Category Archives: question & answer time

Finding Your Characters

A comment the lovely Glenna left after the second chapter of The Raskolnikov Project: I have noticed a trend when I am writing first drafts – I generally get a few chapters in before I know who my main character is. I learn the narrator through how they relate to other characters and the surroundings. [...]

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Research

Last question. Last question. Last question! Jessie Sin wants to know: How does research play into your writing process? Do you have a lot of historical aspects in your stories? Do you find yourself needing to research a lot? I love researching. Love. In fact, I love it so much that if I don’t control [...]

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Writer friends

Jessie Sin has a multi-part question for me today! Do you find it difficult to be in a situation where your best friend is a writer as well? What are the pros, cons, joys, frustrations? What are the most challenging aspects of the situation? The most rewarding? What are your thoughts on the topic? Many [...]

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Six quick ones

I am determined to finally finish answering questions by the end of the week! All six of these questions come from the fabulous Jessie Sin. 1. What has been your biggest challenge you have faced since deciding you want to become a writer? Time. I never feel like I have enough of it. I want [...]

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College talk

I am always surprised at how often teenagers ask me what they should study in college in order to become a writer. Why am I constantly surprised by this? 1. I am not published and I don’t have an agent. Sure, I am a writer, but really, am I the best person to dole out [...]

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Yep…there’s more

Answers! Yep, I still have more questions to answer. At the rate I am going, one call for questions is going to last me through the end of the year. Okay, maybe not, but it will get me close. Jessie Sin asked: What is your biggest struggle you experience when writing a novel? This one is [...]

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Does this inspire you?

Back to questions. Because, shockingly, I still have some left. I really know how to milk a Q&A post, don’t I? Jessie Sin asks:  Movies and other books are constantly inspiring my stories and characters. Do you have such inspirations? And if so, what are they? (Also, please explain what has been the biggest inspiration [...]

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Listmania!

I sure hope I don’t get sued by Amazon for that blog title. They seem to like to sue anyone who uses/says/thinks something related to their site. Believe it or not, I still have some questions left to answer from my call for questions way back on 6 November. I better get to answering! If [...]

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Obstacle courses rock

As promised: Tuesday’s post. On Wednesday. Jessie Sin asked: What do you think are the top five obstacles a writer faces when first getting published? Well, Jessie, not only will I answer that, but I will also go over the top five obstacles for unagented, unpublished writers and the top five obstacles for agented, but [...]

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The learning train

Back to questions! I promised to answer them all, so I better get to it. Today, we have three more questions from Jessie Sin. First, she asks: What have you learned from your writing? Wow. That is a big one. I have learned more from my writing than I can fit in a single blog [...]

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  • Who am I?

    I'm a mommy and a writer. A wife and a friend. A student and Russian lover. An editor and voracious reader.

    I'm and editor at Month9Books, a publisher of speculative fiction for teens and tweens . . . where nothing is as it seems!

    To learn about me, please visit my About Me page.

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