Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest by Rudy Wiebe The first time I read Rudy Wiebe’s Of This Earth, I knew I would come back to it when I was ready to write my own memoir, and I did. Listen here: Wiebe writes mostly on subjects related to Canadian history. He won the Governor General’s award for two of his novels: The Temptations of Big Bear (1973) and A Discovery of…

The first chapter of To Steal From a King is now out!

Release Date! The first chapter of To Steal From A King is now out! Tapas Wattpad ABOUT: Valerlanta is a thief with secret magic and a yearning for freedom. Venic is a knight on the run with a secret that has two kingdoms out for his head. Together, these two people from very different upbringings must learn to trust each other in order to race the king and his army for puzzles that are a…

Ways you can use nature to make things harder on your character.

A while ago I did a post on how animals are being seen less and less in fiction, and that got me thinking about other ways you can use nature to make things harder on your character. So, here is an updated list of ways you can make nature as terrible as possible for your characters 1. Water. Even if water is fast-moving, that does not mean it is safe to drink. Similarly, how clear or cold the…

Self-Doubt is one of my biggest enemies, but I am learning tricks to help fight it.

As long time followers will know, I have had a constant struggle with writers doubt and anxiety. I love to write, but the after scares me so much that sometimes it is hard to get myself to sit down in front of the keyboard. By “after” I mean when the book is done, and the world gets to see it. I have often heard the advice “pretend that no one will read what you are writing” but I guess I am not…

Did you finish writing your book? You should celebrate! Here are some ideas on how to do just that

In my writing group, one of the questions of the day was “How do you celebrate when you finish your book?” and it made me realize I don’t. My family is very low key; we don’t even celebrate birthdays, so that could be where it came from, but it is not a good habit. There are many studies that celebrating successes is incredibly important for all people. Basically, if you, for example, ace a test…

If you wrote a scene but it is not working and you can't quite put your finger on why, here is a list of possible fixes.

Sometimes I write a scene, and it just does not feel right but I can’t quite put my finger on why. So, since I like lists, I made another one! This one is a list of ways that could possibly fix a scene that is not working for you. I am not saying to try all of these at once, instead read the list, think about your scene, and consider if one or more of these might fix the problematic scene for…

Writer Wednesday: Author Interview with Steven Sandor. Steven tells it like it is. This is the interview for you if you hate things sugarcoated. #writinglife #writingadvice #books

[av_heading heading=’Writer Wednesday: Author Interview with Steven Sandor’ tag=’h1′ link_apply=” link=’manually,http://’ link_target=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=” subheading_size=’15’ margin=” margin_sync=’true’ padding=’10’ color=’custom-color-heading’ custom_font=’#ff0044′ av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=”…