With a name like #cockygate, it’s no surprise that the recent trademark brouhaha would elicit some snickers, and some are far too quick to dismiss the situation. But the reasons behind the trademark—as well as what results from the legal battle—affect us all.

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Why Every Author—and Reader—Should Care about #Cockygate

A crazy story erupted on social media with the hashtag #cockygate involving authors, Amazon KDP, and trademark law. One author is attempting to prevent others from using a word in their book titles, as she mistakenly thinks our book titles are our brands.

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Branding: The Right Way vs. the Wrong Way

In gearing up for the release of Pure Sacrifice, one frustrating experience was beyond my control. I’ve mentioned before that we should avoid assumptions about our characters, so I waited until I heard a voice that resonated and knew my paranormal character for this book wouldn’t be white skinned. Great! Except…

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Shining a Light on Diversity Issues

Many large, life-changing events can scare us—even terrify us. We might think, “It’s a good thing I didn’t know how hard it would be, or I might not have done it.” Sometimes writing or publishing can be terrifying, yet we have to move past our fears.

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What Scares You about Writing or Publishing?

Every month or so, there’s an author or blogger or journalist making news by putting romance stories down. “They give women unrealistic expectations!” they say. Right. Are they unrealistic because romances end with love and a Happily Ever After? Or do the naysayers think true love isn’t possible or that it isn’t powerful enough to conquer and overcome obstacles? That’s just sad.

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Is “Love Conquers All” Realistic?

One of the RWA workshops I most looked forward to was Courtney Milan’s “Slow Writer’s Guide to Making a Living” presentation. Judging by the crowd, a lot of writers struggle with the pressure to write faster and the worry that our slowness will prevent us from reaching our goals.

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Lessons from RWA14: Help for Slow Writers

Last time, I mentioned how stories—the good ones anyway—avoid the boring parts of the journey by jumping into the action.  Today’s post continues that “skip to the good parts” theme to talk about settings. Setting is the sense of time, place, and mood within a story.  Descriptions create a world within the mind of a

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Banish the Boring Parts