Authorstrator

Its June 1st! Mermay is over and I’m here in your inbox with the outline post I promised! Outlining has long been a struggle for me. When I was a baby writer, I was a proud pantser - someone who writes with no plan or outline, they write by the seat of their pants. I wore the label like a badge of honour and all those stuffy plotters - writers who didn’t write until they had a meticulously constructed an outline - were stifling their creativity as far as I was concerned. What did I know.

It’s almost #Mermay, the time where many artists, illustrators, animators and even mermaid performers take to the gram to draw mermaids every day for the month of May. Started by Disney veteran Tom Bancroft, this drawing competition is all about embracing your creativity and fun. I should probably state here at the outset that I am not affiliated with M…

The internet is filled to bursting with writing advice. See? Here I go. Adding to the glut. But I feel compelled to share my mistakes because maybe it will help to save you some time. When Cheat Code comes out in February, that will be my 10th traditionally published book. Add to that the trunked novels, the books that didn't find a home, and the books that lived a life outside of traditional publishing, and we're looking closer to 20 completed books. I've been at this for a while.

Happy August! I hope you’ve been enjoying summer sun, or, if it’s not summer where you are, you’re enjoying that season too! Me? I’m looking to fall, prepping for September. My work projects yes, but there’s also this wee newsletter that’s become more of a thing for me in the last year, a thing I didn’t expect to find so many readers, a thing I really enjoy doing and want to keep putting out my best work for. And to keep putting out my best work, that means I have to plan.

August already?! The time of year when TV offerings dry up, family bbqs ramp up like a fire sale, and the grocery store starts stocking halloween candy (guh). It’s a busy time for life and a very quiet time for entertainment. I thought the limited number of TV options would mean there was little to share this month - but it seems necessity is the mother…

I've been stuck in my WIP for.....years? It’s been a slow crawl. Partly because my outline isn't working, partly because I'm getting distracted by bigger stories (too many ideas syndrome is as troublesome as writer’s block, in my opinion), partly because....I just can't figure out how to get my characters from one point to the next.

I'm on vacation! The fam and I are at my parenrs’ cottage for rest, relaxation and self-care… Just kidding! We've got three kiddos so no one is resting or relaxing. Thought I'd send some “family photos” from our vacation, just to give you a sense of how things are going:

Happy September, dear reader! I'm here today with a ginormous notebook post - specifically, how I use notebooks for writing fiction. It’s a long one, I’m sorry for that. I’m about to geek out real hard. Notebooks have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, but specifically a notebook for my creative writing? I remember the very first. I was in grade 2 and I had been given a little notebook with a beagle on the cover sitting in grass.

Happy September! Are we ready to dive into all things fall? I’m not quite there yet. But I have been making progress in my YA novel and having a lot of fun. After months of feeling stuck, I managed to push through and just keep going, mostly because I had a limited amount of time available to make progress. I was on vacation from the day job, sitting at…

This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts