karina fabian – Page 3 – Catholic Writers Guild

The Value of Live Conferences and Long-Lasting Friendships

June 11, 2012/0 Comments/in Catholic Writers Conference Live, Self-Publishing/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.” St. Thomas Aquinas

When I self-published my first novel seven years ago, I joined a local secular writers’ group but never quite felt a connection. It was only through the Catholic Writers Online (Yahoo group) that I discovered a new group called the Catholic Writers Guild in 2007. Initially, being a member consisted of receiving a newsletter and participating in Sunday chats. This grew to an online conference, then an opportunity to attend the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show in 2008.

2008 Trade Show, CWG Booth, talking to attendees: L to R, me, Lisa Mladinich, Karina Fabian

At the time, there was no accompanying conference, just interaction with fellow CWG members and Trade Show attendees at the CWG booth. In the beginning, I was nervous at the prospect of meeting such diverse and accomplished writers. However, I soon learned there was no reason to be nervous; they welcomed me with open arms and treated me as one of their own.

The next year, 2009, was the first year for the Catholic Writers Conference which was held in conjunction with the 2009 Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show in New Jersey. I learned a lot, met more talented Catholic writers and made more friendships. There were opportunities for book signings (photo below), as well as great talks by Regina Doman and Fr. Frank Pavone.

With Karina during our book signing. 2009 Trade Show/Conference

For me, the highlight of the 2010 Catholic Writers Conference Live was acting as moderator for the Catholic Fiction panel (third photo below).

moderating the 2010 Catholic fiction panel

On the panel were L to R, Michelle Buckman (the 2011 CALA award-winning author of Rachel’s Contrition,) Regina Doman (author of the Fairy Tale Novels and the 2011 CALA award winner, Alex O’Donnell and the 40 Cyber Thieves), Elena Maria Vidal (author of Trianon and other historical novels), Christian M. Frank/John Doman (author of JP II High books) and John Desjarlais (author of Bleeder and Viper). That was probably the most fun I’ve had in years. I looked a little dwarfed behind the podium, but I’m sure my loud voice overcompensated for what I lack in the height department.

In 2011, CWG president (Ann Lewis) and vice president (me) had an opportunity to show off our IPPY Gold medals (photo below).

CWG president Ann Lewis and I showing off our gold medals at the 2011 CWG Booth

There were talks on blogging, Catholic fiction and marketing. My talk on “Marketing the Self-Published Book” was so well-received that I’ll be giving it again this year at the 2012 conference.

The Catholic Writers Conference is a great place to learn about writing, marketing and our faith. But when it comes right down to it, the best thing about the Catholic Writers Guild and the live conferences are the friendships. I have made long-lasting and deep friendships based on mutual faith, charity and respect. When I ask for a review of my latest book, my friends in the CWG are there. When I ask for prayers, they respond with great charity.

Whether you’re a self-published author or a traditionally published author…whether you write for a living or as a hobby…whether you write non-fiction or fiction…the Catholic Writers Conference Live is an outstanding opportunity to learn, to network and to gain deep friendships.

This year, the Catholic Writers Conference Live will be held on August 29-31 in Arlington, Texas. I’ll be running the CWG booth, giving two talks (one on Marketing the Self-Published Book and one on Fiction and the New Evangelization). Most importantly, I’ll be reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.

I hope to see you there!

One of my Favorite Characters, Sister Grace

April 30, 2012/0 Comments/in Fiction, Humour/by Karina Fabian

I’m excited to blog today about one of my dear characters, Sister Grace, for two reasons: First, her second book came out this month—Live and Let Fly. Second, her story, Siren Spell, comes out today from Flying Island Press.

Sister Grace is not your typical nun. First of all, she’s not from our world. She was born in Ireland, but in the Faerie dimension, where magic, elves, demigods and all manner of unusual creatures are a fact of life. Secondly, she’s not fully human—but I’ll let you read about that in Flying Island. Suffice to say, it gave her some very powerful magical ability, which for the safety of herself and everyone, were consecrated to God when she was very young, Currently, Sister Grace is partnered with a dragon, Vern, and they run a private investigations agency here in our world. Most of the time they handle mundane (and Mundane) cases like finding lost animals or assisting the police when magic might be in play. Every so often, they have to take on major supernatural baddies to save our world and Faerie.

