So a big thing happened back in April. I knew it was a big thing, but I don't think I ever fully comprehended exactly how life-changing it would be. That thing was: I won a scholarship to the Wr...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2017/08/tfw-your-whole-life-changes-aka-writing.html
Here's the truth of the matter: I have not written consistently for well over a year. This doesn't mean I haven't written. I've written whenever I darn well pleased. Which was sometimes every d...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2017/01/the-truth-of-matter-give-and-take-of.html
I'm off to Salt Lake Comic Con today. Shout out to me if you're going to be there too! Here's my panel schedule, so if you'll be there pop by to say hi and grab some free swag from THE UNHAPPENIN...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2016/08/salt-lake-comic-con-2016.html
Here’s the truth: writing is hard. That first draft you're writing? Hard. The revisions you're pounding through? Hard. The creation of characters, the building of a plot, the painting of ...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2015/07/breaking-laws-of-nature-writers-as.html
It's one of the most common questions to writers. Why do you write? ask fellow writers and confused family members and school children and crit partners and fans and random people on the internet...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2015/05/for-times-when-you-want-to-give-up-on.html
I've been teaching a lot lately-- at school visits, at conferences, even at church. (Granted, I don't teach a lot about writing at church.) And it's made me think a lot about all the advice offer...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2015/04/my-best-writing-advice-do-whatever-hell.html
I woke up this morning, and my legs weren't working right. For the last two years, ever since I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, I've had a morning routine that starts with laying in bed ...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2015/03/one-of-those-days-multiple-sclerosis.html
When I was 19 years old and in college, I got very angry for no apparent reason, for a rather long time. I wasn’t angry about anything in particular. I hated the world, hated my major, hated m...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2015/01/why-i-wrote-character-with-mental.html
Failure is a concept I've been thinking a lot about lately. What does it mean to fail? Is it just...not to succeed? If that's the case, what does it mean to succeed? "Succeeding" at something h...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/12/failure-and-success-on-quantifiability.html
I totally missed the posts yesterday because it was Sunday, so I'll link them today! There was a quote card yesterday, so don't miss it for extra entries for the giveaway ! Tomorrow is the last d...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/11/unhappening-blog-tour-and-giveaway-days.html
Here we go-- day 3 of the blog tour for The Unhappening of Genesis Lee! Today, we've got a few more sneak-peak quotes with secret words. Enter the secret (highlighted) words in the Rafflecopter ,...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/11/unhappening-blog-tour-day-3-sneak-peak.html
Okay, folks, here are the stops for the blog tour today! No quote cards today, but you can still find the quote cards from yesterday by checking here . And there are more to come for more entries...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/10/the-unhappening-of-genesis-lee-blog.html
Hey all! It's the kick-off for the blog tour of The Unhappening of Genesis Lee, hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club ! You can win some awesome prizes-- a signed hardback of the book, a $10 b...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/10/blog-tour-scavenger-hunt-easy-one-day-1.html
Thanks to ALL of you who pre-ordered THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE and entered the giveaway! It means so much to me, and I wish I could send all of you thank you gifts. The winners of the give...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/10/pre-order-giveaway-winners.html
Alright, friends, here's the deal. If you don't know, pre-ordering an author's book before it releases is just about the best thing you can do for them. Why? It gives the book a strong start out ...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/09/pre-order-giveaway-for-unhappening-of_26.html
I'm SO excited to be paneling at Salt Lake Comic Con tomorrow and Saturday! I've been stuffing my brain full of all things My Little Pony, writing for teens, worldbuilding, and SFF girls to prep-...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/09/salt-lake-comic-con-arc-giveaway.html
It's now just over two months until The Unhappening of Genesis Lee comes out, and exciting things are happening around these parts! If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, these might be a bit ...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/08/the-moments-when-publishing-feels-real.html
There was once a time when ALL I wrote were first drafts. Lots and lots of delightful, horrible first drafts that I signed off as finished once I found the proper flourishing font for the words T...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/07/why-first-draft-should-be-messy.html
So it's kinda funny, realizing your book comes out in less than 5 months. Sort of giddy-making, really. A tad bit terrifying, too. And it's also kinda funny, looking at your life and realizing ho...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/06/a-day-in-life-of-pre-debut-author.html
I'm so happy for my friend Michelle, whose book Changing Fate releases today! She wrote this book after meeting a girl with cystic fibrosis, and she's donating half of all proceeds from the book...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/05/changing-fate-release-party.html
I think by now most of us writers on social media have at least heard about the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign. I've loved seeing it all over the place, and it's made me think a lot about diversity...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/05/we-need-diverse-books-so-our-diversity.html
You guys...IT'S MY BOOK COVER ! I'm so excited to share what the designer at Sky Pony did with the cover for The Unhappening of Genesis Lee. It's so beautiful, I totally fell into the stare-at-...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/04/book-cover-and-arc-giveaway-for.html
It's no secret that many writers deal with mental illnesses of some kind. For some reason, the creative mind seems particularly prone to them. And despite the fact that many of us are trying to c...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/04/altering-perceptions-of-mental-illness.html
The stories we write always have meaning to us-- they always strike some kind of personal note that we hope readers feel, too. But sometimes, there's a particular story that is really powerful to...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/04/the-stories-that-mean-most-to-us-cover.html
I've mentioned a few times on the blog that last year was a difficult one for me. Today's the day I talk about why. In April last year, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I get usually tw...
http://www.shalleemcarthur.com/2014/03/multiple-sclerosis-awareness-month-you.html