Cruisin’

I’ve been quiet in the blogosphere this past week, but I had a good reason, I think. I was here: And here:  And then here:  Meanwhile, this was happening at home:  Ew. I’d say we timed our trip well. I decided to share some of our trip because I’m a blogger and we share everything.…

Is There Room In Publishing For Original Stories?

I saw this video on Facebook. It’s amazing, so watch it. If you scrolled without watching, allow me to summarize: many popular songs were written using the same four-chord progression. These guys crammed thirty-six (or so, I lost count) song snippets into five minutes without changing the four-chord structure. The transitions are seamless. They cross genres, including…

How Do You Maintain The Writerly Temple?

Everyone knows we feel better overall if we eat healthy foods and exercise. Or as Chuck Wendig said somewhere, we would do well to treat ourselves better than we would treat a bathroom at Wendy’s. Turns out there’s a reason for that advice. I’ve been admittedly lazy the past several months. For a little while I was…

A Tale Of Two Covers

One of the Great Truths in the Writer’s Bible is this: the cover can make or break the success of your book. Doesn’t matter how good the stuff inside is. If the cover isn’t intriguing (or worse, if it’s deterring), if it doesn’t compel the potential reader to buy/borrow, it hasn’t done its job. Period. Since…

Writers Can Help Themselves Get Lucky

Don’t worry, this post is still approved for general audiences. Though if you’re looking for the more adult definition, this is the interwebs. Just don’t be gone too long, because that might not help your career advancement. Anyway. This post is about writers who make it, the ones who find the magical combination of timing…

Chuck Norris Never Wore Yoga Pants – Revisited

Things have been quiet for me on the blogging front lately, because all the things are happening. I’m posting updates on my Facebook page, so follow that if you want up-to-the-minute coverage, but when more pieces settle I’ll do a blog post. Stay tuned. For now, I’m bringing back a bit of old humor. This…

Prepare To Be Wrong

As I scrolled through my blog reader last night, I stumbled across a simple pic post on Pearls Before Swine. I loved it so much I stole the title (hope you don’t mind, Yecheilyah). Go check out her blog as a thank you. Below is the pic from the post. It gave me one of those whoa…

Are You Filtering Your Writing?

Today’s post comes courtesy of the lovely and talented Cathleen Townsend, who offers some insight into what she sees when she wears her critique-ing hat. Take it away, Cathleen! ***** Allison suggested a guest post on critiquing, and I’ve actually been thinking about it for some time. I could simply give you a checklist, but…

The Ultimate Child’s Code Omnibus

Way back when I started this blog, it was solely a humor blog. I wrote about funny observations in parenting, teaching, married life, and pretty much whatever struck my fancy. A few things have happened since then. The blog has evolved into a more “author” oriented endeavor, and readership has grown substantially. I’d like to…