Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge: Evil Spam

This is a weird one. We are to write: A horror story framed as a spam email. Right? Take that assignment, run with it as you see fit. How scary can you make a spam mail? That’s the challenge. I’d keep it to the shorter side — 500 words...

Book Review: Angeli, The Pirate, The Angel and the Irishman

I was given a book to review, so here goes: Angeli – The Pirate, the Angel & the Irishman by Amy Vansant My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was given a free copy by the author in exchange for an honest review. If it were possible I would...

Blogging for Writers: 5 (Sneaky) Places to Get Traffic for Your Blog

You’ve got a problem. Oh, you’ve ignored the problem. You tried to tell yourself the problem isn’t such a big deal. You’ve buried yourself in your Facebook page because at least you have friends there.But the problem remains. You have little traffic on your writer’s blog. Welcome to the...

Flash Story Challenge: Tripping the Black

Chuck Wendig’s flash fiction challenge is to incorporate a color into the title of the story. Word count limit, one thousand words. Mine came in at nine hundred eighty-six words. Tripping the Black Ariel took the passenger’s small carry on and stowed it in the overhead compartment. She had...

The Writer’s Life: Depression and Creative People

It’s scary isn’t it? A famous creative person faces that dark part of him or her self and loses the battle. And the media in its collective hive mind wisdom trots out this line: Celebrity Loses Battle With Depression. It’s such a common media trope it’s just expected we’ll...

The Writer’s Craft: Do You Need A Blog?

I recently read a blog post by an editor and writer who said that writers don’t need a blog. She advised that the time spent on blogging could be best spent writing. Yes, I said that correctly. I read this on her blog. Her previous entry was about building...

The Writer’s Craft: Do You Need A Blog?

I recently read a blog post by an editor and writer who said that writers don’t need a blog. She advised that the time spent on blogging could be best spent writing. Yes, I said that correctly. I read this on her blog. Her previous entry was about building...

Flash Fiction Challenge: A Creepy Picture

The diabolical Chuck Wendig chose the picture for the newest cover of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as the inspiration for his latest flash fiction challenge. Yes, I agree it is creepy, worthy of inspiration. The challenge: one thousand word based on the picture. I’m not quite the horror...

The Comeback of Serial Fiction

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Do you remember Buck Rogers? Not the campy television show, but the shorts that used to come on in the movies before the main show? Okay, I’m dating myself here, even thought by the time I got to see...

5 Things to Do To Improve Your SEO and Site Traffic

  Recently, at their request, I analyzed the SEO of a non-profit’s website. Looking at what people did wrong reminded me of the things we need to do right to promote our blogs. I considered writing “Ten Things to Do to Improve Your Blog Traffic,” but I’ve noticed some...