This week, I’ll post suggestions to get you tech ready for the blitz of writing you’ll swear to accomplish in the New Year. I do this every year so some will look familiar, but many are updated to reflect changes in the internet and virtual world we all inhabit. Here’s what you’ll get (links won’t …
Join me in this three-volume fictional exploration of Neanderthals and their lives. Be ready for a world nothing like what you thought it would be, filled with clever minds, brilliant acts, and innovative solutions to life-ending problems, all based on real events. At the end of this trilogy, you’ll be proud to call Neanderthal family. …
During my blog hop to introduce my latest prehistoric fiction, Natural Selection, I received help from fellow author-blogger Jina Bazzar, author of the The Roxanne Fosch Files as well as a plethora of other thriller-fantasy fiction you can read more about on her Amazon page. Jina is vision challenged so hosted the story about one …
Here is a popular post from my Ask a Tech Teacher blog: You may have seen this on my education blog A friend asked about speech-to-text options for writing. There didn’t used to be many choices, but now, there are a plethora of tools available for this task. Make sure your microphone is enabled and …
Marcia Meara, author of the hugely entertaining Wake-Robin Ridge series (and more) and blogmaster over at The Write Stuff hosted me during the launch of my latest prehistoric fiction, Natural Selection as part of her fascinating #TenThings series, where she interviews authors to find out what readers might not know about them. I’m reposting the …
Here’s a quick rundown of my favorite tech tips for writers. I find myself using these most days, many times a week. Tell me in comments if that’s true for you, too: Track Your Stuff Windows has a Clipboard Stream! Get Rid of Spam Text Messages Find the Most Recent Blog Article Cover Your Webcam! …
I’m excited to welcome to WordDreams blogger, animal-lover, spiritualist, and acclaimed author of You Beneath My Skin and The Blue Bar, Damyanti Biswas. She is a spectacular writer whose words drop you right in the middle of the power and corruption that is New Delhi life and leave you wondering how the good guys can …
Today, Thomas Wikman, proud owner of a Leonberger named Bronco, author of the definitive book on this breed, The Life and Times of Le Bronco, and I, soulmate to my fictional Canis-dog Ump, sometimes star of the Dawn of Humanity trilogy, will compare stories about our massive dogs. Despite that Ump passed on about 2 …
Tech Tips for Writers is an occasional post on overcoming Tech Dread. I cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have asked about. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I’ll cover it in a future tip. You may have seen this on my education blog When I promote my …
Years ago, I submitted my first novel to a list of agents who specialized in my genre, sure they’d love my quirky clever book. I’d edited, re-edited, and run it by people I trusted–it was dressed for success. At that time, I didn’t realize that finding an agent was like putting a hood on a …
It’s become popular to continue a beloved series after the death of the author. Some work like Anne Hillerman who continues the Navajo Mystery series started by her father, Tony Hillerman. He was iconic for his descriptions of life and culture through the adventures of a detective on an Indian reservation. She continues that nicely …
When I teach professional development classes, by far the topic that surprises attendees the most is the legal use of online images. And they’re not alone. On my blog, in educator forums, and in the virtual meetings I moderate, there is much confusion about what can be grabbed for free from online sites and what …
For the next few months, weekly writing tips will include word choice suggestions. That includes: colorful and original descriptions pithy words and phrases picture nouns and action verbs writing that draws a reader in and addicts them to your voice I keep a collection of descriptions that have pulled me into the books. I’m fascinated how …
This is inspired by Jennifer Cohen over at Forbes who wrote a wonderful article on “5 Things Super Successful People Do Before 8am” (few of which I did, though I can claim #5). She includes chores like exercise, eat a healthy breakfast, map out the day–all great ideas, but not pithy enough for the average …
The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic in the month of April, every day except Sundays. I find that too busy and decided to post mine ‘about’ once a month. Yes, it’s taking a couple of years. Sigh. My topic, like the last time, is writing genres. This … Continue reading
In preparation for my upcoming launch of Book 1 in the third trilogy, Savage Land, in my Man vs. Nature series, here’s a snippet from Survival of the Fittest, Book 1 of trilogy two, Crossroads, available for free with a Kindle Unlimited account. –Sorry this excerpt is so long! Survival of the Fittest Book 1 … Continue reading
While introducing my newest prehistoric fiction, Natural Selection, good efriend Miriam Hurdle, hosted my article, Was Early Man Spiritual? If you don’t know Miriam, you want to. Her blog title–Shower of Blessings–tells you why she is particularly suited to this topic. She is the author of The Winding Road: A Journey of Survival, her memoir … Continue reading
Endangered Species is Book One of the trilogy, Savage Land, the third trilogy about primeval man in the series, Man vs. Nature. A prehistoric thriller in the spirit of Jean Auel, Endangered Species follows several bands of humans, each who considered themselves apex predators. Neither were. That crown belonged to Nature and she planned to wipe them both from her … Continue reading
I published a similar article a few years ago. This one updates the information: Surprisingly, 15-20% of the population has a language-based learning disability and over 65% of those are deficits in reading. Often, these go undiagnosed, written off as “s/he doesn’t like to read”. If this sounds familiar to you, maybe before you became … Continue reading
Jacqui here at Story Empire with the September edition of “What’s happening in the literary world?” What used to be a simple process of penning what we-all hope will be extraordinary fiction has become complicated with AI, digital outlets, audio books, tons of rules, international issues, and more. Each month, I’ll talk about one or … Continue reading
The first Thursday in October is National Poetry Day in the UK (America celebrates Poetry Month in April so I may be back on this topic then). I don’t write poetry. You can see in this list of how-to-write-poetry tips why. In short, it requires too much thought for my brain–you have to put so … Continue reading
This post is for Alex Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writers Support Group (click the link for details on what that means and how to join. You will also find a list of bloggers signed up to the challenge that are worth checking out. The first Wednesday of every month, we all post our thoughts, fears or words … Continue reading
I’m off to visit my two military children and then my sister. My son is preparing to deploy overseas to places I won’t mention while my daughter does what she can to keep him safe. After time with them, I’ll go see my sister in rural Marion, Indiana for a recentering. I hear a James Dean car … Continue reading
A lot of teacher-authors read my WordDreams blog. In this monthly column, I share a popular post from the past month on my teacher education blog, Ask a Tech Teacher. This is part of 169 tech-centric situations where I provide an overview of pedagogy most important to teaching as well as practical strategies to address most class … Continue reading
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