by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
Last weekend, I went to my annual writing retreat with my fellow Sisters in Crime. It was my third retreat and, as always, great fun. Our weekend instructor was Tim Esaias, and he provided not only tons of useful information, but made me laugh so hard Saturday night that my sides hurt. And he let me help with an impromptu self-defense demo Sunday morning, which is always fun. Continue reading “Growing and stretching”
The Time has Come
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
By george, I think I’ve got it.
If you’ve been following me on Facebook or Twitter, you know that I’ve had random, episodic scenes coming to me for, oh, the last month or so. The story has, I think, finally come to together.
It is time to move Jim Duncan and Sally Castle from the world of short fiction to the novel. My main project for October will be plotting and writing the synopsis/summary for the first Laurel Highlands Mysteries novel, tentatively titled Every Other Monday is Murder. Continue reading “The Time has Come”
The Value of an Editor
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
Apologies for the late posting today. I was going to write about JK Rowling, but something has trumped that post.
Some writers don’t like editors. They think that, somehow, letting an editor in messes with the “purity” of their story, as if the editor’s goal is to rip everything to shreds and rewrite it to fit their (the editor’s) own vision of the story. Or if they want an “edit,” they only want a copy edit. Go find all the typos and leave the rest alone, lest you mar my beautiful creation. Continue reading “The Value of an Editor”
Goals for 2013: Update
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
So, a while ago, I posted about my writing goals for 2013. I figured I’d give an update. Continue reading “Goals for 2013: Update”The Difference of a Year
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
I was going through my email last week, looking for something, when I stumbled on a couple of messages I’ve kept around for encouragement. They were sent after a workshop I attended in early March of last year. It was a pretty rough experience and left me doubting my ability to cut it as a writer. Continue reading “The Difference of a Year”
When Writing Goes Bad
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
Confession: My husband and I watch Merlin, that BBC remake based loosely on Arthurian legend (and I do mean loosely). Continue reading “When Writing Goes Bad”
Goal Setting 101
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
I recently attended a webinar with author James Scott Bell about how to make a living selling ebooks (something near and dear to my heart, of course). As I listened, it reinforced something that I think a lot of authors overlook. Continue reading “Goal Setting 101”
Turning a Writing Corner
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
I’ve always been kind of happy that I can watch TV shows without descending into writing nitpicks. I mean, sometimes you just want to watch a show without obsessing about the details, right? Continue reading “Turning a Writing Corner”
Bits and Bobs
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
So, I’m looking at the date of my last post, and it was 30 August. That’s a few weeks ago. My only excuse is that I’ve started a new day job and that leaves me with less time for writing and it’s associated tasks. Mea culpa. I’ll try to be better, but no promises. Continue reading “Bits and Bobs”
Scrivener, Two Months Later
by Mary Sutton / @mary_sutton73
Back in June, I published several posts on my experience with Scrivener (here, here, here, and here). At that time, I was still in my trial period phase with Scrivener and mostly I had imported a small project and done some tinkering. Continue reading “Scrivener, Two Months Later”