A Winter’s Story, part III: Book Divining Edition

Writers get inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, especially when they’re blocked creatively. Part III of my 100-words serial was elusive, which I hoped wasn’t an omen for edits in my third novel (currently underway). I remembered reading somewhere that there are psychics who pick a book at random, flip through, and point to a sentence …

A Winter Story, part II

Well, this is embarrassing… A few weeks ago, I was scrambling for an idea. I’ve been remiss with my postings lately and I didn’t want another week to go by without putting something up. It’s not that I haven’t been writing—I’m in my (fingers-crossed) last couple of edit passes with my editor and outlining new …

Fairy Representation

A lot has been said and written about the drawbacks to revisiting the same stories over and over again. As a person who has written novels based on nursery rhymes and fairy tales, I prefer to look at story re-imaginings as a way to write myself and people like me into stories we've told for …

Writing while…

As a writer in the 21st century, you’re often asked to share more of yourself than you’re comfortable with in order to gain readership of your intended work, be it blog posts or novels. The field is so crowded with talent that something has to help you stand out. When I started my writing journey, …

Less Fairy, More Tale

It's been far too long, dear reader, since I've written. Not that I'm not writing--I've been working on editing the third book in my four-book series. But I have been woefully negligent with my social media. It's an offshoot of my mixed feelings about marketing. Therefore, I'm going to write one of my rare writing …

Author Anniversary: Special Edition

As Fairytale Feminista readers know, I don’t usually post on Fridays, but today I’m making an exception. Happy Valentine’s Day! I don’t celebrate, but last year I found a new reason to mark the occasion. Last year I published my first novella, The Cemetery Circle. It seemed appropriate to release it on Valentine’s Day because …

Believing your own hype–like a tailor

Being a writer is hard. I know everyone says that, but it's like parenting--you don't know how hard it's going to be until you're in the trenches, slogging through it all. It turns out writing and rewriting (and rewriting, and rewriting...) is actually the easy part. Especially if you hold to the rule that you …

Formula: The Sequel or Comfort Mind Food

Last week I wrote about Hallmark Movies and their tendency to be formulaic. And I don’t think formula's are always a bad thing. But there was a time when my literary snobbery got in the way of a good time. As a teenager I flirted with a certain author’s romance stories that would be considered …

The Elusive Ooh

Writers are some of the best readers. Many of the same traits that make a good writer are cultivated by good readers. Attention to detail. Love of a good story. Ability to suspend disbelief. But there's a fourth thing that I've only ever experienced as a writer. I've been working on my second novel and …

Deadlines in the World of Make Believe

Fairy tales love deadlines. Midnight curfews. Seasonal mandates. Royal decrees with an expiration date. It ramps up the drama to know that not only does a protag have an obstacle to overcome, but there’s also a clock on when it must be completed. Readers love that. You know who doesn’t love it? Writers. We put …