Creative Coaching & Manuscript Development
Recently, Charlottesville, Virginia had a spring snowfall. Although such weather events are not unheard of, I found this one worrysome. That morning, the downtown area looked empty. That afternoon, Chenille Books client Zack Bonnie would be presenting his book, Overwritten, the second in his Dead, Insane, or in Jail memoir series, on a panel at the Virginia Festival of the Book (a/k/a VaBook, its Twitter handle
About a week ago, on Saint Patrick’s Day, I drove to Appomattox, Virginia. It was my first visit to the site of Lee’s surrender at the end of the US Civil War. I went there for another reason, though, not to see the historic sights. With Carolyn O’Neal, I was in Appomattox to conduct a workshop with local independent authors and other creative artists about
Planning Your Writing Year Sneaking under the wire here – on one of the final days of the first month of a new year – I’m writing to let you know of a post I wrote for my writer group. It may be of use, as you think through the writing and other creative projects you have planned for the next eleven months. For BACCALiterary,
Hard to believe, but 2017 is almost over. Now that you think about it, maybe that’s a good thing. Anyway, as we’re winding down, preparing for the new year and its bounty, it’s been hard to settle in at the back of the cave, despite cold temperatures and bleak skies here in Central Virginia. Clients both new and existing are pulling together so many cool
Come to the Charlottesville Book Fair on Saturday 18 November Visit the Charlottesville Book Fair on the Saturday before the (US) Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I’ll be there with copies of my writer’s handbook, FLOAT • Becoming Unstuck for Writers. Get your copies signed in plenty of time to wrap them up for holiday gifts. And wait, there’s more! Introducing a New FLOAT Item! And – ta-daaahh!
I’m happy to share here my recent guest post for publishing guru Jane Friedman‘s blog. Paying attention to your public persona as a writer is a valuable undertaking for all writers. Even writers who are starting out can benefit from noticing which parts of their entire personality and self they want to present to the world. It can feel good to recognize that a lot
At the end of my recent guided self-study course for writers, 30 Days to Becoming Unstuck, I delivered on a promise I made early in January: in response to students’ comments, I’d create a new FLOAT tool for them. Well, now it’s time for the big reveal. Here’s what I gave my students, and I hope it is useful. I call it Eight Feet Ahead:
Do you get in your own way as a writer? Here’s a guest post I wrote for publishing mastermind Jane Friedman’s blog about that stuff. It’s based on my new book, FLOAT • Becoming Unstuck for Writers, and walks through some of the ways we can interfere with our own work. Knowledge is power, right? And perspective helps a lot. Stephen King explains the creative person’s priorities
Early one spring morning three young men came to my house as agreed to put some plants into the ground. It was a lovely cool sunny day, and I felt glad to be welcoming some new life to our family’s little piece of Charlottesville, Virginia. I liked my choices. I remembered feeling good the day that I made the decisions and negotiated with the owner of the landscaping company
When I was a girl, my parents took me to visit some friends of theirs. It was the height of summer, clear and hot, when we arrived at their place in Wisconsin on Lake Michigan. Our hosts took us to the lake, and its rocky edge. I went wading to cool off. Then the strangest thing happened. After I took one step with each foot,
