The last quarter of 2023 had a rough start. I fell on a slope of mud in the rain, jacking my shoulder up on one of our coops. (We homestead.) Many small muscle tears. Had to lay off doing anything with my dominant arm for days. Sore and swollen, all the way down to my Read More …
I participate in some wonderful writers groups, but realize that I need to connect with more thriller suspense writers. Searching the International Thriller Writers (ITW) website, I found and applied to thriller-tique, “a program that matches members with similar writing experience and sub-genres, placing them in virtual critique groups of up to eight participants each. Read More …
Here are a few ways Zion National Park describes the Subway: This is a long, strenuous hike through the Left Fork of North Creek to the Subway slot canyon. There is no trail, this is an off-trail Wilderness route. Hikers need to scramble over large boulders and hike in and out of the creek all Read More …
Pictured above: The Realm Makers event booklet with all the info The dog working the expo with it’s owners (if you know me, it’s not a surprise I got a picture with the dog 😏) My roommate and fellow virtual writer friend who I finally got to meet in person, the amazing Jennifer Frankovic 😊 Read More …
Since my last update posted February 1, 2023, I… Sent out a bunch more queries to literary agents. Bam bam bam. Best rejection I got so far included: “I found the darkness and intensity of your submission really thrilling…” Participated in a guided small group through hope*writers called Selling Your Book – Connecting with Readers Read More …
Some major things happened in January! At least major for this writer 😊 I sent my first query to an agent January 3rd! 🎉 Donald Maass requested my full manuscript during our one-on-one at the 2022 Realm Makers writers conference. Here’s hoping he responds 🤞🏻 Additionally, I sent queries out to nine other agents in Read More …
Continuing the theme of giving myself grace… I decided not to push myself so hard to get my manuscript polished and instead chose to: Extend the deadline for my last round of beta readers, Enjoy the holidays, Start sending queries out after the start of the new year. I have such great beta readers! Here Read More …
NaNoWriMo… Hm 🤔 Welp, it was a bust for me. I started with all the good intentions, experience, and direction. Then, bam! Sickness hit again!! Another cold 😫 The very first week of November! Despite ending up sick for three weeks in November, I did manage to participate in and enjoy two writing conferences. First, Read More …
I got my goal done!! During October, I continued writing out scenes for an intense subplot, weaving it into the existing storyline in a believable (and suspenseful!) way. Once that was complete, I listed the chapters again, with notes regarding an aspect of my main character. I needed to iron some things out, making her Read More …
Whelp, I did not meet the goal I set for myself by the end of September: delete (boring sections), move up timeline, and add more suspenseful content to fill boring sections. I got a bad cold. 😬 And… The process became a lot more complicated than I thought it would. (I’m learning every step of Read More …