When You Don't Feel Like Writing Use These 6 Ways to Get Started

by Lynette Eason @LYNETTEEASON

What do you do when you don’t feel like writing? Gasp! Not feel like writing? Is that even a real feeling?

Um…yes. Unfortunately, it happens. At least to me. Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do. I adore my job and the flexibility it affords me. Believe me, I don’t take it for granted. But I don’t wake up EVERY SINGLE day thinking, “Oh boy! I’m just so excited, I can’t wait to hit the keyboard!” 

Writing Tips from Bestselling Writers

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

We all have our revered and treasured writers who never fail to bring us exciting and quality reads. Let’s look at a few bestselling writers’ favorite writing tip(s) in alphabetical order.

Lynette Eason's Aspiring Romantic-suspense Network

Edie here. Lynette is a very close friend of mine, but beyond that she's a genius when it comes to mentoring others in the world of writing. So when she told me about this program she was starting, I insisted she write me a post so I could share the opportunity with you all!  

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Hi Friends, thanks for letting me stop in today and share something I’m kind of excited about. I’ve been thinking long and hard about developing a program that helps writers grow in the craft of writing romantic suspense. As you know, no matter where you are on your journey to publication, writing is HARD. It can often be lonely. And, often, you just don’t know what you don’t know. As a result, I’ve developed the LEARN Program.

Lynette Eason’s Aspiring Romantic-suspense Network 

(My hubby came up with that and I liked it! J)

Infusing the Characters We Write With the Strength To Live Well

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

This weekend, I was fortunate to be able to celebrate two lives that were obviously well lived.

On Saturday, my family went to the visitation of the 93-year-old mother of a friend of mine. Her obituary, told how she had grown up during the depression, had a career working for various federal departments, and, upon her retirement at 62, took up competitive swimming and continued swimming throughout her eighties. (See this link for my take on obituaries.) Every time I met her, she had a big, beautiful smile and wanted to talk about my family and me.

The Question of Becoming a Hybrid Author

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Indie, traditional, or hybrid? That is the question…

…a lot of writer ask themselves.

I’ve been published traditionally for the past ten years and I absolutely love that fact. 

Our Writing Contains the Fingerprints of God

Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Hi all, Happy Thursday. Hope everyone is doing well and making progress on whatever you’re working on this week. 

When I was wondering what in the world I might blog about today, I thought about God’s fingerprints.

I’ve been writing pretty steady since about 1999. I was published in 2007. Since then I’ve written thirty some odd books. That’s a lot of writing if you stop to think about it. LOL.

Street Teams for Book Launches

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

Today's post is a little bit different. 

I'm not coming to you as an expert, but as someone who's just a few steps ahead (or possibly behind) you. 

You see, I'm in the process of putting together my first ever street team for my upcoming book, While My Child is Away. 

Instead of waiting until I was done, I thought I'd invite you along for the journey.

What is a Street Team?
I've had to rely heavily on my more experienced writing buddies, DiAnn Mills and Lynette Eason, as well as the marketing group at Worthy Inspired, to learn what exactly a street team is. 

6 Ways to Manage Writing Time & Encourage Creativity

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

At what point do you have to step back and say, “No, I’m sorry, I simply can’t add one more thing to my calendar?” 

Truth is, I’m still trying to figure that one out. Christmas 2015 came and went in a blur. Then the month of January somehow passed me by. And now February is doing the same! 

As a writer, I can very easily spend all of my time in front of the computer. During the school day, I typically have from about 8:00AM – 3:30PM (and sometimes longer if everyone is working or hanging out with friends) to write without interruption. Time that I’m not doing something for my children or husband, etc., can be gone in the blink of an eye by the time I look up from my laptop. And while it’s productive (MOST of the time) writing wise, it’s not always productive “healthy” wise.

Book Signings - the Benefits Beyond Book Sales

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Hi everyone, I wanted to take a moment to introduce a friend of mine to you. I met Wanda at an ACFW conference one year. We shared a table at a book signing at the Mall of America in Minnesota one year. They seated us alphabetically…but that was great. I’d never met Wanda before and we had a good chance to get to know one another a bit. I asked her share a bit with us about her new release. And if you like suspense I know you’re going to LOVE it!

But first, since the subject of book signings has come up, I thought I’d talk a little bit them. Frankly, I have a love/hate relationship with them. LOL. I’ve had quite a few signings and there are things you can do to make them “successful”. Well how do you judge whether or not you have had a successful signing. Guess that depends on your definition of the word success. Let me give you a couple of examples.

Writing Motive

Hi Everyone, Lynette here to say Happy Wednesday once again. And it’s March, too. HOW did that happen? Is time passing as fast for you as it is for me? Goodness, Christmas will be here before we know it. LOL.

