Today, I'm super-excited to be featured on Ruth Hunt's excellent blog, The Writer on Wheels ! I met Ruth through the online school www.writingclasses.co.uk , where I tutor creative writing classe...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/05/dont-miss-writer-on-wheels.html
When I was trying to find a literary agent for my novel Rest and Be Thankful, I worried a lot about genre: what genre was my novel? Did it "fit" properly into a specific category of fiction? How ...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/04/genre-bending-mind-games.html
Marianne Wheelaghan Scottish writer, teacher, and entrepreneur extraordinaire Marianne Wheelaghan invited me to participate in the blog tour WHAT, WHY, AND HOW I WRITE. Marianne runs the o...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-why-and-how-i-write.html
It's that time again -- the North Carolina Literary Festival has returned to Raleigh, and it's this weekend, free and open to the public of all ages! Every two years, the festival rotates betw...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/04/dont-miss-out-nc-literary-fest-this.html
What a great idea -- a book festival to promote literacy and cut crime rates! I just discovered the Book 'Em North Carolina Writers Conference and Book Fair, which features authors, publishers...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/02/buy-book-and-stop-crook.html
Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, you know how hard it is to catch those last-minute mistakes! You may have had your best friend, mom, and co-workers read your manuscript for clarity and g...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/01/do-free-editing-websites-actually-work.html
I'm back!! Got sidetracked with freelance work, kids, fevers, sickness, writing the 1000th revision of my novel, and life in general... But part of that time was spent reading a young adult nove...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/11/which-books-inspire-you-to-write-better.html
Hello, Everyone! Summer is coming to an end, but why not prolong the essence of heat, humidity, mosquitoes, and sweet iced tea with some Southern literature? Here are a few reads I've gathered ...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/09/camellias-severed-legs-and-sweet-tea.html
Just had to mention a visit I took last week to the lovely Niche Gardens , outside Chapel Hill, NC. It's a lovely place, tucked away like a hidden forest, with metal sculptures and wandering cat...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/09/and-now-for-something-completey.html
I've very excited to announce that my new novel Rest and Be Thankful has just been released on Amazon by Pilrig Press !! The new press is based in Edinburgh, my hometown, and is quickly becomi...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/08/new-novel-explores-scottish-nc.html
About two years ago, I decided to get "serious" about writing! Well, I already had my M.F.A. in creative writing, had already been in writing groups, sent out short stories to competitions, and w...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/08/can-you-afford-not-to-self-publish.html
Right now, I'm reading a thriller based in Bulgaria called Valley of Thracians by Ellis Shuman. It's really good, and Shuman does a great job describing the setting. Here's an example: "The w...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/07/writing-where-you-are.html
Just a quick note... You can get my collection of short stories, Up Pops the Devil, for FREE until midnight tonight (Pacific Standard time). The collection takes place in North Carolina, Vietn...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/07/freebie-today-only.html
Just wanted to blow my own horn! I've recently released a new collection of eight short stories on Amazon, entitled Up Pops the Devil . I wrote some of them (the longer ones!) when I was working...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/07/up-pops-devil.html
Western North Carolina writer Terry Roberts has won the prestigious Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction for his novel A Short Time to Stay Here . According to an article in The Mountain Time...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/07/nc-writer-wins-prestigious-southern.html
Talking about writing out of your comfort zone... An article in The Guardian talks about a U.S. writer, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who self published her series of books about a black male detectiv...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/06/writing-what-you-dont-know.html
Just read an excellent blog post by author Hugh Ashton about writing outside of your comfort zone . Ashton was born in the UK and later moved to Japan, where he now lives. He talks in his post ab...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/06/writing-waaaaay-out-of-your-comfort-zone.html
Don't you just love the name of this literary festival in Scarborough, England, for erotic literature! Smut By the Sea has nothing to do with Southern lit, unless you count England as being in t...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/06/smut-by-sea.html
Hi, everyone! I've been collecting emails about new Southern novels being published, and now I have a few to share. I haven't read any of these yet, but they all look interesting! Reader and ...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/06/southern-summer-reads.html
...you're worried about your mother reading your author's bio! "Just What Will People Think? " is a cute article by Ronda Rich, the "Dixie Diva," in the Albany Herald. Ms. Rich talks about a b...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/05/you-know-youre-southern-if.html
I'm reading The Welsh Healer by Ginger Myrick, a novel set in 15th Century Wales and England during the Hundred Years' War. Myrick delves into Welsh herbal medicine, mystical healing, family ...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/04/folk-fiction.html
I've been using Twitter a lot lately, and one term that keeps cropping up is "Tartan Noir," a genre of Scottish murder mysteries set in gritty cityscapes like Glasgow and Edinburgh. I love this ...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/03/grits-noir.html
I'm back, after a long break! We have a new addition to our family who is keeping me very busy! I will be posting updates soon, along with information about a new editing venture I'm persuing. Ha...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2013/02/back-again.html
Speaking of book trailers... Here's one I came across that I think works pretty well. It's for North Carolina author Susan Gabriel's latest novel, The Secret Sense of Wildflower, and features...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-secret-sense-of-wildflower.html
There is a lot of discussion right now (especially on Twitter) about whether or not book trailers work. Well, it depends what you mean by "work." Do they help sell books? Do they help raise an aw...
http://southernwritersnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-book-trailer-debate.html