Published on January 8, 2003
I recently moved into a new apartment and was working on my electronic equipment budget when it struck me that my freelance work had appreciated in value in the past 12 months. After drawing up a list of items I need to buy, I worked on finding the money required. A profile sold to Bona magazine would pay for the new video machine, while a career article sold to Cosmopolitan would pay for the microwave oven. A personal essay on single parenting would replace my old washing machine. The realization that each piece I write could potentially buy me a brand new piece of furniture was exhilarating.
Published on January 8, 2003
It’s that time of year again. With brand-new calendars and the joy of writing “2003” on our checks, we set writing goals for the year. Let’s see, “This year, I will actually finish the novel I started each of the last five years,” or maybe “This year I will send at least ten queries every […]
Published on January 2, 2003
Don’t miss MJ Rose’s new class, Start Your Novel Today!, now available at WritersWeekly.com. Don’t miss this fun, interactive class! Let MJ Rose show you how to start your novel today! See: This article may be freely reprinted/redistributed as long as the entire article and bio are included. Once upon a time authors did not […]
Published on December 26, 2002
Sometimes a story just knocks on the door and invites itself in. That’s the way it was with my time-travel novel, Souleiado. It wasn’t the first novel I’d ever written: that distinction went to Houdini, a young-adult novel about a stray cat who makes good and whom late writer and activist Cleveland Amory was kind enough to call ” a sweet, loyal soul. And a brave one, to boot” when he read it. No, Souleiado was the novel that demanded to be written — the one that was born out of the grief and loneliness that followed my husband Tim’s death in a car accident.
Published on December 18, 2002
writing career advice
DAY TWO – Your Master List What should writers do? With so many ideas floating around in their minds, it’s impossible to keep them all organized, right? Maybe not. Today we’ll take a major organizing leap, and create a cheat sheet of the types of information you use. The Master List, your organizing bible, drives […]
Published on December 11, 2002
“You should write children’s books,” suggested my mother.
Published on December 11, 2002
A recognizable trademark is one of a company’s most valuable assets. We may not always know the name of the company behind a product, but we’re familiar with Alpo dog food, Campbell’s soup, Chiquita bananas, Smucker’s jam, and thousands of others. Several generations of children have grown up singing the Oscar Mayer weiner jingle. Writers […]
Published on December 4, 2002
My first novel recently hit the bookstore shelves. Marie, The Lobster Queen is really not my book, but a book ghostwritten by me for a client who wanted to write her memoirs. She did, however, give me a Ghostwritten by on the inside pages.
Published on December 4, 2002
As we all deck the halls, light the Menorah or Kinara, or simply stare in awe at snowflakes prancing through the air, it’s the perfect time to start keeping a list of memorable holiday moments that will make great articles in print next year. Pull out a small notebook and keep a journal of each holiday happening. Just a few moments of reflection and note-taking at bedtime will provide you with plenty of material! Then, in January, review what you’ve written and start composing queries.
Published on November 27, 2002
Like many writers I was outraged back when Moxie editor Emily Hancock began demanding a $10 reading fee with all submissions. I fired off rants to editors, made a crude voodoo doll in what I imagined to be in Emily Hancock’s likeness, and stuck pins between its eyes, in the back of its head, and, […]
