Blog Post
Replacing Textbooks With novels in First Year Writing
For the past five years, I’ve taught first year writing at community college and state universities. I assigned textbooks and/or trade books based on what other teachers used or what seemed like the kind of book college students should read. It didn’t work out so well. Now, I’m using books I get excited about. The…
Read MoreBook Review: Smoke City
Smoke City by Keith Rosson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. And I’ll admit, after the first couple chapters, I didn’t think I’d be giving it five stars, but I read on, and was won over the…
Read MoreBeta Readers & Remembering my Characters are NOT me.
Good beta readers and critique partners are essential for writers, not just because they make individual manuscripts stronger, but also because they can make writers aware of problematic patterns. My beta readers often comment that my characters don’t react or show emotion to big things – like finding out demons exits, losing a loved one,…
Read MoreIWSG December Post: Writers Remorse ?
December 6 question – As you look back on 2017, with all its successes/failures, if you could backtrack, what would you do differently? There isn’t much I would do differently. To be honest, 2017 was filled with more success than failures. Sure, I got about 120 rejections for one of my novels, but in the end,…
Read MoreBook Review: Run in the Blood
Run in the Blood by A.E. Ross My rating: 5 of 5 stars Run in the Blood is like a breath of crisp, salty air proving you can have sword and sorcery fantasy set in a medieval-ish world without loading it up with sexism and misogyny. And you know what makes this book even better?…
Read MoreBook Review: The Girl in the Tower
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden My rating: 4 of 5 stars A slow start, an epic middle and a bittersweet end describe The Girl in the Tower. When I read the first book in the Winternight Trilogy last year, I hadn’t realized it was a series, but enjoyed it enough to request…
Read MoreA Review: Gender Identity in Queen of All Crows
The Queen of All Crows by Rod Duncan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Queen of All Crows When my request Queen of All Crows was approved on NetGalley, I was thrilled to hear that the wait to see what happened with Elizabeth Barnabus and John Farthing would be over. However, my experience reading the…
Read MoreA Review of Love, Hate & Other Filters
Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed I received a free copy of Love, Hate, and Other Filters from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. I rarely read contemporary YA, but thought this might be a good book to use in one of the classes I teach at community college. Reading…
Read MoreThe Puppy went to doggie day care for the first time. The staff at Let’s Go Canine shared this video. Even though Tavi is home now, I keep watching it over and over again. He was so excited about all the other dogs. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fletsgocaninelawrence%2Fvideos%2F508783776146047%2F&show_text=0&width=560 I could share more thoughts on dog daycare, but I haven’t figured…
Read MoreIWSG November: I will win NaNoWriMo!
November 1 question – Win or not, do you usually finish your NaNo project? Have any of them gone on to be published? Because I was so into national novel writing month, I completely forgot to blog on the first of the month with the Insecure Writers Support Group Question. Half way through the month and…
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