I recently read this post on A Writer’s Path about writing pet peeves. In it, the author describes three practices that are irritating, namely cliches, Mary Sues, and sloppy grammar/spelling. Scroll to the comments and you’ll see a handful of others provided by other readers/writers (including yours truly). After I wrote my comment, I got…
If you want to get your book into the hands of more readers, running sales is an effective strategy. Most authors do one of two things: run a $0.99 promotion or offer the ebook for free. Which is the better tactic depends on whom you ask. I’m currently running a free ebook promotion for Drake…
I’ve been reading a book called 100 Days of Solitude by Daphne Kapsali. Yesterday, at the end of the chapter for Day 42 (this coincidence will not be lost on Hitchhiker’s Guide fans), I read this (emphasis mine): I like a clandestine seat in the first class lounge and a suitcase that’s impossible to carry. I…
I saw this pic on Twitter, shared by @TheUnNovelist. This could be the best part about writing – you get to walk around in someone else’s skin for a while (and I don’t mean that in a creepy Silence of the Lambs kind of way). Want to see life through the eyes of a child? Or…
This post is full of secrets and spoilers. It also includes snippets of drafts from the very beginning of my writing practice. So, you know . . . I was learning. *clears throat* Project Renovatio has a longer history than my other books. In fact, it was the first novel I completed. It was not…
I read a lot of blog posts over the course of a week. A lot. And most of them don’t come from my WordPress Reader, where the blogs I’ve subscribed to are listed. I find most of them on Twitter blog share days, where bloggers can share their interesting content with specified hashtags, expanding potential…
I started following this hilarious account on Twitter called Guy In Your MFA. He represents that potentially fictional, douchey guy who is obviously brilliant in his writing, wants to tell you how yours is all wrong, and will not accept that his work needs any changes whatsoever. Of course he’s a parody, but parodies are…
Confession: I’m writing this post as a form of procrastination and it may be a bit wandering, but I think we’ll end at a coherent place. I’m supposed to be working through my editor’s notes for Part 2 of the Project Renovatio series (hereafter known as Project Liberatio, or PL). And I have been. In…
As I goofed around on the interwebs, I came across this image. So of course I started brainstorming – what are truly boring things a writer could try to make interesting? A potato? A rug? This post?? I suppose it depends on the details. Maybe the rug is Aladdin’s and you can ride around on it. Maybe the…
On Friday, as I scanned the posts in my blog feed, I came across Dan’s flash fiction challenge. It had an intriguing title: Kiss Me. That is, write a kissing scene. Now, while I’m not a romance writer (as some of the writers commenting in the challenge clearly are), the need for a kissing scene has…
Allison Maruska 