Write five new pages a day.
Send out three queries a week.
Draft a proposal by the end of September.
Research six agents by the end of the month.
These are all good SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. But sometimes our SMART goals can be too much of a struggle.
When?
When you get two rejections in the […]

Half way through the year is a good time to reflect on your efforts. I recently spoke to an aspiring author who had been excited about all that she planned to accomplish this year. Namely finishing her book. I asked her how many pages she had written. She sputtered for a moment then quietly said, […]

I know many of us have felt this way in the wake of a rejection (okay perhaps not this bitter but close). I hope you get a laugh by watching this clip from the British sitcom Black Books.

I always reach a panic stage when I’m writing a novel. I hit the “What the hell am I doing?” “Can I really pull this off?” stage and this can happen at any point–in the beginning, middle or end of a project. You’d think I would have defeated this by now. But it happens every […]

1) Laundry. I just fill another basket.
2) Emails. Haven’t heard from me? Don’t worry you’re not alone.
3) Reading. I love books and I have a stack waiting for me, but I can’t get to them yet.
4) Dinner. Soup anyone?
5) Organization. No a storm did not strike my desk. Yes I know where everything is. […]

I just noticed a trend in my productivity. Although I’m writing every day, I’m not making the progress I would like on my book. Usually I can whip up several pages (not necessarily clean, but at least they’re pages I can work with) but recently I’ve seen my production slide and I’ve just discovered why. […]

It’s always helpful to start off a new year with good habits. As an author, learning to wait is a habit one must master. I haven’t mastered it yet—too impatient for that—but I’m no longer climbing the walls. Presently, I have a proposal and manuscript making the rounds. (I flatter myself; they’re likely sitting unnoticed […]

There are times when I’m working on many projects at the same time and I feel like a mother with twenty children. I’m not complaining. I love writing novels with several different characters; it’s just that at times I wish my memory could hold up.
I am currently promoting my January release Taming Mariella and […]

I have a section in The Writer Behind the Words called Make Money Matter, but I couldn’t be as eloquent as this (warning: he uses foul language, for those of you who might find that offensive, but his message is important and clear):

Listen and learn. Treat your writing career as a business. Expect–don’t hope–to […]

My Interview
I had a lovely interview with Cindy LaFerle at Bookpleasures about The Writer Behind the Words: Steps to Success in the Writing Life. You can read it here.
About Fear
Last night I was watching The Big Idea on CNBC and the host was talking to musician Dave Navarro who’s played for Jane’s Addiction and The […]