One of my favorite literary devices is foreshadowing. It’s so satisfying when pieces of a story that starts off seeming small and insignificant come back later to play a larger role. And for readers who can pick up on those details, it’s like the author is giving them a pat on the back for paying … Continue reading The Art of Foreshadowing

So, I’ve been thinking lately (a dangerous pastime, I know) and I’ve begun to notice a pattern in my writing. No, I’m not talking about similar story arcs or plot lines. I’m talking about the power of the three. I grew up on School House Rock and one of my favorites was always “Three is … Continue reading The Power of Three

Camp Nanowrimo is officially over and I am glad to report that I was able to complete my goal! I wrote at least an hour each day (most of the time, it was more). I was a little worried as to how this would work out with vacationing and all that fun summer stuff, but … Continue reading Second Time Around Tips — And Update!

I would like to begin by saying that no word is completely unnecessary. In the right circumstances, there are perfectly fine places for all of these words. When I say these words are “unnecessary,” I mean that some (or most) of the time they’re overused and don’t always add to the sentences they’re found in. … Continue reading Unnecessary Words

One of the first steps of planning a book is choosing the genre the book will be found in. While this may sound like an easy step of the writing process, it can be harder than you might think. For example, The Scavenger has parts that could be categorized into a few genres. I couldn’t qualify … Continue reading Choosing the Perfect Genre

It’s been nearly five months since my debut novel, The Scavenger, was published on Amazon! The weeks have has flown by and I think it’s a good time to reflect on some of the lessons I’ve learned from my experiences self-publishing. When I started writing way back in first grade, I had this vision in … Continue reading What I Learned From Publishing My Debut Novel

Ever since I started spreading the new about The Scavenger getting published, I’ve been getting questions about the writing and publishing process. The most common question, by far, is how to actually start. There are so many people out there, even more than I realized previously, that want to be published authors. It seems very … Continue reading So, You Wanna Be an Author?

So, your book is getting published! Those hundreds, thousands even, of hours spent slaving over your manuscript are about to pay off. It's an utterly overwhelming feeling; a confusing mixture of fear, excitement and nerves. What's the best way to celebrate your book-child's birth into this world? A launch party! Launch parties are an author's … Continue reading How to Throw an Unforgettable Launch Party

Titling a work (any work) can be one of the harder parts of writing. Whether it’s a novel or even a simple school paper, trying to condense massive quantities of material into a single word or phrase that is both memorable and packs a punch is no easy feat. There are a few ways writers … Continue reading Title Troubles