I’m leaving in a week to attend the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference, which is meeting in Anaheim, California this year. This will be my third conference and my second RWA National. So, why am I nervous? Oh yeah… I’m giving a workshop this time around. By myself. How did that happen? If you remember

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The Ultimate #RWA12 Conference Packing List

As I write this post (late) Monday night, I just returned home after the regional writing conference, Desert Dreams.  I had a great time, met wonderful people, attended thought-provoking workshops, and pitched for the first time (and the second time and the third time). I think the pitches went well.  I got requests and I

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What’s the Hardest “First Step” You’ve Taken?

I didn’t want to write this post.  I wanted to be stronger.  I wanted to be professional.  I wanted to hold this pain inside and not let my vulnerability show. If I can’t handle life’s combination of good and bad events without shattering, how will I survive the huge swings between excitement and disappointment involved

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How Do You Write Through Life’s Chaos?

When we think of pen names, we often consider the privacy or marketing aspects and assume that means using a name completely different from our real name, such as Samuel Clemens writing as Mark Twain.  But they can also address the need to make our names more distinctive and Google-able.

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Branding 101: To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name

Sometimes it still comes as a shock to me that anyone visits my blog and cares about what I have to say.  So when I received my first blog award, I was completely unprepared. My first thought was of being tremendously flattered.  I think my exact reaction was, Me? Seriously? That thought was quickly followed

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What Should We Do with Blog Awards?