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What is Genre?
Yesterday, I realized what genre is and why it’s important to understand genre as a writer. Well, perhaps not quite, but close. It wasn’t until recently that I investigated the meaning of the word genre and its significance, and it has radically changed the way I approach literature both as a writer and a reader….
The Obligatory Scenes of the Horror Genre
This week, we will look at the obligatory scenes of a horror story, once again using Alfred Hitchcock’s classic movie, Psycho, as our example for these scenes….
The Conventions of the Horror Genre.
It’s Halloween again, and in the spirit of the season, we will look at the spookiest of all literary genres: Horror….
5 Steps to Building an Author’s Platform—My Journey So Far.
Any writer who wants to market and sell their books (or even be looked at by most literary agents) must build and maintain a solid author platform….
8 Suggestions for Incorporating Elements of Real Life in Your Fiction
Even when I try not to incorporate real-life elements or stories in my fiction, I've found that it ends up happening anyway. The reason for this is simple: as writers, we naturally draw upon our personal experiences and emotions in creating characters and plots. How could we not? That’s where a great amount of inspiration comes from….
How I Find Inspiration for Writing: Where I Go and What I Do
I’m always impressed with established authors who come out with a new book every year, some more than once a year. Where do they get their fantastic ideas for their novels? It’s always essential to have fresh ideas to write about….
Reading List for October/November 2023
I intend to finish Romancing the Beat this fall as well as read, at minimum, the following books….
How to Publish a Book in Today’s Marketplace: An Author’s Options.
At a writers’ conference this summer, I recently learned that I have several options when it comes time to seek publication of the first book in the trilogy I’ve written….
My Publishing Journey… Thus Far
As mentioned in previous blog posts, I began writing at a young age. By fourteen, I regularly wrote fanfiction novels about my favorite show, Star Trek: The Original Series. Later, I wrote fanfiction about Star Trek: The Next Generation and, in adulthood, about House M.D. I did write the odd original fiction short story or novella. None of these did I share with my family and friends (though the House M.D. fanfiction was shared on fanfiction websites). It wasn’t until my husband and I moved to the United Arab Emirates for his career that I had more alone time than I knew what to do with. Then, I decided I would pass the long hours writing an original novel that I would eventually try to have traditionally published….
Three Lessons I Learned at Writers’ Conferences Summer 2023
I had the opportunity to attend two virtual (online) conferences this summer. They were the first writer’s conferences I had ever attended, and despite not being around other writers in person, I found them exciting and informative….
Why I Changed the Name of My Brand and Author’s Platform
When I first decided to break out of my shell and write original fiction with the intention of mass publication for a public audience, I debated over whether or not to use a pen name….
My Research Trip to Chilliwack, B.C.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit family members who live in Chilliwack and Abbotsford and used the opportunity to tour the area and get a feel for the environment in which my story will take place….
Fanfiction: My Writing Experience
When I was about eight years old, I wrote poetry whenever I felt sad, afraid, or unloved, which was most of the time. I still have those poems saved in a scrapbook. However, the first real short stories (which evolved into novella and novel lengths quickly) that I wrote were fanfiction. That’s how I cut my teeth in writing, and I wrote almost exclusively fanfiction from the time I was twelve or fourteen years old until I was about forty-one years old. The subject matter flipped from science fiction to modern medical drama, but my obsession for writing it remained as intense….
My Reading List for August/September 2023
Even with the best intentions, I didn’t read everything I listed for June and July, so I shortened my list and expectations for August and September 2023. However, I am persevering with my reading!
Organizing the Plotting of My Novel
As I’ve spent years writing, I've learned the need to remain organized as I do my pre-writing and plotting before I begin writing the body of the novel. This usually involves brainstorming, fleshing out the idea, writing synopses, rewriting synopses, researching subject matter, and plotting outlines and scene lists for the story. Since I’m an ink-and-paper writer, I like brainstorming everything on paper before uploading it to my laptop for storage. In the past, that meant a lot of legal pads and looseleaf everywhere, but modern technology has come up with ways in which an old-fashioned gal like me can write things out by hand and remain organized in the modern world….
Writer Self-Care
When I moved from viewing my writing as a hobby to a potential career, I focused too much on spending most of my day cranking out page after page of manuscript that I failed to look after myself and neglected my physical and emotional needs. I came across several blog posts discussing the necessity of ‘writer self-care,’ and I scoffed at them. I was too focused and driven to take time for such frivolity. I didn’t realize how much I was denying myself until I suffered the early burnout stages. I’d written full first drafts for five different manuscripts almost back-to-back, losing my mojo, my creative muse. Everything I put down on ‘paper’ was dry, bland, and yucky. I returned to those blog posts and articles on writer self-care and reread them from the perspective of someone desperately needing such advice….
Why I Love Being Canadian
In honor of Canada Day, July 1, I am writing about why I am proud to be Canadian. I promise not to be obnoxiously political (lol), but I want to address, in list form (in no order), what it is about Canada, my “home and native land” that I love.
What Is Narcissistic Abuse?
In the last blog post, I wrote about domestic violence: what it is, how to find help, and why I write about it in my stories. I mentioned that domestic violence or abuse is pervasive and destructive not just to the victim of the abusive partner but to anyone else in the family and society. I also said that this week I would discuss a type of abuse commonly found in domestic situations (though not exclusively so): narcissistic abuse. In my stories, I also write about narcissists and the abuse they cause others. For that reason, I will briefly define what it is here…
Domestic Abuse—What is it, and why write about it?
In the novel I’ve written and am in the process of pitching to literary agents, Ashes of Injustice, the female protagonist is a survivor of domestic abuse. This is a theme in other manuscripts and short stories I’ve written. One might ask what is behind my preoccupation with domestic abuse. The simple answer is that I’ve witnessed family and friends who were abused or are still in abusive relationships. I’ve seen its long-term damaging effects on individuals and families and feel the need to expose and explore it in my writing. I am a survivor of abuse—physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and financial. It’s a problem of epidemic proportions, not only in the part of the world where I live but in humanity. For these reasons, I expose it as a problem in my writing through the experiences of the characters I create. I strive not only to show the pervasive evil that domestic abuse is but also that it is possible to find freedom and healing from it…
I am a Sparrow
If you’re reading this post, you have probably landed on the first page of my website or blog and noticed the images of sparrows. It’s a running motif. Maybe you’ve asked, “What’s with the birds?” If you have, this post is for you. If you haven’t, I’d still like to explain the significance of the sparrow to you. You see, I am a sparrow…