Writing Yoga for October Happy October, Reader, It's the first week in October, and several houses in my neighborhood are already decked out! The woman on the next block carved over 100 pumpkins last year. 🎃🎃 My hands hurt thinking about it. Halloween inspired this month's Writing Yoga. I'm going to challenge you to write "in disguise" of a beloved author or fictional character. You'll find a few fun prompts to try, and you can come up with more on your own. (Feel free to share your prompts...
15 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, There are only a few days left to preorder The Curious Reader’s Field Guide to Nonfiction through Kickstarter. The campaign closes on October 1! Check out the Kickstarter offers. Still on the fence? Why would you preorder through Kickstarter rather than waiting for the book to hit the usual retailers? Here are a few good reasons: Access exclusive add-ons—like personalized book recommendations or a virtual visit to your book club! Get ebook/PDF right away. I’ll send print books as...
21 days ago • 1 min read
September's book give-away is here... Hi Reader, My next book is nearly here! The Curious Reader's Field Guide to Nonfiction is in its final production phases. I'm awaiting proof copies and am so excited to hear what you think of it! The Kickstarter campaign is still going. You can preorder your copy there, and get some other goodies not available from Amazon. You will probably get your copy before the actual release date! If you've already pledged your support—thank you! And if not, check it...
29 days ago • 1 min read
Dear Reader, Let me introduce you to my next book, Curious Reader’s Field Guide to Nonfiction. If you love diving into well-crafted histories, essays, how-to guides, or science books, this guide will be your perfect reading companion. And here’s the twist – I’m launching this book through Kickstarter! This is a first for me, and I hope to make it fun for everyone. What’s Kickstarter? Kickstarter is a platform that helps creators bring projects to life with the support of people like you....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
The Writing Yoga for September Happy September, Reader. Do you wish your writing were more ... meaningful, intelligent, authentic, relatable, serious & light, profound, elegant, provocative? These adjectives came from people who entered the drawing for The Writer's Voice last month. (What a wonderful group of writers this is!) Thanks to everyone who entered, and congrats to Joanne and Alexis, the two winners. Later this week, you'll hear more from my about my new book. And in two weeks,...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, This week's writing process has a little bit of everything: suspense, a book give-away, and goats! First, it's time to reveal the cover for my upcoming book.... Want to see the rest? Scroll to the bottom of the email. (That's the Suspense part!) August book drawing August marks one year of The Writer’s Voice. To celebrate, I’m giving away two print copies of the book to people on this list. (If you bought the ebook on sale earlier this month, thank you! The print version would make...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi, fellow writer! How time flies! Last August, I published The Writer's Voice: Techniques for Tuning Your Tone and Style. If you don't know it, the book is filled with exercises you can use to stretch, strengthen, and play with your writing voice. You can even write in the print edition! I'm trying to get better about celebrating milestones. So, to celebrate the book's one-year birthday, the ebook is only 99 cents through this weekend. If you don't have it yet, get your copy today and start...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Dear Writer, Last month I took a trip to Illinois to visit my mother, and the 17-year cicadas were out. They were present audibly at all day—even driving I could hear the thrum of the cicadas with the windows up and A/C on. This got me thinking to past cicada cycles; I haven't been in the midwest for the last two eruptions. This led to a wonderful realization: I'm only 4 in cicada years! (I'd be older for those with 13 year cycles, but let's not go into that.) Lessons for writing: Be patient...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Hi friend! Do you read nonfiction regularly? If so, you can help me with my next book by taking a short survey. The Nonfiction Reading Survey This short survey should only take a five minutes to finish and will give me invaluable insight for my next book. And, I'll share the results, so you can see how your nonfiction reading habits stack up with other people. And, there's something more in it for you, besides the warm, fuzzy feeling of helping out a writer... Bonus: Crowd-sourced nonfiction...
4 months ago • 1 min read