2017 Reading List

Earlier this month, I got into a testy professional conversation with an online colleague who was bemoaning how colleges/universities are no longer permitted to teach the dead white guy literary canon because diversity, or something equally stupid. It pissed me off. Not only is that claim patently untrue, but it also denigrates the many brilliant writers who don’t happen to be white males...
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Searching for Shemar

For the last week or so, I’ve been working alongside my fellow Amalfi Nights authors to design the covers for the series. The fabulous team at Tule Publishing consistently produces gorgeous covers, so I wasn’t worried about the final result. The process has proved to be quite interesting. Lots goes into an appealing cover design: typefaces, positioning, size, arrangement, color...
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RWA National: So You’ve Written a Book – What’s Next?

In this session, authors Jennifer Blackwood, Brenda St. John Brown, Chanel Cleeton, Megan Erickson, AJ Pine, and Lia Riley discussed ways to increase and enhance their online profiles through social media.  I was taking notes as fast as I could, so I’ll just clean them up a bit. TWITTER Create a profile for author you, interact as author self. Streamline everything. Make banners, etc. that...
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RWA National: Finding Your Voice and Making It Yours

Friends and critique partners Jeannie Lin and Bria Quinlan led this session on identifying the elements of your writer voice and how to develop it. True voice is unique to each writer; you know you’ve found your distinctive voice when people either love it or hate it. Consider the following non-romance authors John Grisham, Jon Krakauer, and Stephen King—there’s no way you would...
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RWA National: Putting the Real You into Your Author Brand

Kaira Rouda has spent most of her professional career in business, marketing, and advertising. The founder of the real estate magazine Real Living, she considers herself a woman entrepreneur, especially now that she’s a full-time writer. She has published four titles with Tule Publishing, with more in the pipeline. In this workshop, Kaira focused on the principles found in her...
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