Apr 26, 2019 | Reading, Storytelling
A short story teaches us to turn the world just a little on the side so we can see our regular lives in a new way, and the brevity of the form forces us to pay attention to every detail. The stories you tell offer your readers a message. You’re letting them know what...
Apr 19, 2019 | The Business of Writing
Karen Hugg connected with Leigh during a #bookmarketingchat Leigh co-hosted with Rachel Thompson, a social media and author marketing/branding consultant. Karen had been looking for a writing coach to help her get organized and figure out her priorities. After an...
Apr 5, 2019 | Craft, Novel writing
What inspires you to create a new character? Ideas, images, conversations we hear bring new characters of all genres to life Tayari Jones overheard an intimate moment between a man and a woman at Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall. The woman asked the man if he’d have waited...
Mar 22, 2019 | Failure and Rejection, Inspiration, Writing
Confidence is an interesting phenomenon. You can have 99 positive interactions or good things happen, but all it takes is one piece of negative feedback and suddenly you’re a terrible writer/parent/person. Deep down, you know that’s not true, but it can be really hard...
Mar 15, 2019 | Pitching, The Business of Writing
Rejection sucks, and the fear of rejection is what keeps so many of us from pitching publications with our ideas. When you cold pitch an editor, you will be rejected 80% of the time, which means the rejection has nothing to do with you. There are many reasons an...