In last week’s post, we considered some of the most helpful advice about writing. But, as I mentioned in that post, everyone is a critic,...

Someone once asked what pieces of advice have helped me most with my writing. After contemplating the question for a while, I think I’d...

It’s funny how smells can trigger various emotions and thoughts. You detect a certain odor, and your mind immediately flies to a memory...

Zinsser was born October 7, 1922. Following service in the Army in North Africa and Italy during World War II, he returned to the United...

My week started off with a measure of excitement for me. I was able to meet (in a virtual sort of way) an author whose works I’ve long...

No doubt, you’ve heard the adage “a jack of all trades, a master of none,” referring to someone who can do a lot of different things but...

One of my earliest childhood memories is of sitting on the couch beside my grandfather (we called him Pappaw) in his house while he...

To paraphrase a familiar adage, “A writer’s gotta do what a writer’s gotta do.” So I’m doing it. Because it has to be done sometime. No...

That said, I was reading for pleasure a few nights ago (an historical novel, no less!) when my editorial alarm went off like an air-raid...

Mathis, Jim. The Fourth Quarter (Overland Park, Kan.: Mathis Books, 2018). Paper, 102 pages. Available https://jim-mathis-writerjimmathis...

To fully appreciate what I’m saying, one must understand the backstory, realizing the change that took place in DMV over the years....

When my wife and I moved to our current residence, one of the first things that went on our “we-want-to-do-this-to-the-property-some-day”...

A writer’s work is never done, even during vacations. If a writer is not looking for ideas, then he or she is doing research, people...

But that painting, “Snap the Whip,” was more than a sanity-maintainer for me. It reminded me of three special people: my grandfather, my...

Sometimes great writers have some interesting advice and insights about the craft of writing (and many other topics). Here are a few...

A number of years ago, my wife and I were returning from a trip up north and were cruising along somewhere down I-75 in Ohio. We had a...

I recently completed an eight-part series answering the question “How does one go about getting a book published?” Some of my writer...

(Eighth and final in a series) Having gotten a workable idea, done the necessary research, outlined the manuscript, written the first...

(Seventh in a series) Once you’ve found several potential publishers for your book, it’s time to “pitch” it to them. By “pitch,” I mean...

(Sixth in a series) In the preceding five installments of this series, I’ve been answering the question of how one goes about getting a...