Let's talk about something sensitive. There's a question I kept circling back to while writing. Not one that stopped me, but one that sat quietly in the background, waiting to be answered: Do I have the right to tell this story? My main character is a boy. He's the protagonist of Kingdom: Song of Silence, my fantasy novel in progress. He's in love with his best friend, who is also a boy. And I am neither of those things. I kept writing anyway, because the story was already mo

You have a full-time job. Or school. Or kids. Or all three, because apparently some of us like a challenge. You also have a story living rent-free in your head, a cast of characters who will not stop talking, and approximately zero uninterrupted hours to do anything about it. I get it. I have a demanding full-time job that has, on more than one occasion, kept me chained to my desk until midnight. I have a family. I have a life that does not pause to accommodate my creative ne

(Without Losing My Mind) Let me be honest with you. For a long time, "building a platform" was the thing I knew I was supposed to be doing and absolutely was not doing. I had a Facebook. I posted occasionally. Sometimes I'd share something writing-related and then disappear for three weeks because life — specifically my very demanding full-time job — had other plans for me. I told myself I'd get serious about it later. When the book was done. When I had more time. When Mercur

(And Why "Pantsing" Was Slowly Killing Me) Let me paint you a picture. It's a quiet Tuesday. Work is light. I have the whole morning ahead of me. I open my document, stare at chapter two for forty-five minutes, close the document, and spend the next hour reorganizing my desk instead. Sound familiar? Here's what I thought my problem was: I needed more time. More quiet. More inspiration. More of whatever magical ingredient everyone else seemed to have that I clearly did not. He

I finally fixed my writer's block. And what I learned was that I wasn't lacking in motivation, time, desire, or energy (as I previously believed). What I was actually lacking was organization. In ALL aspects of my life. I used to tell myself: I'll finish Chapter 2 this week. I'll write in the morning when I have the most brain power. The week is pretty busy, but I'll slip in some writing at some point. I'm working from home on this day, so things will be quiet enough to write