Liz Prato article published

My latest article for Voicecatcher, a feature on local writer, massage therapist and writing teacher Liz Prato, went up today. Woot!

Click here to read "Persistence is a Virtue: A Conversation with Liz Prato."

What's the cost of NOT hiring an editor?

My business coach Jim Newcomer asked me this question last week. He was trying to get me to think of ways to pitch my services to potential clients, which makes total sense. But the truth is, questions like this make me mildly uncomfortable. How can I tell anybody else what the cost is to them?

But what I can do, I realized, is think about this question in relation to my own writing. What does it cost me to not hire an editor?

Because hiring an editor is something I have yet to do. Partly because I'm fortunate enough to have the skills to do a lot of my own editing, and partly because I just plain don't have a lot of money to invest in those services right now.

But, so, yeah. What does it cost me? Here are a few ideas:

Writing prompt 4

Earlier this week I was going back through my notebook--in which I write all manner of randomness as it flits through my head--looking for a particular note on my WIP and instead found a paragraph that I thought might make an interesting prompt for this week.

This week's prompt:

I'd always wanted to be a vampire. But then Jaime turned me into a werewolf. Mostly just to be an a--hole, I think. Because he could, and he knew it would piss me off. But it's not the kind of thing you do on a whim, you know? I mean, it's my life we're talking about here, for f---'s sake. And do you know how f---ing embarrassing it is to be a hairy girl? A girl with sideburns?! I didn't want f---ing sideburns. I wanted pointy teeth and pale skin and a vampire lover.

One way to use this prompt would be to write the rest of the story in the same voice, from the first person point of view, in a minimum of 150 and a maximum of 500 words.

Another way to use it would be to write your own fiction, creative non-fiction or poetry piece based on the structure: "I wanted to _____, but instead _____ happened." Or you could just make a whole list of things based on that structure and see how creative/crazy you can get.

Whatever you do, I hope you have fun with it and treat it as play. =*) Happy writing!

Quick update on writing goals

Just a quick update on my ROW80 goals while I take a break between working on #6 and getting a few hours of sleep.

1. Be a ROW80 sponsor.
Got a little behind in sponsor duties this week because I have been focusing so much on #6 while trying to honor #7, but did catch up on reading & commenting on people's posts on Thursday, which I feel good about.

2. Write my chapter of the chain story I mentioned in this post. 
Had to pull out of this. I was just trying to do too much (see #7 below). I don't feel awesome about going back on my commitment to participate, but I suppose it's good to acknowledge my limitations and be able to set priorities.

3. Do three public readings.
Woo hoo! This goal has been achieved! I did my third reading on Thursday night at Rain or Shine Coffee House. A surprising number of friends came to support me--which was AWESOME--and I got very positive feedback on both my delivery and on the quality of my work. And the best part is that I actually believe them; I don't think they were just saying it to be nice. Yay! =*)

Interview with author Kiersi Burkhart

It's here! My first interview on this blog! And I'm super excited to introduce you all to Kiersi Burkhart (@kiersi), a fabulous woman I met a few months ago at a local event for writers. She, like me, is a writer and a freelancer. She also writes about writing and publishing on her blog, The Prolific Novelista. And her first book is coming out later this year. But I'll let her tell you more about that.

Without further ado, the interview:

Q: What do you write?
Young adult [YA] and middle-grade [MG]. I love both--MG is young and carefree, YA gets to be intense and emotional and even get a little sexy. I believe you can have your cake and eat it too.

Q: Tell us a bit about your current work(s) in progress.