I want to tell you a story. A story so bizarre it merits a blog post. It starts with a broken TV. That broken TV. I know, it doesn’t look broken. That’s the screen that appears when you turn the thing on. It’s supposed to stay there for a few seconds, and then it loads…
Meet Lily. We adopted Lily in 2010 along with her sister, Daisy. Lily and Daisy were part of a larger litter owned by a former student of mine, and when her family was moving out of state, the kittens needed homes as quickly as possible. From the beginning, Lily was skittish. When we picked her…
Great tips here for getting top ratings on our books!
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…
I was watching American Pickers last night (the episode was called No Stoner Left Unturned. Ha.), and the guy Mike and Frank picked was an aging hippie guy in California. He was a real character, this guy. A free spirit. He was also an artist. In one of his bigger projects, he turned a Kawasaki…
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…
A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon this post by Louise Marley. It led to this fun exchange. It is an odd collection of nonsense, isn’t it? And as a matter of fact, everything there has a story! Let’s start with this random hodgepodge of junk. See, to my kids, my desk is “that…
Welcome to the latest Bonus Material post for Drake and the Fliers. This one’s gonna get a little musical. Some writers use music for inspiration. I know of a couple who got whole story ideas from a song (I had one for a short story). This isn’t quite like that. As I write, I hear songs…
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…
Allison Maruska 