At some point, every writer reaches a stale mate. You scan your growing stack of contributor copies and don't feel that flutter anymore. You reread your manuscript that has made it so close to being accepted by several excellent presses and yet, it remains unpublished. Friends keep asking, […]
Guilty pleasure confession: I love classic KISS. Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, and Paul Stanley. Yeah, the whole make-up, pyrotechnics, costumes, stunts, and usually loud songs KISS. They were my first rock band and they will always have a special place in my overly-nostalgic heart. This week I've been […]
I’m pleased to announce I’ll be presenting a session at the upcoming International Women’s Writing Guild conference coming up this October in New York City! In preparation for the event, they recently published a new article I wrote about submission strategies on their blog: Do I need a […]
As most of us poets know, it's rarely cheap to enter your poems into contests or even submit them to literary magazines. Many contests come with sizable entry fees -- and unfortunately, those contests often end up feeling more like scams when the prize isn't quite worth the […]
Thanks to Donna Hilbert for this personal guest blog post reflecting on the events of September 11, 2001, originally posted in April 2016. A few days into a three-week vacation, on a train with friends returning from a day-trip to Florence to the house we were sharing in […]
You've been writing poetry for a while, perhaps as a student or for your own pleasure and eventually you decided (or been encouraged) to submit somewhere for publication, and with some trepidation, you did. Lo and behold, your poem was accepted for publication and you saw your name […]
Contrary to popular opinion, there are many ways to earn an income for today's resourceful writer, particularly in the digital age. The "starving artist" image is so '80's! Trust me; I should know. In my long and colorful career as a professional scribe, I've pursued darn near all […]
For poets, reading is both business and pleasure. You can hide out in Squaw Valley workshopping your verses all you want, or enter every writing contest you stumble across online. But the most enjoyable way to become a better poet? Reading more poetry. It's simple enough to find […]
It has been both a blessing and a burden. Music, that is. For years I carried my secret around like I was the recipient of King Tut's curse. Friends knew I wrote prose and poetry but they were unaware that I was also a very frustrated wannabe composer. […]
I remember the first time I dipped my toes into the publishing world. It was 15 years ago. Excited and terrified, I spent hours online searching for local writing groups and didn't have much luck finding anything in my rural area. What I found online was an enormous […]
