Dog Days of Summer

Today's Tip: Sit your butt down in the chair and write. Every day. Something. I mean, I'm not working on my manuscript on Monday, because it's Marketing Monday and I do all my promo, scheduling, blogging, business upkeep and so on... But otherwise, write! Catherine Coulter says (in a very big voice for such a tiny woman) "I can fix a printed page, but I can't fix a blank one." So even if it's drivel, you can rewrite the next day and remember, some authors say the rewriting is the REAL writing and I tend to agree.

Insider Information: Want to get that fired up feeling you have after a writer's conference? Make sure you get to the booksellers reference books. Be selective and pick out what references for what you want to write. Some of the best are the Writer's Digest books. Make sure you include a book that inspires you to write. A great one is Walking On Alligators

A Day in the Writer's Life: Pant, pant, pant, er, I mean Hello Everyone,
This is the time of year I get the most writing done. Why? Because, friends, it's 100 degrees plus out there and the monsoon is threatening with huge clouds forming over the Superstition Mountains and every evening we get; a light show ranging from pretty colored flashes of every color that just flash from cloud bank to cloud bank to ominous crashes and forks of lightning that shake the pictures on the wall (remember I live on the mountainside), strike tall targets (sajuaros, trees, power lines, golfers with clubs pointed upward, horsemen and so on...gets ugly) and cause the dogs to bark and the horses to spook. Out this way we use strings of surge protectors by jingo. :-) So, the west stays wild out here even without the raiding Apache or gunfights.
How I started and you can too: Get a critique buddy. Just one to start with. Try to pick someone a little more advanced than you are and writes in the same genre. If that person doesn't resonate with you, trust your instincts and find another. Be sure not to burn any fences by being less than considerate of the critique buddy you're letting go. Or, if you have the time, keep both.
Humor: Sleeping writer rolls over in bed and murmurs "Brad."
Unfortunately, dear hubby's name is "Jake."
Understandably seething husband shakes tired author awake, "Who's this Brad you're calling to in your sleep?
Foggy author can always answer, "Hero of my newest work."
And then, baby, make it so. :-) For insider's tip on how to do this tune in next week!

Until next week, with a glass of iced tea in one hand and an editing pen in the other,

~~Susan