Healthy Writers: Tai Chi to relieve stress & more! 

Tai chi has a number of health benefits, some of which can be particularly good for writers and other creative artists. . How about an exercise that stretches your sore muscles, centers your scattered thoughts, and reduces your stress? An exercise you can do in the privacy of your own home, whenever you need to—even in between projects? An exercise that not only improves your physical health, but your mental health as well—and that might even boost your creativity? Have you tried tai chi? If you haven’t, here are five reasons why you should. Turns out this exercise is ideal Read more…

BookTV Panel Discussion on Publishing

  I missed the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books over the weekend, but I was able to catch a few interesting panels on BookTV on C-SPAN2, particularly this discussion on Publishing with Maris Kreizman @mariskreizman (Publishing Project Specialist at Kickstarter), Isaac Fitzgerald @IsaacFitzgerald (Editor, Buzzfeed Books), Oscar Villalon @ovillalon (Managing Editor, Zyzzyva Magazine) and Johnny Temple @AkashicBooks (Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Akashic Books). This video is worth watching several times.  Frank talk about the reality of publishing today. A great kick in the ass for writers (like me) who balk at self-promotion. Opened my eyes. “Panelists talked about book publishing. Panelists Read more…

Hawaii-Noir Mystery: 1950s Molokai & Murder

Mele Kalikimaka from the “Ninth Island” aka Las Vegas!   Two of my favorite SoCal writers, Janet Elizabeth Lynn and her husband Will Zeilinger visited Vegas recently to research their next noir mystery. Since my move from L.A. last year, I was eager to meet up with them to talk shop at my favorite lunch locale—the Border Grill inside the Forum Shops at Caesars. Chatting over tacos, guacamole and tortilla chips, we shared info about Indie publishing and our latest projects. While they have each written their own novels over the last ten years, I am particularly fascinated in their Read more…

STORY MASTERY with MICHAEL HAUGE

  Story Mastery with Michael Hauge WHEN: November 14, 2015 @ 9:00 am – 6:00 pm WHERE: Sunset Station Hotel & Casino 1301 West Sunset Road Henderson, NV 89014 COST: $75 LVRW members, $100 non-members During this special, all-day seminar, Hollywood script and story consultant Michael Hauge, best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read, will present STORY MASTERY – his unique approach to creating compelling fiction, and to eliciting emotion in your readers. Using clips from recent blockbuster love stories and romantic comedies, along with hands Read more…

“Success is an indefinable term… “

I have been in this writing game for a long time. Over the years, I have taken extensive notes from workshops given by authors who have spoken at the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America.  Today’s quote is from best-selling author, Jayne Ann Krentz – “Success is an indefinable term, a fleeting, ephemeral thing, a ghost. The more you chase it, the more remote it becomes. But the writing originates somewhere inside yourself. You can nurture it, control it, experiment with it. It’s yours and yours alone. Take your true satisfaction from inside yourself, not from the outside Read more…

Inspired by…Robert Frost

  Somewhere I read the feeling right before a big leap should not be misinterpreted as fear but an adrenaline rush of excitement and anticipation of something new about to happen yet not quite knowing what that something will be. Oh, you might have an idea of it, of course, like starting a new job. You know the general responsibilities but you don’t know the reality until you are actually in the job. I feel this way about my writing career. Mistakenly, I have labeled some of the anticipation as fear. Then I allowed the fear of failure—or fear of Read more…

Organize Your Novel With Excel – Laura Drake | Writers In The Storm

“We’ve talked about it in other posts. How learning your writing process is finding your way in a pitch black room, full of furniture. You can learn by banging your shins, but there are less painful ways. Hopefully, this post will help. I’m an organized person, and it would make me crazy trying to locate details in my WIP. Which chapter did the dog first show up? Or the first kiss? Or harder yet, the smaller details – what kind of shoes did the old man wear the second time the heroine met him?…” READ MORE: Organize Your Novel With Excel Read more…