The children of those early settlers either established farms (often quite large ones), towns, and cities or pressed further west to do...

Time for serendipity during journeys is always good. Sometimes one experiences some of the best things during serendipitous,...

My article on the South Carolina peach industry is featured in the June-July 2019 issue of Smoky Mountain Living for anyone who is...

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...

(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...

[The fifth in a series.] Congratulations! You’ve finished writing your rough draft. Now what? Ship (or e-mail) it to a publisher? Whoa!...

[The fourth in a series.] At some point in our research for our book idea, we must decided that we have gathered enough (or, more likely,...

https://write2ignite.com/2019/04/08/combat/ #writing #writers #books #publishing #bookprogress

[The first in a series.] The first step in the publication of my books was to come up with an idea in which I had a sustained interest,...

In this initial installment, I want simply to reveal the individual steps I took in the publication of my books. (Bear in mind that I am...

Just when I had about concluded that true chivalry was dead, I saw the living embodiment of that very quality. It wasn’t exhibited by...

But there’s a different way of looking at that adage that, if followed, can actually help us accomplish more and avoid many of the...

Recently, during one of the brief lulls between ten straight days of rain showers when the sun was making a brief appearance, I was...

Ironically, I’m a doubter, especially about myself and my own abilities, so I have to constantly remind myself of the attitude expressed...

One of the most-often stated maxims of writing instruction is “Show, don’t tell.” For example, instead of telling me that a particular...