No matter what you're celebrating this time of year, the holiday season is full of love, joy, and warmth—and stress, undoubtedly. Between all of the preparation, festivities, shopping, cooking, travel, and other obligations, time for writing can feel like something that only exists amid visions of dancing sugar plums. It doesn't take much for your writing to get lost in the holly jolly hustle and bustle. You may feel pulled in so many different directions and tell yourself th

Writers are often seeking new ways to liven up their creativity and focus on their stories . This might have them testing out new routines, listening to music as they write, or finding little ways to make their writing space a little more cozy. For some, this can include a bit of aromatherapy. The well-known practice of using aromatic essential oils for mental and physical well-being has been around for thousands of years, though the term itself would not come into our vocabu

Writers have quite a way with words. It's kind of our thing, you know? Our stories' meanings often go much deeper than surface level and, for a lot of us, it's an accomplishment when we create an environment that encourages critical thinking and self-reflection for our readers. Readers may also find their own understanding of our words or add new meanings of their own. They may notice things about our stories that we as the writer did not and view them differently from us bas

Writers are a curious and often misunderstood bunch. Whether they're working on their first novel or they're a seasoned pro with twenty-seven books under their belt, navigating the process of writing and publishing can be an emotional rollercoaster—one that we often feel like we're riding alone. It takes a village to publish a novel. A manuscript goes through so many hands before it hits bookstore shelves, and among the best a writer can have in their corner are those of supp

Long Shore Beach, ME Towards the end of October, my mother and I spent a few days up in Maine for a much-needed vacation. I hadn't traveled really at all since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic just because of work schedules and finances and, you know, general global circumstances. The last trip my mom took was to attend a funeral, so not exactly a vacation. So we entrusted my presumably Maine Coon mix with a cat-sitter (thanks, Cara!!) and made the drive up to Maine. But, o

It's become a tradition here on the blog for me to post a candy-inspired post the week of Halloween. In past years, I've talked about viewing the editing process like the filling in a Kit-Kat bar or the importance of finding your audience in relation to the annual love-hate debate over candy corn . And in 2024, we're continuing this trend in a way that pays homage to a trend that was fairly popular on social media this year: the candy salad. If the algorithm didn't send at l