I have some serious gratitude to express today. Last week I was finishing up work with Stu Wakefield on the second novel of his Orcadian Trilogy, Memory of Water. Stu is so sweet and smart and talented, and he’d already been a Kindle #1 Best Seller with his first novel,… Read more“Body of Kindness, by Stu Wakefield”
Author: Victoria
5 Reasons My Cat Should Be the Writer Instead of Me
Cats don’t act as though you’re the one bright ray of sunlight in an otherwise clouded existence.—Raymond Chandler You all know my cat. He sits on my blog banner staring into space with the studied expression of someone who is being prevented from walking on a desk he knows perfectly… Read more“5 Reasons My Cat Should Be the Writer Instead of Me”
Let’s pretend WHAT never happened?
the Bloggess interview
You guys, I interviewed Jenny almost two years ago about humor writing, being a humor writer, eating other humorists, and—especially—the book she was writing at the time. Well, guess what? Last week Jenny’s memoir hit #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List. So all of you who were… Read more“<em>Let’s pretend WHAT never happened?</em><br>the Bloggess interview”
7 Reasons to Be Grateful You’re a Writer
I wrote this one day a long time ago out of sheer, overwhelming gratitude for my craft. And you know what? I’m still grateful. You have all the tools you need They’re right there at your disposal: the world, your five senses, literacy, a brain. You will never need anything… Read more“7 Reasons to Be Grateful You’re a Writer”
The 2 Ways Writing Keeps You Off the Streets & Out of the Bars
Many years ago when I used to hang out all the time in the bars of San Luis Obispo, California, a good friend and I were sitting on the curb outside our favorite dive with our feet in the gutter at around midnight one night talking deep in our cups… Read more“The 2 Ways Writing Keeps You Off the Streets & Out of the Bars”
Designing a series around classic plot structure
Ms. Mixon, I’ve been reading your Practitioner’s Manuals. They are amazing and have opened my eyes to thinking about writing in ways I haven’t over the past twenty years. So, thank you! I do have a question. I am writing a series. Your plot explanation is so exact and extremely… Read more“Designing a series around classic plot structure”
3 More Things to Know About Exposition & Telling
We talked last week about an alarmingly bizarre piece of writing advice one of my clients got from an agent in response to her requested full manuscript. We also talked about exposition & telling and why they’re pretty much exactly the same thing, even though I know we out here… Read more“3 More Things to Know About Exposition & Telling”
Going Beyond the Beyond: guest post on Creative Flux
Terre Britton of Creative Flux has been working with me since November on getting this excerpt from The Art & Craft of Story: 2nd Practitioner’s Manual posted on her blog. You’d think—being two grown businesswomen—we could manage it, but it turns out when you want something done just right, you… Read more“Going Beyond the Beyond: guest post on Creative Flux”
3 Things to Know About Exposition & Telling
A bizarre thing happened to a client of mine the other day. This writer that it happened to is one of my best clients. She’s been writing all her life. She has a fabulous imagination and sees her characters moving and acting and speaking with wonderful vividness. She’s written lots… Read more“3 Things to Know About Exposition & Telling”
Encumbered by Idjits: a guest post on Writer Unboxed
So yesterday I was trading email with the fabulous Therese Walsh of Writer Unboxed about the guest post I was writing for them, and we were kvetching about the state of the publishing industry, and I quoted that one great line out of the otherwise completely forgettable 1980s movie, Young… Read more“Encumbered by Idjits: a guest post on Writer Unboxed”