Regency romance, romantic mysteries, & writing tips too.
penny 
Do you struggle with writing fiction? In a writers’ group meeting, we chatted about a common struggle: managing your ideas, without being distracted by them. One writer said that she struggled with organizing sudden inspiration. Another said that his big challenge was developing ideas. He constantly second-guessed himself, deleting one or more scenes—he’d even delete … Read more
Is social media dying as a book marketing option for authors? During one of our final writers’ group meetings for 2022, we discussed book marketing with a focus on social media. Specifically, how the various networks had declined in usefulness. Authors said they weren’t making the sales they made a year ago. One self-publishing author, … Read more
If you’re a writer or marketer, you’ve heard (and perhaps tried) artificial intelligence (AI) apps. In a recent writers’ group meeting, we discussed how dangerous these apps might be for our jobs as writers. I’m undecided about AI. One the one hand, I’m enthusiastic about its potential as a research and general assistant. On the … Read more
How many productivity processes do you use consistently? I’m sure you’ve found systems and apps which worked for you—until they didn’t. At a recent writers’ group meeting, we discussed productivity, and shared our thoughts. One writer said that he’d spent two days setting up a system, but couldn’t get the syncing to work. He’s returning … Read more
When you’re writing fiction, starting a new novel and setting up your cast of characters can be challenging. However, if you meet that challenge, not only will your novel be fun to write, it will also (other things being equal) sell. A few months ago, we spent a writers’ group meeting chatting about character creation. … Read more
In a recent writers’ group meeting, we discussed the creator economy. If you’re wondering what that might be, here’s SignalFire’s take: … (the creator economy is) defined as the class of businesses built by over 50 million independent content creators, curators, and community builders… (SignalFire’s article is worth reading in its entirety.) Wow, 50 million … Read more