My husband gave me the coolest/nerdiest thing for my birthday. That’s right, it’s a feather pen set complete with an inkwell. Excuse me while I swoon once again. When I posted this pic on Facebook and IG, a few friends asked if I would write with it. I was like… I mean, how could I…
Another year is coming to a close, and one of my favorite Twitter follows asked a great question. So of course I started thinking about my three things. Now, Charlotte said three things that happened to you—mine aren’t so much that. They’re more things I/my family did. Which I think is just as good. 1.…
Today I’m over at Writing and Wellness discussing . . . let’s say making the best of things. Though I did laugh at Colleen’s tweet about the post this morning. I know what you’re thinking: Ooh, bad reviews and seasonal depression?? Sign me the hell up for that. Don’t worry. It won’t make you want to…
A while back I did a post wondering if there are really 115 synonyms for “walk.” It was more a goofy exploration into how some of those synonyms would look in gif form than a genuine dive into the question. That said, I still have yet to promenade anywhere. Weird. Anyway, today I’m tackling “said”…
I follow several comics on Facebook and Twitter. One of those is Sarah’s Scribbles, which features the work of Sarah Andersen. You’ve likely seen her comics floating around, as she has a great sense of humor and is wildly popular. Recently, she shared a comic that I’m pretty sure was created just for me, despite…
Today, Dan shared this post from Writer’s Write, the entirety of which was this image. It’s a list of 115 ways to say “walk.” I’m all for synonyms and lists of synonyms. Especially for my crutch words (variations of look, for example), sign me the frick up for synonym lists. My characters can only do…
I stumbled across this image in my phone. Apparently I decided to save it at some point. I think past me knew that present me would need to read this right about now. I recently started querying agents with my completed middle-grade novel, hoping to one day join the ranks of published hybrid authors. I’ve…
When we fiction writers put pen to paper or finger to keyboard or, I dunno, bloody toothpick to cocktail napkin, we are likely writing a story that 1. We enjoy in our heads enough to write it into reality, and 2. We hope others will enjoy as well. Lifelong readers have come to expect certain…
In April, I was a judge for two writing contests – Dan Alatorre’s Word Weaver contest and Ryan Lanz’s short story contest. I was honored to be asked to fill the role once, let alone twice. And while I enjoyed judging great stories, I also learned a few things about how to make short stories…
Yesterday, as I sat down to write some brilliant words in my WIP, I did what any writer does before starting. I got onto Facebook. For research. I swear. Okay, maybe not, but I did see a couple of posts that inspired the words you’re reading now, so it wasn’t all a waste of time.…
Allison Maruska 