And how they influence my writing — Back in the mid-80s my father decided to send me and my brother (California kids) to Argentina to get to know our relatives and his country. This is what he told us. The truth was that my parents were having financial difficulties and were about to lose our home. …

It takes a team to write and publish a book — These days, so many people are willing to help writers write their novel. I see many ads pop up on social media stating that they can make you an author in a month. Yeah, okay. I even attended one of those “challenges”, at least the first couple of days, and…

Questions writers should ask about their audiences — I’m teaching college students about audience today. Every writer, from creatives to business executives, to students learning to write must ask him or herself questions about their audience before writing a word. Students may not know this, but those who have been writing for a while know it’s important to…

What is the point? — My daughter asked me what I wanted for Christmas, and I shrugged. I didn’t want much, but I said I could use more stickers for my planner. She’d once told me that she couldn’t understand why I bothered adding stickers to my planner and making it look pretty. “What a…

And why you might want to — The first fiction novel I chose to read this year was about a 30-something woman who cheats on her husband with a married man. Her marriage falls apart, his doesn’t. She has a number of bad dates while she continues to date the married man . . . blah, blah…

Let’s get started — Here we are in the first week of the new year, so what will change? How will the publishing industry change in 2023? What writing opportunities will you create? How will technology make writing more difficult or easier for us? Most importantly, what will you change in your life to…

Tell us who you are — Whether you want to be a novelist, a journalist, a blogger, or an artist or speaker of any type, you will at some point be asked to submit a short or long bio of yourself. My Medium bio is honestly uninspiring, and I’ve been thinking of changing it and depending…

Writing with or without your muse — Years ago, I read Big Magic by Elizbeth Gilbert and it is still one of my favorite books. It’s all about creativity: embracing, fostering, and celebrating one’s creativity. There were many gems in her book, but one section that I found interesting, and cute in a way, was where she…

Inspire others with what you love — As we come to the end of the year, I’m looking forward and wondering what I should write about next year. Should I expand my “how to write” blogs and delve into other topics? Should I stick to what I know and feel comfortable sharing or move beyond my comfort…