by Ane Mulligan  @AneMulligan Mary Poppins: The Intuitive Writer Mary sits down, opens a new document and starts her first draft without anything but a kernel of an idea. As she writes, she populates her story with new characters and situations. And somehow, with a spoonful of sugar, everything comes…

By Debb Hackett @debb_hackett Anyone else running on fumes? If you read this blog regularly you might recall I’ve been struggling for a while. No need to rehash, but suffice it to say, I emotionally limped into December, tried to be a recluse until a family commitment forced me out…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills The first Wednesday of February is World Read Aloud Day, and for writers, that means a day of remembrance when we first heard a story that excited us. The earliest form of storytelling was oral. Imagine sitting around a crackling fire and listening to tales of…

By Debb Hackett @debb_hackett Contests are a big deal. Aren’t they? I’ve crashed and burned, semi-finaled, finaled, and won in four different events. Truthfully, winning was way more fun than bombing. But was it more useful? Statistically, there is a tiny chance of entering a contest and winning, so why…

By A.C. Williams by @acw_author One of the scariest, most upsetting words in the English language is the word CHANGE. Nobody really likes it, no matter how much they claim they do. Change requires effort and energy, and, frankly, it’s usually just easier to keep doing things the same way.…

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea Ever get to that “I need to peel a roll of cookie dough and eat it like a banana” state of stressed? Cookie dough. So good, but so bad. But I’m talking about a shaky-hand kind of stress that goes beyond even the “I have to pour…