Cast of Thousands

A couple weeks ago, I lent my husband one of the adult science fiction books I read last month. To my delight, he enjoyed it as much as I did. “It had a lot of characters,” he said, “which usually frustrates me, but the author did a great job of introducing only one...

Attack of the SNI (Shiny New Ideas)

Me: *Stares at WIP on screen.* SNI #1: Psst. Dianne. Me: Go away. I’m busy. SNI #1: It’s me. Your manuscript, XXXX, that you shelved two years ago. I was thinking, what if you changed me from YA to MG? Me: That would be a major change. I’d have to practically gut the...

Why NOT to Quit Blogging

Yeah, I was thinking about quitting. Or at least taking a hiatus. For the past couple months, I’ve had trouble coming up with blog topics. I started wondering if I had already covered every writing topic I was qualified to write about. I’ve been falling...

7 Things to Do When You’re STUCK

If it’s crossing your mind that I’m writing this post because I’m stuck … then, you’re right. Or at least, it feels like I’m stuck because the answers aren’t coming to me as fast as I’d like. And yes, that IS my daughter in the picture (16 years ago). And yes, I did...