Back in the early- to mid-90s, I and a few other volunteers began a small non-profit for the Mid-Atlantic earth-based spiritual community. In the beginning, its sole activity was to produce a regular publication, and a small one at that. Within a few years, the project had become my full-time, all-volunteer (i.e. “non-paying”) job. The…
Category: Blog Posts
Non-Traditional Alternatives
My novel (the first book of a trilogy) has been out on query for months now. I’ve gone through a list of agencies and am now trying publishing houses that don’t require representation. I also want to try a few small presses and see what they can do for me. But I have to admit…
Sound the Retreat!
One of my biggest hurdles to meeting a daily word count is diversion. We live in an apartment complex in a populous neighborhood in a busy city. Outside our window is a lovely green space with hollies, crape myrtles and squirrels. A bazillion birds, along with dragonflies and butterflies, flit past my window, dragging my…
First-Timer’s High
Bobby and I were on vacation when my first short story came out. As I said last week, I knew it was coming, just not when. To say we’d been checking the website every hour is not exactly an exaggeration. When PayPal announced receipt of payment from the publisher, I was ecstatic, but it was…
Story Beginnings
Last January, a friend sent me a link to a short-story contest through the American Philosophical Association. The story had to have a philosophical element, and winning entries would be published in Sci-Phi Online Magazine. I read their content, really liked what I saw, and wrote my first ever short story, “Last Call.” Of course,…
Story Endings
Writers know that the first few lines in a short story or novel are crucial. It is those precious few seconds during which we must grab the reader’s attention and make them want to read more. We spend a great deal of time getting the beginning just right, sometimes going back after the rest of…
Sign (Up) Here
Ever since I began writing, I wished for a local writers group. The only ones I’d found were in Virginia Beach, maybe half an hour from our flat during off-rush-hour traffic. Not all that bad, you might think. But if I was going to take a few hours away from my keyboard, I didn’t want…
What Not to Do
(Caveat: It is not my habit or intention to belittle another author’s writing. That said, I don’t always like everything I read. Do you? The statements herein are my opinion only. Your mileage may vary.) This is not a book review. I just want that clear right up front, because in this post I want…
GodSeed
Last week I gave a presentation on the Pagan/Wiccan holiday of Imbolg to a small interfaith group whose members are mostly Christian and Jewish. It wasn’t the first time I’ve shared aspects of my faith with this loving group of people. My views are always accepted with open hearts and not a little curiosity. Though…
Up the Tension
I’ve read it over and over, heard it in workshops and plenary sessions. A good story isn’t about any one character or group of characters. Instead, it’s about those characters doing things. Striving, reaching, hurting or being hurt, trying and failing and trying again, coming, going, living, learning. It’s about the events that happen to…