Grace is the perfect complement to a snarky, cynical and sometimes selfish dragon. She’s got the spunk—and the grace—to keep him in line and following God’s direction more willingly than he usually does. She’s also helped him enjoy his current situation. Vern is good for her, too—she feels protected and secure with him, and he makes her laugh, which she hadn’t done for a long time before they met. He also gave her the confidence to use her magic again after having faced some difficult temptations at the hands of some demons. The two love each other dearly—which makes things a little awkward when Vern turns human for the case in Live and Let Fly.

That’s what I love about Grace, though. She’s spiritual and utterly devoted to God, but she’s nonetheless human. She’s been known to lose her temper, grab people by the ear, even get into magical spats with other beings. She lets Vern get away with stuff now and then. (Check out Vern’s “Apologia on Extortion,” http:// flowersonthefence.blogspot.com.) But she’s also ready to sacrifice herself for others and always ready to follow God’s call. And her reaction to seeing her very best friend as a gorgeous guy? “Mary loved her sweet Joseph, and there have been plenty of married but celibate saints. I’ll be fine. But, just don’t touch me.”

Spirit, spunk, and a big dose of practicality. That’s Sister Grace.

About Live and Let Fly:

The magic is Faerie. The technology, Mundane. When they meet, the survival of the world rests in one dragon’s…er…claws. See Vern as you’ve never seen him before!

For a dragon detective with a magic-slinging nun as a partner, saving the worlds gets routine. So, when the US government hires Vern and Sister Grace to recover stolen secrets for creating a new Interdimensional Gap– secrets the US would like to keep, thank you—Vern sees a chance to play Dragon-Oh-Seven.

No human spy, however, ever went up against a Norse goddess determined to use those secrets to rescue her husband. Sigyn will move heaven and earth to get Loki—and use the best and worst of our world against anyone who tries to stop her.

It’s super-spy spoofing at its best with exotic locations (Idaho–exotic? Well, it is to them!), maniacal middle-managers, secret agent men, teen rock stars in trouble, man-eating animatronics, evil overlords and more!

Here’s an Excerpt with Vern and Grace talking the details of a case:

“Sure it was 2:30, exactly?”

Grace pulled off her shoes and massaged her feet. Then she wiggled her toes. She’s never cared for shoes. “They didn’t say exactly. Why?”

“Something about that time…”

Grace waited patiently while I mulled it over, then wracked my brains. Once upon a time, everything I learned I remembered; now “Wisdom of the Ages” is just a tag line on my Yellow Pages ad. I had my excellent memory back, but only of more recent events, and not always with perfect recall. There was something about the Gap and 2:30. Two-thirty. Two hundred thirty. Two-Three-Oh…

I felt more than heard Grace begin a prayer. She did that sometimes, prayed that a particular bit of knowledge would come to me. In fact, in our first case, her novena caused me to translate a popular song that turned out to be an ancient summoning rite—just in time, too.

I let it go. If there was something about the time we needed to know, God would help me remember. I settled myself down, arms tucked under my chest, and said my own dragon-style prayers until I saw Grace cross herself. “Hungry?”

“Ach, no. I’ve been filled with snacks.”

“Sure, nuns get pastries, but who feeds the dragon? After all, by now they know I prefer lunch meat over lovely maidens.”

She chuckled. “Well, someone hit a doe on the Gap road. Randy asked me to see if you were interested.”

“Best tip I’ve had all day. So how was the wedding?”

“Beautiful. Very simple, very heartfelt. A pleasure to sing at.”

I couldn’t help but grin at Grace’s starry gaze. Who said nuns can’t be romantics, too?

Then her expression changed. “Vern, do ye not think it’s time to apologize to Kitty?”

“Apologize?” I resisted the urge to ask, “What for,” since she’d come up with a list as long as my tail. “If I apologize to McGrue, she’ll only take that as evidence that she’s won somehow. That woman is as bad as—”

“—a dragon?”

There were times I’d rather face McGrue’s accusative stares than Grace’s guileless looks. Couldn’t she at least arch an eyebrow or something?

“I’m going to see what I can pick up at the Colt’s Hoof,” I growled on my way out.

