blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Whether your table is small and spare or large and abundant…
Whether your dreams were thwarted or realized this year…
Whether you have found, are still looking, or have said goodbye to the love of your …
Breathing Room
People’s tastes in homes are as widely varied as their tastes in hairstyles. Both change with trends, seasons, and waves of creativity.
I’ve been watching home improvement and renovation shows from England, Scotland, Ireland, and France recently. Research? What …
Hooks for Books
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Sounds a little Seussian, doesn’t it? Hooks for books and books on hooks and looks at hooks that hook the books.
It’s no surprise that a book needs a hook. We navigate much of our lives with …
Marketing and Madness
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Marketing or madness? They don’t have to be synonymous.
Did I ever tell you about the high-pressure fudge salesman who accosted my daughter and me with marketing gone mad? One would not think high-pressure and fudge would …
When An Agent Doesn’t Reply
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
When an agent doesn’t reply to your query, proposal, burning question, or manuscript submission, is it because she/he doesn’t care?
Admittedly, sometimes writers–whether aspiring or veteran–choose the default answer, “Yes! That must be it! I’m not important …
It’s a Flexible Life
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Contrary to popular belief, the writer’s theme song is not “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Not that it isn’t wonderful. So much of what we do–musing, creating, building story worlds, research, interviews, developing characters, or finding ways to …
Before You Hit SEND
You’ve worked on your book proposal/manuscript for twelve weeks/months/years. An editor or agent you met at a writers conference last week/last year/eleven years ago invited you to send it when it was ready.
Is it? How can a writer know …
Top Ten Ways to Declutter Your Writer Brain
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Are these THE Top Ten ways to declutter your writer brain? More accurately, they are a few of the ways. But that would have made the title too long and not great for search engine optimization. (SEO–We …
All the Good Worry Accomplishes
blogger: Cynthia Ruchti
Image courtesy of Pixabay
Let’s face it. Authors are not immune to worry. It’s natural. Except for the completely confident or the delusional, writers worry that their words won’t matter, that no publisher will want them, that …
Promised Yourself Last Summer
We’re on the cusp of another summer. In parts of our country, that means the grills are being uncovered after a long winter’s hiatus. In other parts, the grills are being pulled back under the pergola for a little …