One of the things that my husband and I frequently ask young writers when we start talking with them is whether they work better with carrots or sticks. It’s a basic question of motivation, and though it applies to all of your life and everything you do, figuring out what works for you for your […]
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I’ve written before about my migraines. Quite a few times, actually. So I’m trying to not repeat what I’ve told y’all before. However, I’m still starting with a quick recap: I’ve had migraines since I was 18. I had 2 migraines a month for decades (generally around the time of my period). In 2015, they
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I read 55 books over the course of 2024. For the past couple of years, I read exactly 38 books. However, 2024 meant less writing, and more reading. I’m okay with this. Here are some of what I consider the best books from 2024. Paladin’s Grace (The Saints of Steel series) by T. Kingfisher: I know,
I’ve been writing for a while. I’m currently writing my seventy-second (72) novel. I have some opinions about writing, the process and the craft. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that there’s very little advice about writing that works for every writer. You really, REALLY need to listen to what your own writer brain tells
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2024 wasn’t the best year for me. I was more productive by the end of the year than I thought was possible. That still doesn’t make it a good year. Overall, I wrote over 360K words. Considering that I was only planning on 400K, and given how the year turned out, that isn’t bad. It’s
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I have a friend who’s considering getting a pellet grill. As I’ve had mine for over a year now, and I use it at least once a week (if not more) I figured that I had some opinions on the matter that I could let y’all know about. A pellet grill is basically an oven
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My husband wrote a Business for Breakfast book about World-Building Space Opera. Recently, while we were going for a drive (as we do) and talking about the next B4B book he’s writing, he asked me if I’d consider writing a business book on how to create magic systems. I thought about it and decided that it
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I take a lot (A LOT) of supplements. Some I take because I think they’re good for me. Others I take because they make a noticeable difference in my health. This list is current as of June 2024. I’m only listing the supplements that I take that make a difference in my health, as well
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It’s that time of year again, time for the mid-year review. This hasn’t been the best year for me, to put it mildly. In fact, it’s been one of my worst years on record in terms of word count, since I’ve been keeping track in a single spreadsheet. 2017 is the last year that even
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Because I’m still recovering my emotional resilience, I’m hyper-aware of those things that I consider “extroverting,” that is, those things that take more energy than they’re putting in. For example, it takes some amount of energy to grill something. The planning takes the largest percentage of that energy. Doing the actual work, that is, making
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