2 Things to Consider about Blogging & Books

There’s been a lot of talk in recent months about the demise of blogging (and, oddly, the demise of commenting, although they couldn’t prove that by you guys), which was brought home to me recently by a friend who said, “Just when I decided to start a blog I was… Read more“2 Things to Consider about Blogging & Books”

7 Things I Learned Last Week from Stephen King

I love ghost stories. Particularly the whole gothic genre of the nineteenth century: intense questioning of reality layered with beautiful houses and dramatic landscapes and sometimes hilariously-dated kitsch. I’ve read all of Mrs. Radcliffe. Whooee! I especially love the concept that my love for ghost stories is the other side… Read more“7 Things I Learned Last Week from Stephen King”

11 Things My Grandmother Said About Writing

In honor of having given up sleep last week (apparently after fifty years you’ve had all the sleep you need), I’m going to introduce you today to my grandmother, to whom I was very close and who gave me most of the instructions that now guide my life. She didn’t… Read more“11 Things My Grandmother Said About Writing”

New advice column on Writer Unboxed

Ask Victoria. That’s what Therese Walsh dubbed it when we came up with the idea of an editor’s advice column on the new, up-coming Writer Unboxed newsletter. We’d been wanting to collaborate for a long time, take our guest appearances on each other’s blogs to the next level. As soon… Read more“New advice column on Writer Unboxed”

10 Ways Writing Fiction is Like Performing for a Camera

Hey, guys, I just spent the entire day trying to develop video for this blog. Guess what? That’s right. So let’s talk about how my experiment with video mimics the experience of writing fiction: It always seems like such a good idea at the time. Who has not begun a… Read more“10 Ways Writing Fiction is Like Performing for a Camera”

How to Find Community through Writing

We’ve arrived at the Winter Solstice, which is the holiday we celebrate at our house. We’re pretty tired of the dark by the time the sun gets to the end of its tether every year, and we’re pretty darn excited about sunlight coming back into our lives again. It takes… Read more“How to Find Community through Writing”

How to Find the Meaning of Life through Writing

At our house, we call this week between the holiday and the New Year “time out of time.” It’s our annual step outside the tide of daily struggle and strife to stop and think and search again for the peace in our lives. In the same vein, we’ve been talking… Read more“How to Find the Meaning of Life through Writing”

How to Find Gratitude through Writing

Last week we found Joy & Fulfillment through Writing. And it was good. So this week let’s respond to that joy & fulfillment. Because everything about being writers is about cause-&-effect, even living the life. Let’s be grateful. Recognize the source. Sometimes it’s the littlest things. I know I’ve mentioned… Read more“How to Find Gratitude through Writing”

How to Find Joy & Fulfillment through Writing

I’m not here this month—December is my month to go offline every year and watch my son grow up. I really don’t have any time to lose. So I’ll be blogging in absentia a series of posts on how to find everything you need through the craft of writing, this… Read more“How to Find Joy & Fulfillment through Writing”

23 Inevitable Questions to Ask Yourself
at the End of NaNoWriMo

Guess what I spent the Thanksgiving holiday doing? That’s right—giving myself repetitive stress injury writing my annual 45,000-word children’s book for my son. I didn’t start until halfway through November this year, so it got pretty darn busy toward the end there. Now I have a completed book (hurrah!), but… Read more“23 Inevitable Questions to Ask Yourself <br>at the End of NaNoWriMo”