Book Review: Salt

Salt by Hannah Moskowitz My rating: 3 of 5 stars Salt is an odd little book. I love the characters, but the plot and the world-building left me feeling a little cheated. Indi is an orphan and a monster hunter, sailing with his older sister and two younger siblings, looking for the monster that killed…

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Book Review: Mask of Shadows

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mask of Shadows has been on my TBR list for a while, but it took being on a vacation in a cabin with no internet and inconsistent, minimal phone service for me to finally pick it up and dig in. Why did I…

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Five Friendly Places that Pay for Fiction

Finding a place to publish a short story can be intimidating. Submitting a story  I’ve poured my soul into out to a literary magazine is scary enough without worrying about what happens to it once it lands in someone’s slush. And there are so many places that publish fiction. I have to think about things…

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Book Review: Ardulum Third Don

Ardulum: Third Don by J.S. Fields My rating: 5 of 5 stars Review coming soon4.5 Stars Ardulum Third Don was the perfect ending to the trilogy. I can’t comment too much on why without spoiling it, so I’ll just that it came full circle and took Neek aka Atalant in a direction she never expected…

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Like Birds is on Wattpad.

Wattpad has fascinated me and scared me since I started getting serious about my writing. Even before I knew what it was, I liked the idea of serially posting a story online. The problem was, traditional publishing just holds too much allure. Now that I have one book signed with a small press and another…

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Twitter Pitch Parties Are About More Than Just The Likes

When seeking an agent or publisher for a novel, I participate in every twitter pitch party I get the chance to. So far, no one “like” or “heart” has landed me an agent or a book deal, but I still participate. They help me figure out what agents like the kind of stories I write, and…

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Fantasy a No Go with This Years Students

Back in January, you may have seen my post about using novels instead of textbooks for my ENG101 and RWR090 classes. Two of the novels worked out okay, but one was a disaster. Feed by M. T. Anderson This semester’s 101 students weren’t as enthusiastic about Feed as last semesters, but after a rocky start,…

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Writer Beware: Your Work Is Valuable; Don’t Get Scammed

Most of us start writing because we enjoy it or because we have something we are desperate to share. While some writers hoard their work, afraid to let the public see it, many want or even need their work to be read. Those of us who want to publish aren’t always content to just throw…

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How an editor made my day.

This year, I had high hopes for #DVpit. I’d just finished polishing a new manuscript. My query was in good shape. I’d struggled with my pitches, but thought I finally had them down. I scheduled them, went to work, and tried to not to sneak peeks at twitter between each student I tutored. My try…

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Concussive Puppy Trouble

This is the longest I have gone without making a new post since I started this blog, and it might be a while before I get back to my regular posts, so I figured I’d hop on for a few minutes and let you all know what is going on. Late January was the start…

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