work
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Guest Post: Five Things a Day
Here’s my new friend Michelle Chouinard, a blogger who has thrown herself into the world of writing, and has set for herself some attainable goals. What she says here? Do it! ……. Today I thought I’d share with you one of the best pieces of writing advice I’ve ever read, and why I think it works. I found it about a year ago in one of Lawrence Block’s books about writing; there are several, all useful, but this one snippet has been the most helpful thing I’ve found in them: Do five things every day to move your writing forward. What five things? Well, that’s up to you. But do…
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Weekend Wonders…
- appreciation, book biz, Books, indie pub, Portland, The Doris Diaries, Tongues of Angels, Uncategorized, Veronika Layne, work, writing
On the Road: How 10 of My Readings Went Wrong
Ever feel like a schmuck? I have the cure. In no particular order, here are some exciting or dreary adventures that happened to me whilst on the road or giving local readings. Feel better about yourself immediately upon reading! The bookstore owner giving the reading got my name wrong, my genre wrong, and said the novel (Tongues of Angels) was self-published when it small-press-pubbed. I may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Read more about this memorable event here.) The Portland bar that was supposed to premiere the Rebel Girl cocktail for the Doris Diaries debut forgot and did not buy any of the ingredients. Disappointing,…
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What I’ve learned: Publishing and the march of times
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Three Writing Lessons from Life
I’m in the midst of promoting one book and writing another, but, as is the way with life, other projects and adventures get in the way. And yet, they all lead back to writing, somehow. Take our grand-dog, for example. I’m not a dog person; I am most definitely a cat lady. But the more time I spend babysitting Peanut, who’s a puggle (pug and beagle mix — who looks like a boxer!), the more dog-person-y I become. I take him for walks, I chat with him, I use a special “Peanut voice” when in conversation with him, I make sure he has water and a snuggly place to sleep,…
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Getting Ready for a New Release…
My new book is coming out in a few weeks! I’ve been lucky and diligent enough over the past few years that I’ve had a new book out every fall. The newest is a change for me — chicklit. Love me some sassy singles looking for love. Veronika Layne Gets the Scoop (Booktrope 2014) is the first of several journalist adventures called the Hot off the Press series. I’ve been a journalist for many moons now and those experiences form the basis for Veronika’s personality and adventures. She runs after firetrucks and sits through meetings, works hard with her fellow journos, and plays hard, too. When an international media chain…
- book biz, Catching Up, gratitude, indie pub, marketing, News, novel, Poet Laureate, poetry, work, writing
Where I’ve Been
Everyone says, “Oh, I’ve been so busy.” I have, too, but in a low-key way. In January of this year, my brother-in-law Dennis was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer. I had just made a rigorous plan for my books, writing, and marketing for 2014, and had gathered full momentum already. But I realized that some things are more important than writing blog posts or tweeting about my writing projects. So I put most of my work aside and made myself available to help. Dennis was a Vietnam veteran, in the 25th Infantry, 1969-71. He was just a kid, but he did his duty, was injured twice, earned two Purple…
