What You Wish Someone Told You

Those of us who are still looking to get published are always trying to soak up wisdom from our favorite authors. By belonging to Romance Writers of America and my local Inland Empire Chapter (IECRWA) of that organization, I am fortunate to have direct access to an amazing group of men and women. Not only are they generous with their time when it comes to mentor and educate wanna-be writers like me, they are also incredibly giving when it comes to answering questions and share lessons learned.

This weekend, I’m hanging out with my favorite writing peeps–the IECRWA folks–at our annual writing retreat. We picked Schweitzer Resort in the beautiful Selkirk mountains as the location. This is the view from the condo I’m staying in:

Awesome, right?

On top of this fantastic view, I’m getting tons of writing done, and learning an amazing amount of stuff from my fellow writers.

But even if you can’t be here, you too can learn some cool stuff. Fabulous Rebecca Zanetti is one of the authors in IECRWA and her latest blog posting is great advice whether you are a writer or reader. Check it out: What I Wished Readers Knew.

I’m back to my WIP and will try not to stare too much at the view.

Posted in Authors I Admire, Conferences | Comments »

On Bark Today, Talking about Wikipedia and Women Novelists

For the last few days, we’ve been having great discussions about feminism and literature on Bark.

Today, I contributed with a post about Wikipedia deciding to remove female authors from the American Novelists category because the list was “too long.”

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Come on over to Bark and join the discussion.

Posted in Bark, When Life Happens | Comments »

Beacon Hill Reading or Me and Stage Fright

I’m a college instructor. I speak in front of large groups every day. I’m comfortable in front of my students. I often get super excited about what I teach. My student evaluations always praise my enthusiasm.

So why is it that when I’m reading my creative work in public I feel like a robot with a speech impediment? A really sweaty, nervous, stuttering robot.

Tonight, I’m one of the invited speakers for the Beacon Hill Reading Series. Two amazing poets, Maya Zeller and Laura Read, run the program which is funded by the Hagan Foundation. The mission of the program is to “feature local and regional authors reading from their work. Meant to unite the various literary communities of Spokane, the series aims also to make well-crafted writing accessible to a general audience.”

Scott Eubanks and Shawn Vestal, the other two readers, are funny and friendly. This should make me feel comfortable. It doesn’t. Instead I’m just more nervous. I know how witty and clever Scott and Shawn are. In addition to worrying about excess dampness in my armpits, I am now also nervous about my humorous passages (delivered in a dead robot voice) not getting any laughs.

My only comfort is that if I completely bomb tonight, at least I get to listen to two other insanely fun and talented writers.

Wish me luck!

Posted in Events | 1 Comment

Jump Starting Your Writing

I’m hanging with the fabulous FF&P people again today. Stop by and join our conversation about how to Jump Start Your Writing and write a great book under time constraints. How do you make sure you stay on track in your story without killing your creative energy?

Posted in When Life Happens | Comments Off

My Obsession with Drop Dead Diva

Bark is running a blog series for two weeks called Bad TV Fortnight. I’ve had a blast reading about my fellow “Barkers” guilty pleasures, which includes Doogie Howser, The A Team, Gossip Girls, The Simpsons, Dual Survival and so many more.

Today it’s my turn. Hop over to Bark to read about my addiction to Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva.

If you’re not familiar with the show, here’s the premise: Aspiring model Deborah “Deb” Dobkins dies on the way to an audition for The Price Is Right and a mix-up at the gates of Heaven sends size-one Deb into size-sixteen lawyer Jane Bingum’s body. New Jane has Deb’s personality and memories, including the caloric count of every food and the current couture of every designer, combined with Old Jane’s intelligence and legal expertise.

Everything about the show, the soap opera plot elements, the focus on girls loving fashion, and the shallow way the story deals with serious and complex problems should turn me off watching. And yet, I can not get enough of Brooke Elliot’s portrayal of Jane Bingum. Watching a plus-sized character strut her stuff as if she looks—and more importantly feels—as sexy as someone of a much smaller size is empowering.

Come join our conversation on Bark. So far the comments have been about body issues, women’s portrayal in the media, and guilty pleasures. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Posted in Bark, Blogging, Humor, Inspiration | Comments Off