Convert. Fiction writer. Contributor to CathMom.com & Archindy weekly paper. G’ma, pilot, RN, potter, quilter, cat/bird/horse lover.
The most important part of your novel, short story, or even nonfiction piece is the beginning. What compels the reader to keep reading? How do you craft a beginning that doesn’t bog down, one that keeps the reader engaged? There are several schools of thought regarding beginnings. Depending on the genre, the beginning can create […]
So you’ve decided to write a book! You might attack the admittedly daunting task the way I did the first time around: I started with what I thought happened first, wrote it, then what I thought happened next, wrote it, and repeated until I got to about 300 pages. I will say now that I […]
Luke 2: 1-20 The Infancy Narrative In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town […]
Last month, I attended CWG’s Your Word is My Delight: A Catholic Writers’ Retreat in Dewitt, Michigan. As is so often the case, it took me a few days post-retreat to recognize the gifts poured out by the Holy Spirit through the event. Opportunities to pray abounded. Daily Rosary, daily Mass, Adoration most evenings…and those […]
What is NaNoWriMo? For the uninitiated, this acronym is short for National Novel Writing Month, and it has taken place every November since its inception in 1999. The idea is to crank out 50,000 words between November 1 and November 30—which works out to be 1667 words per day. Every day. On a novel, specifically […]
What do you view as the most important element of your writing, or your writing life? Passion? Yes, we all need that, especially when faced with rejection or obstacles in our quest for publication. But if passion were the most critical element in the making of a successful author, the bookstores would be overflowing with […]
Did you go to Catholic Writers Conference Live? Or perhaps you’ve been lucky enough to attend another writers’ conference in the past few months. You’ve come home with a mind spinning with possibilities. Suddenly you have options, and choices to make. You’ve pitched a book (or two, or three), and hurriedly polished your work in […]
Are you headed for this year’s Catholic Writers Conference Live? If you are, check out my blog from last year regarding conference etiquette. It was good advice then, and I can’t think of a thing to improve on it. Just substitute the words Somerset, New Jersey for Arlington, Texas. If you’re not able to go […]
You know the old saw about not bringing up religion and politics in polite company? Well, I’m going to bring up both, as we have just entered the second annual Fortnight for Freedom. The U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has again called for two weeks of prayer and action to address many current challenges […]
Writer’s block. I don’t believe in it. Okay, I’ll hedge that a bit. All writers have moments when the words don’t come, or they have to be pried out of our brains like candy out of a three-year-old’s grasp. I do acknowledge that fact. Those moments are not fun. Those moments are always uncomfortable, even […]
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Catholic Writers Guild
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