My thoughts and ideas on various topics, including advice about writing and getting published.
Did you come here hoping to get some blogging wisdom from a sizzling hot blogger? Thanks for the vote of confidence. Are you about to scroll down and skim through the “7 ways to keep conjuring unique, compelling blog ideas no one else has blogged about for time immemorial? Don’t bother. Instead what you’ll find […]
In a recent author interview over in the #SaturdayScenes community, I mentioned I once aspired to become a cartoonist, and how I even put sample packages together for submission to various agencies. If you think querying is tough, try sending large padded packages of your cartoon doodles! In the end, as you might guess from […]
An author-writer constantly dreams of clever phrases. Well, at least yours truly does. Sometimes these make it into one of my stories. Other times I share them as standalone thoughts and quotes on social media, sometimes tagged as a #foodforthought #quote. After collecting these for a while, I thought I’d share some of my favorites […]
What inner struggles is my character facing? How have past experiences brought him to this point, and how do they affect the way he views his present situation? How can he express his views on something in a way that won’t bore the reader? These are the questions I ask myself as I write character-driven […]
Who’s following me? Back where I grew up (Cuba), this question came with fearful connotations. Living under surveillance can unnerve you. The same can happen if someone freaky follows you along a dim-lit New York street, I suppose. But these days, many of us treat and chase after having followers–the more the better–as a hallmark […]
Over the years I’ve come to disdain resolutions, especially the “Happy New Year” kind. Why? Primarily because it seems every resolution I make comes with guarantee to failure. I have found that most of these resolutions seek to drive you with motivation-by-obligation. And I have experienced how coming short of meeting the goal leaves you […]
This time of year, this word gets thrown around a lot. Joy. But why do so many of us struggle to achieve it? Well, for one thing, it doesn’t come with an easy button. Why? Well, primarily because we don’t come with an easy button. But don’t you wish Joy stood an easy button press […]
Where do authors get story ideas? We can draw from many sources: the news, people we meet, injustices we see or experience first hand, and perhaps even other works of fiction. For me, it usually boils down to what stirs my heart. Recently someone asked me where in the world I got the idea for […]
Have you ever wondered how such a poorly told story could be such a blockbuster bestseller? Have you struggled to arrive at the end of chapter 2, finally setting a book aside as hopeless, and asked yourself how so many of your friends can recommend it so highly? It’s happened to me, and if like […]
Here we are, nineteen to twenty days before Christmas day, depending on your time zone, and what are we doing? Well, some of us are engaging in that highly productive debate on whether to say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” Sure, because we prefer that over running around to finish out our <<insert-word-here>> shopping; or […]