Purchase on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/amazonllf

Purchase from Publisher: http://tinyurl.com/LiveAndLetFly

“Government Pork” by Karina Fabian

February 13, 2012/7 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Karina Fabian

Dear Friends: The HHS compromise is no compromise—it’s an escalation, making it impossible not only for the Catholic Church to live according to its beliefs, but any small business that may also believe as the Church does. I wrote this parable to try to put the debate out of the “contraception/women’s health” light and show the other issues at stake. Feel free to copy this story and use it on your own blogs. If you do, please include this link to sign a petition to stop the HHS mandate (or if you know of another petition, include it) https://www.stophhs.com/sign-the-petition/

——————–

Once there was a wonderful town full of people who loved to eat, and many wonderful and varied restaurants that served excellent food: Italian and French, Japanese and Mongolian, Middle Eastern and even a kosher delicatessen. Not everyone liked every restaurant, of course, and some people even thought particular restaurants were odd, but they appreciated the variety available to all.

There were also a lot of pig farmers, and people enjoyed the fresh pork. One year, they had a mayor who loved fresh pork. He thought it was the right of everyone in the town to have pork at any meal they wanted. “Why,” he’d say,” if there was only one meal I could give my kids, it’d be pork chops!” Of course, lots of the people loved pork as well, and they applauded his enthusiasm.

One day he sat in his office, thinking about how much he and others liked pork, and he decided that every restaurant should serve pork and wine, at every meal. Oh, maybe not every individual would want to eat pork, but they deserved the right to have it on their plate! Otherwise, they didn’t really have a choice, right? And so, he set out a decree that all restaurants would serve some form of pork in every meal.

Well, the delicatessen and the Middle Eastern restaurant were upset by this. They couldn’t serve pork—it was against their religions. So they went to the Mayor and asked to be excused from this rule. “After all,” they said, “people know we never serve pork.”

“But you should. People have the right to pork. Some of your customers eat pork. Even some of your employees enjoy a good ham!”

“And if they wish to, they may–but not in our restaurants,” the owners said. “It’s against the kind of restaurants we are to serve pork. And we have customers who do not want pork, who would be offended and do not want to pay for pork.”

“Well, I’m offended that you won’t serve it—and I’m sure other pork lovers agree that your attitude is most disagreeable.”

“Our customers and our employees know where we stand, and they continue to frequent our restaurants and work for us. We serve them well, but we do not serve them pork. We have the right to our own menus. We should not be forced.”

But the mayor stood firm. “No,” he said. “Everyone has the right to have pork, and it’s my duty to make sure it’s always available, whether you agree or not. It’s healthier than beef anyway. If you don’t like it, you can pay a fine and stop serving food—or you can close down.”

The restaurant managers refused to change their menus. Many people stood by them—because they, too, would not eat pork and didn’t want to pay for it; or because they agreed that restaurants should choose their own menus; or because they didn’t like the mayor telling people how to run their own businesses. The movie theaters stood by him, because they were afraid if the Mayor could change menus, he might also start dictating what shows would be played.

The pork lovers, however, were incensed. How dare the restaurants not give them pork if they wanted it?

“I can’t eat beef; what should I do then?” one demanded. “Do you just want to send me away to starve?”

“We have other dishes,” they said. “Our menu and service would be no different than before. We can feed you many things; just not pork.”

Nonetheless, the press, too, said that the two restaurants would rather let people starve rather than eat pork.

Despite the outcry of the pork lovers, more and more people said, “Let them choose their own menu!”

So the Mayor called the restaurant owners into his office. He had a compromise, he said.

“I won’t make you buy pork. You don’t have to prepare it, or touch it. Instead, all restaurant suppliers will have to supply pork to every restaurant, free of charge, and for those that don’t want to serve the pork, suppliers will cook it and put it on every plate themselves. You just look the other way.”

“But there would still be pork in our restaurant!” the owners cried. “Besides, they will increase the price of meat to cover their new expenses.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t do that. I’d tell them not to. Besides, the point is you wouldn’t be actually serving pork. See how well that works? Everyone gets pork and you can say you never provided it. And if your patrons don’t want to eat it, they don’t have to; it’s enough that it’s there for them.”

So, problem solved?

—-

(“Hold on!” one restaurant supplier said. “I’m Jewish!”)

Notes on Homilies: Sacrifice and Suffering

January 22, 2012/5 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Karina Fabian

by Karina Fabian

Saw an interesting blog post by Roman Catholic Cop. He was challenged to record one thought from the weekly homilies at Mass.

