Category: Blog

Paths to ease grief and loss after suicide are different for every survivor, yet all paths have the same elements in common. Survivors cope with shock, guilt, and anger. They also experience feelings of rejection, stigma, and shame. A Harvard study states that “…a loss through suicide is like no other, and grieving can be especially complex and traumatic.” It has been over forty years since I wrote a novel in which the widow of a man who took his life writes to him every night. She waits until their two young children are in bed. Then she writes. Her name is Jenny Weaver. She is so lonely it hurts. She impulsively moves from the Northeast to California a year after his death, and she has made only one friend. She doesn’t belong to a support group. She’s finding it difficult being a single mother. And she doesn’t want anyone … Read more …Widow Writes to Cope with Grief After Suicide

In today’s literary climate, it is difficult to imagine Harper Lee successfully pitching “To Kill a Mockingbird” to an agent at a writers’ conference. Although the characters in her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel—Atticus Finch and his children, Jem and Scout, and their neighbor Boo Radley–have become part of our literary lexicon, she would stand a slim chance at finding an agent who would champion her book. If Harper Lee had written “To Kill a Mockingbird” within the past fifteen years, she would be in the same position that thousands of aspiring writers are in now. They are finding it increasingly difficult to get literary agents to represent them. As the number of authors seeking agents continues to grow, more of them are attending writers’ conferences that have pitching sessions. They hope they’ll win an agent by describing their unpublished manuscripts face-to-face because the query letters they’ve been sending have failed. Most … Read more …Imagine Harper Lee Pitching “To Kill a Mockingbird”

If I hadn’t been ignored in the welfare office, I might not have written the novel SARA BAREFIELD. Sara Barefield’s situation as a mother trapped in the welfare system is so real to the people who have read the novel that I have been asked questions I hope to answer here. I wasn’t a social worker; nor did I know a single mother like Sara. And I have been blessed in that I have never been on welfare or have had the need to apply for food stamps. I got the idea for SARA BAREFIELD while working as a volunteer in a women’s center. A single woman in her mid-thirties came in for a counseling session; she wanted to go to college to study art history. When I told her that I didn’t know of any aid she could receive other than a Pell grant, she became quite upset. She … Read more …I Was Ignored in the Welfare Office

To get the most out of a writing conference depends on the reason you are considering attending one. Before you commit your time and money it is essential to choose a conference that meets your needs and interests. Questions You Should Ask Do you need and/or want help with a manuscript? How much one-to-one help do you expect? Do you hope to learn from writers whose work you respect?
 Are you self-published and seeking marketing advice? Are you looking for a literary agent to represent you? A writers’ conference might have a lofty reputation, but if it doesn’t offer what you are looking for, it is likely that it won’t be worth the cost. If it meets your criteria, you’ll have a positive experience and feel that you made a good investment in your career. Manuscripts Conferences that offer individual manuscript critiques charge extra for them. They also set specific … Read more …To Get the Most Out of a Writing Conference: A Guide

It is a fair question to ask if creative writers’ conferences are an investment or a waste of money. Some aspiring writers consider going to a writers’ conference as an investment in their careers. But no one wants to waste money attending a conference that isn’t likely to deliver what they’re looking for. Writers’ Conferences: A Growth Industry Creative writing conferences are thriving from coast to coast, from the Yale Writers’ Conference in New Haven to the San Francisco Writers’ Conference. There are conferences for every genre from science fiction to romances to thrillers. Many of the thousands of aspiring writers who are attending writers’ conferences are looking for more than creative writing workshops and advice on marketing. They are spending hundreds of dollars, in some cases thousands—Bread Loaf charges over $4,200 for ten days, which doesn’t include travel–in the desperate hope they will connect with a literary agent who … Read more …WRITERS’ CONFERENCES: AN INVESTMENT OR WASTE OF MONEY