I’ve learned things from some absolute stinkers I really wish...

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Dear Debut Self-Published Author, $4.99 (plus!) For Your Kindle Book?

Posted by on Nov 7, 2011 in Books, Publishing, Writers | 11 comments

Ummm, how can I say this nicely? Are you kidding me? Let’s just put this into context. I buy a lot of self-published books. I buy a lot of small-publisher books. And I buy the big pubs too. I’m OK paying $7.99, even $8.99 or (cringe) $9.99 for the Kindle version of a book from a big publisher whose track record is proven, and for either an author I...

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Karma, Solidarity, and the Bad Part of the Review I Wrote for You

Posted by on Oct 21, 2011 in 5MinuteFiction, Book Review, Books, Editing, Publishing, Writers, Writing | 12 comments

This topic has been brewing in my brain for a while now. A while back Roni Loren wrote a blog post called Book Review Debate in which she explained why she didn’t write bad reviews for books and why maybe other authors should consider not doing so either. There was a great debate that followed in the comments (which unfortunately seem to have been lost in...

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Oh the Things You’ll Learn

Posted by on Oct 3, 2011 in Books, Fighting Gravity, Publishing, Writing | 0 comments

We write. We’re good. We know it. We FEEL it in our work, the emotion, the beauty. Others feel it too. Mom, cousin Amy, that-guy-you-met-on-the-internet-Mike, Colleen at work. They say it made them laugh out loud, cry, want to tell all their friends about our books. We’re on our way, right? My book was good when I “finished” it. Really. It moved people....

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For Strong Convincing Fiction, Control Your Narrative Voice – Guest Post

Posted by on Jul 14, 2011 in #amwriting, Books, Editing, Writing | 3 comments

Today I’m on a plane flying to Readercon! So the lovely Terri Guiliano Long offered me a guest post. Ain’t she great?. Check out her very informative blog and her debut novel, In Leah’s Wake. (Good name.) When discussing stories or novels, we often talk about voice. The voice carried the story, we say. Or I loved the writer’s voice. But...

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