In Matthew Kelly’s talk, “The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality” he suggests taking ONE thing from father’s homily on Sunday and to write it down in a journal. He says after one year of going to mass you will have an amazing guide to spirituality.

I like this idea, so I’m going to attempt to do the same here. Too often, I find something at Mass really touches me, but as soon as I get out the doors and have to deal with lunches and kids and to-do’s, I forget what it was that made such an impact. Writing them will give me a chance to remember, and I thought you might like to share in them as well.

Today’s homily was about sacrifice and suffering, and how our vocations in life involve each. The priest spoke of a high school boy paralyzed in a hockey accident, and in an interview he said that this was his calling, his vocation. “It is a mystery, but I embrace it.”

What an amazing attitude for a teen to take. I think about the days I just want to give up on everything because I’m tired or have a headache or someone got mad at me, but this kid may never walk again, but he’s not only not giving up, but embracing this mystery he’s been dealt. I’m humbled.

The other thing I’m taking, which applies to the first, is the idea that suffering can mean putting yourself aside to serve others. That’s one I have a hard time with because (like I said in my book, Why God Matters), I tend to have a martyrdom streak, and a loud martyrdom streak at that. Instead of putting myself aside in my suffering in order to serve others, I tend to make a noisy point of my suffering as I serve others.

What about you? What did you take from today’s homily or sermon? What do you think about suffering and service?

Committees: Introduction by Karina Fabian

January 13, 2012/0 Comments/in Catholic Writers Guild, CWG Needs Volunteers, CWG News and Announcements/by Karina Fabian

I’m Karina Fabian, and I’ll be posting on second Fridays (and perhaps other times) about what’s going on with the committees of the Catholic Writers Guild.

Committees are the hands and feet of the Guild—they do things and take us forward. When you see someone announce that they’re book received the Seal of Approval or that a bookstore has just ordered copies because they saw it in a newsletter, when you attend one of the conferences, when you read this blog—you are seeing the result of the hard work of our Guild committees. These people give of their time, talent and sometimes their treasure to take on projects to help others achieve their writing dreams. The Committee Chairs in particular give a lot of themselves to keeping these programs going. Without their dedication, we would have a Guild that is name only.

I’m honored to be the Committee Coordinator in 2012. I’ve been with the Guild since it was just an idea on a Yahoo group. I helped found it, create rules for it, and have led it as President, Vice President, and Secretary. However, I feel like the most important practical aspect of our Guild is in the committee work. There, we harness the power of our group and its reputation to help not just each other, but Catholic literature in all its forms.

However, this is often frustrating work—there’s so much to do, and so few who step up to help out—or those that offer their help aren’t consistent. This is a long-running problem in the Guild, and this year, I want to dedicate my efforts to building our cadre of volunteers and finding ways to make the experience of working in the Guild more rewarding.

I’m certain this isn’t a matter of “finding the right people.” We have a wonderful, giving membership! However, we also have a busy membership, so we need to find ways to make it easier to volunteer, to match guild needs to member strengths, to encourage consistency, to improve communication and direction. I’ve started talking to the committee chairs about what they need. Members, soon, you’ll be seeing a request from us to fill out a survey with your talents interests and how much time you can volunteer, as well as specific volunteering opportunities. In the meantime, if you have any ideas about how we can improve Guild operations, please make your comments below or e-mail me privately at http://karinafabian.com/index.php?name=ContactPro.

"Christmas Spirits" and Food for the Poor

November 29, 2011/0 Comments/in Uncategorized/by Karina Fabian

by Karina Fabian

Dear friends and readers,

This winter, I have two things in my heart and on my mind: caring for those less fortunate than me (or indeed, much of the world) and my DragonEye, PI stories. For Christmas, I’m combining them and would like to share them with you.

Those of you who are “Vern Fans,” know about my dragon who works in our world as a private investigator, and his partner, Sister Grace, a mage and nun in the Faerie Catholic Church. They’ve saved the worlds and their friends in numerous stories and novels. Last year, I wrote a story for Flagship about their first Christmas together. Not only is Grace struggling with the Mundane idea of Christmas, but their home is threatened by a land developer who wants to tear down the entire neighborhood and make a mall. When the Ghosts of Christmas come to visit him, however, Vern and Grace have to solve the mystery before the Christmas Spirits become Angels of Death.

