My Theme for 2024: CREATIVITY

Happy New Year, friends. I hope your 2024 is going as well as mine, and that you’ve got 365 days of goals and dreams and plans all lined up. More importantly, I hope you’re as excited about your goals and dreams and plans as I am about mine. The new year is a chance to...

What I Didn’t Expect as an Author when Working With a Publisher

It’s surreal when I stop to think about how long I’ve been writing books. Ten years. A decade! Wow. Ten years ago I sat down to write my first Highland historical romance to see what this whole Kindle Direct Publishing thing was all about. I determined that I would consider “success” to be earning back...

Making a Change for Self-Care: Why I Walked Away from Content Writing

Last week, I wrote a post called How My Wellness Journey Is Helping Me to Be a Better Writer. In it, I said that one of the things I have done as a part of my wellness journey was to give up the content writing side of my business. It’s odd to think of this...

How My Wellness Journey is Helping Me Be a Better Writer

At the end of June I took a huge leap. I did something for myself that I have always wanted to do but which, until now, I’ve assumed was out of my reach. It’s silly when I think about the reasons why I thought this. For one, I was scared, even though I’ve been assured...

My New Favourite Podcast: The S#!T No One Tells You About Writing

I’ve mentioned before on my blog that one of the things I love to do in the middle of the day to keep my mind fresh is take my dog for a walk. This much-needed “me time” is my opportunity to shut my brain off for a bit, to get outside of my head and...

How I Move My Plot Points from A to B in My Fiction Novels

Are you a planner when it comes to writing, or do you fly by the seat of your pants? I’ve asked this question on social media a few times before, and the verdict seems to be about half-and-half. But that’s understandable—we authors are as diverse in our processes as we are in our books. What...

Writing Outdoors in Spring – How I Refresh my Inspiration in this Refreshing New Season

I don’t know about you, but this winter has felt unaccountably long. Being a Canadian girl, I’m a huge fan of winter. I love everything about it - the outdoor sports, the snowfall, the breathtaking landscapes... I even love the early sunsets and the long, dark nights. So for me to admit that I’d grown...

The Systems I’ve Developed that Keep Me Writing

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Those are the words of author James Clear in his best-selling book Atomic Habits—which, by the way, I happen to be currently reading. So this post was not inspired by a Google search for awesome motivational quotes...

Why My Epic Fail Does Not Make Me a Failure

One of the things I love to do in my writing day is take a lunchtime break to walk the dog and listen to a podcast. Recently, on one of the regular podcasts I listen to, author and entrepreneur Jennifer Cohen was being featured, and she said something that made me stop in my tracks....

Being a Self-Employed Entrepreneur – How I Use My Favourite Tools and Apps to Stay Productive as a Writer

As all my fellow writers know, being an author means being a self-employed entrepreneur. It’s a wonderful thing to work for yourself. To have no one to answer to but you, to create your own schedule, determine your own tasks and objectives, and to work your own hours. But critically, being a self-employed entrepreneur means...