July 9, 2020
Indie publishing (also known as self-publishing) has been around for quite a long time, and with the introduction of ebooks and print-on-demand, it is a legitimate and growing industry. Being an indie means wearing a lot of hats and shifting among different roles, all necessary to the overall job of being an authorprenuer. Last month, we talking about things to…
June 11, 2020
Indie publishing (also known as self-publishing) has been around for quite a long time, and with the introduction of ebooks and print-on-demand, it is a legitimate and growing industry. Here at Speculative Chic, we’ve featured a number of indie authors, both as guests and on our list of regular contributors, so we thought we’d give some information on how it…
March 20, 2020
The Odyssey Writing Workshop is a six-week course that takes place every summer on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. Like many contributors at Speculative Chic, I had the privilege of attending, and I graduated in 2005 with today’s guest writer, Scott H. Andrews, the World Fantasy Award-winning editor of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. You may recognize Scott’s…
February 8, 2019
Have you ever wanted to take a vacation from life itself and spend six weeks doing nothing but writing? Do you write fantasy, science fiction, horror, or something in between? The Odyssey Writing Workshop allows you to do just that, and the application for the 2019 workshop is April 1st (no, that’s not an April Fool’s Day joke). Why apply?…
November 23, 2018
If you’re in the United States, you may be braving the crowds to get a start on your holiday shopping. Or you may be curled up at home and recovering from yesterday’s feasting. If you’re a writer, you may find yourself at a computer and trying your best to put what you see in your head on paper. If so,…
July 21, 2017
Editing! I’ve lost count of the number of writers who have said they loathe the editing process. I have a feeling a lot of this dislike for editing comes from our Inner Saboteur who continually ridicules us for not having perfect first drafts, convincing us that real writers don’t edit. Well, I hate to break it to you, but every…
July 7, 2017
Dear Sherry, I’m a relatively experienced writer, and I’m on the downward slope of my planned book series. But there’s always room for new problems with such an expansive project. Now, I feel like I’ve run out of the “easy” ideas. I still love my characters, and I still love my world, but I know that I need to keep…
January 20, 2017
Welcome to Coach’s Corner, where I offer some thoughts on the creative process and breaking through moments of self-doubt. One of the things I do with my coaching clients is make sure that they set achievable goals for themselves. Many factors need to be considered, especially making sure whatever physical, emotional, and psychological roadblocks that come up can be dealt with.…
November 4, 2016
Dear Sherry, I want to be a writer. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I’m writing short stories and thinking about submitting them, but I’m worried they’re not good enough. I’m worried that I’m not good enough. I haven’t taken any classes or workshops, and I don’t have a degree in creative writing like you do. Shouldn’t I have…
October 28, 2016
Welcome to Coach’s Corner, where I offer some thoughts on the creative process and breaking through moments of self-doubt. One of the most common complaints I hear from writers is that after a few years of developing their skills, they’ve lost the ability to sit down and enjoy a book. It is an inevitable consequence of growing in the craft, and…