I have revised and am publishing “Christmas Spirits” as a serial story to raise funds for Food for the Poor. This is a wonderful charity that helps people in impoverished nations help themselves. It allows donators to choose their gifts–whether rice for a family for a month, school supplies, livestock, tools or even houses.

I’m asking that you please check out the story, and, if you enjoy it and want to see more, that you donate even a dollar to the cause. Also, if you enjoy the story, let your friends know. I’ll post every Tuesday and Thursday as the donations come in. Right now, we have raised enough to send a family a goat, but the donations have stopped, and we are holding at Episode Four until more come in. Vern would like to send them a cow (he is a dragon, after all), but Sister Grace and I are dreaming of raising enough to buy someone a home. Can you imagine giving a HOUSE for Christmas? Will you help?

Find the story at http://christmasspirits.karinafabian.com. You can also get to it via my website, http://fabianspace.com. Look under the Christmas dragon for the link. You can learn more about Food for the Poor at http://www.foodforthepoor.org.

Karina Fabian presents Video Book Trailer Class in October

October 1, 2011/0 Comments/in Uncategorized/by Karina Fabian

From Karina Fabian

Video book trailers are a fun way to get a potential reader’s attention. They not just for YouTube, but are also terrific for book tours, guest blogging, websites, etc. I’m teaching how to make Video Book Trailers at Savvy Authors starting October 31. The class (which I’ve taught in conferences) has been stretched out to a whole month to give you plenty of time to craft your video, get feedback, etc. Check it out at http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/showevent.php?eventid=1000

Creating your own book trailer video doesn’t have to expensive or difficult. With free pictures, free music and Windows Movie Maker, you can make your own in a weekend. This class will take you through the basics. Must have Windows MovieMaker or some movie-making program you are familiar with.

$30 for non-members
$20 for SavvyAuthor members

Hope to see you there!

Not interested in the class? Don’t forget that CWG members have access to the Guild’s animoto.com account, which lets you create some very nice videos simply by adding photos, text and music and letting the program do the rest.

A note from Karina Fabian about her worldbuilding class

August 21, 2011/0 Comments/in Uncategorized/by Karina Fabian

People who read my blog know how bizarre my imagination gets, and how detailed and wild I can get in my worldbuilding. Even though I’m more of an intuitive, seat-of-the-pants kind of writer, I have broken down worldbuilding into several steps and I’m teaching them at savvyauthors.com September 5-October 3. I really stretched this class out so that folks had a lot of time to think, research, etc. However, you can go at your own pace, do don’t let the length intimdate you. I have taught this in week-long conferences. However, you are going to get up to four weeks of my attention for only $25 ($25 for Savvy Author members.)

Get more information here: http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/showevent.php?eventid=1001

Busting Writer’s Block

April 26, 2011/0 Comments/in Uncategorized/by Karina Fabian

Last week, I talked about writer’s block being a lie that keeps writers from their dreams because it hides the real reason writers don’t produce:

1. Intimidation
2. Sloth
3. Perfectionism
4. Guilt
5. Rather talk about being a writer than write

Regardless of the reason, hiding behind writer’s block will stop you from doing what you want to do–write! Here are some tips for busting the lie of writer’s block.

#1 Sh**y First Drafts. In her book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamont talks about giving herself permission to write a “sh***y first draft.” The idea is that you can always fix your prose, your story, your characters—but only if write it out first.

This is the best advice I can give someone who feels intimidated by the task or shackled with expectations of perfectionisn. Give yourself permission to write tripe. Order yourself to put words to paper (or to the screen), even if (as one presenter at CWCO put it), you end up with a virtual “steaming pile.” When you are done. If you let yourself–make yourself–do this, one of three things will happen:

1. You will discover you wrote better than you expected.
2. You will write junk that you can fix.
3. You will burn part of all of the work in the name of public safety, but you will have written. And havin written once, the next time will be easier. There is a saying that the first million words you write are practice.

A last note on this–resist the urge to edit while you are writing. Make notes if needed, but get the entire thing written unless you already know you can finish the task.

#2 BICHOK: Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard: You cannot be a writer unless you write. You can make writing a habit.

This is hard. Remember my analogy last week that plumbers don’t get plumber’s block? If they did, they don’t get paid. Ditto the reporter–reporters don’t get writer’s block. No work=no pay.

Many of us aren’t there yet, however, so we need other ways to motivate ourselves. Maybe write 20 minutes, then play a game? Go out to dinner when you finish that novel? Have a special place to write–or leave your house until you have the habit. Some authors make mock-ups of their covers to motivate them. Others take their day’s goals before the Blessed Sacrament. Find what motivates you and do it.

#3 Set realistic goals. This helps Guilt as well as Sloth. If you are busy and writing is a sideline, developing the habit is more important than the actual number of words you produce. For an example, when I still had a baby and a toddler and homeschooled my older two, my goal was simply “one sentence before bed.” Now, with older kids in public school, I can devote a few hours a day. In both instances, I kept a habit of writing.

#4 Don’t control your creativity. Perfectionists hesitate to start a project until they think they are completely ready to do it. Those who are intimidated worry that their creative ability isn’t up to the job. Others find a story stalls because the characters won’t do what they want them to do. Some would-be writers never get past the research stage.

Let go and let flow! You can’t always control the direction of the creative process. Let your characters lead you in the story. Start writing that article and discover what the Holy Spirit (or your subconscious) drives you to write. Stop researching, outlining, profiling, and write. If you run into a fact or a question or a scene you’re not sure of, just flag it and move on.

#5 Stuck, still? Take a break and write something else. Can’t figure out the next chapter? Skip it or write a different scene with the character–or a character interview. Can’t figure out the next chapter on your book? Write a related article. Start a new project if you like, but remember to come back to the original one and finish it.

Writing is 10 percent creativity and 90 percent productivity. Even more, when creativity stalls, productivity can get it started again. The lie of writer’s block, however, can stop you from seeing that.

Got questions or a comment on writer’s block? Post them. I’ll answer as best I can, and maybe blog again on it next month.

The Lie of Writer’s Block

April 19, 2011/1 Comment/in Uncategorized/by Karina Fabian

Has your plumber ever canceled an appointment because “the pipes aren’t talking to me?” Have you ever heard of an architect who wouldn’t finish designing a building because he’s not “feeling it”? Yet the most common reason writers give for not writing is “writer’s block.”

I don’t believe in writer’s block. I see writer’s block as a socially accepted lie that keeps writers from achieving their goals. Sound harsh? Consider this:

Benjamin Franklin said invention is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. The same holds true for writing, I believe: 10 percent creativity, and 90 percent productivity. Even more, the simple act of writing can inspire greater creativity. However, writer’s block disregards the 90 percent and places undue importance on the small percentage of the writing act.

So what really causes writers to stare at the blank screen for hours before turning with disgust to Facebook or YouTube?

#1 Intimidation. A blank page is intimidating. Having a whole story perfect in your mind except for that first sentence is intimidating. Taking on a project you feel will bring people closer to God is intimidating. Sometimes, just the throught that strangers will read your blog is intimidating.

What happens when you are intimidated? You freeze. But instead of recognizing that fear and meeting it head on, writers say they are “blocked” and don’t address the issue.

#2 Sloth. Writing is work, but too often, writers, especially new writers, believe that if they are truly inspired, the words will flow from their mind to the keyboard. When that doesn’t happen, it’s easy to claim “writer’s block.”

#3 Perfectionism (or the need for excellence right off): This, to me, ties into both intimidation and sloth. It’s the idea that if you are “truly a writer,” then each sentence comes out as perfect. If not, you are a failure as a writer. Who wants to face that? Easier to say you’re “blocked.”

It’s also the trap of believing you have to have everything perfect–from your research to your carefully mapped plot and characters–before you can even start.

#4 Guilt. This especially happens to those who are not making a living off their writing. Getting published is a long, slow process, and you can’t wait for a contract before you write your book or story. Yet it’s hard to justify taking time “away” from family, the house, social or charitable obligations. (What kind of mother, after all, would forego a PTA meeting to work on her sci-fi novel?)

Recently, a friend told me about a “writer” who complained of writers block for a year and a half. He got lots of sympathy, but never produced anything. Some people choose to talk about being a writer instead of confronting the realities of writing. Writer’s block provides an easy way to do that.

Don’t let writer’s block keep you from your dreams.

Next week, we’ll talk about ways to break writers’ block.

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