Well, I have a real treat for you today. Since I’ve been working like crazy, I asked a friend if she’d like to step in and offer some excellent writing advice. Advice that I’ve taken note of and plan to incorporate into my own writing. Read on, friends, I think you’ll like what Kristen has to say. So let me introduce her.

Kristin Billerbeck is a CBA bestselling novelist of over 40 books, Her work has been featured in The New York Times, World Magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and on "The Today Show." Her love of romance and wit began with an awkward childhood crush on Mr. Darcy, which continues to this day.  She makes her home in Silicon Valley.

When We Don’t Feel Like Writing

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason 

What do you do when you don’t feel like writing? Gasp! Not feel like writing? Is that even a real feeling?

Um…yes. Unfortunately, it happens. At least to me. Don’t get me wrong. I love what I do. I adore my job and the flexibility it affords me. Believe me, I don’t take it for granted. But I don’t wake up EVERY SINGLE day thinking, “Oh boy! I’m just so excited, I can’t wait to hit the keyboard!”

For those of you who do this, we are not friends and you can go away.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

Writing Conferences – big or small? Pros and Cons?

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Which conference is right for you?

I don't know about y'all, but I get excited about conferences. I loved attending them as a pre-published author, seeking to acquire every scrap of information possible about my passion: writing!

If you've never been to a conference, I want to encourage you to go! Yes, I know that they're expensive. At least some of them are, but starting small, with a quality local conference could possibly the right decision for you.

A New Year, A New Story?

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

How do you keep your writing fresh and the ideas flowing?

So…it’s now January 7^th. That means we’ve just begun a new year. Have you made your resolutions? Do you even bother? I definitely have some things I’d like to accomplish this year, but instead of making them resolutions, I’ve decided to just pray about it. LOL.

Life has taken a new turn for my family. I quit the day job—yes, the one that had the benefits—and am now homeschooling my son and am back to writing full time.  Which also means I’m looking ahead to the next twelve months.  Which means I need lots and lots of material! LOL. So where am I going to find it?

Want me to share a secret? You want to know where I get a lot of my ideas?

The Fast Track to Getting Published—A New Conference for Writers

There are myriad educational conferences available to writers of all experience levels. And most are good. But which is the best for you?

While many conferences offer a great number of expert teachers, they most often have a large number of attendees. This type presents at least two major challenges. First, with many class offerings, you can find yourself running from class to class and feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Second, class sizes are usually large, making it difficult, if not impossible for you to spend any individual time with teachers. Yet, they usually offer the most bang for your buck.

There are smaller conferences with a limited number of attendees. These are better for someone seeking a greater opportunity for personalized guidance. However, many of these conferences come with a high price tag.

My own experience taught me that the situation is one that offers a low student to teacher ratio. This gives you the best of both conference types. It allows you to learn from an expert faculty and affords ample opportunities to discuss your individual needs. And I’ve learned of just such a conference.

It’s called Weekend with The Writers, and takes place in Greenville, South Carolina on March 20-21. 

Should a Writer Stick to only One Genre or Not?

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason 

I thought I’d blog about a topic near and dear to my heart. As you may know, I write Romantic Suspense (RS) stories. I started writing in the RS genre because that’s what I love to read. I love suspense and I love romance. When you put it together…wow! LOL. So, yeah. But I have to say, I love other genres too. I really enjoy a good historical—especially if it has a thread of suspense in it. And I like Women’s Contemporary—especially if it has a thread of suspense in it.

Okay, okay…you get it. Ha.

The Writer's Life—Distractions

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

What is your distraction?

I don’t know about y’all, but two weeks sure does pass by fast for me. It gets me thinking how fast my kids are growing up, how fast that deadline arrives, how fast that opportunity came and left. Lately I’ve been thinking about time. How am I spending it? What are the results of how I’m using my time? We often talk about being good stewards of our money, but what kind of steward are we with the time the Lord has allotted for us? Yes, I’m preaching to the choir. LOL

Anyway, I know that I tend to take on more than I can handle sometimes. And sometimes the things that I say yes to might be GOOD things, but that doesn’t mean they’re the RIGHT things for me. Sometimes they become a distraction from the purpose I’ve been called to fulfill.

Will You Be My Mentor?

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

Okay, so maybe the title’s a bit cheesy. But I was looking for a children’s story that some of my students could watch being signed in ASL (American Sign Language) and came across “Are you my mother?” Hence the title.

Ahem…Moving right along…

So, this past week at ACFW, I was a finalist for Mentor of the Year. I was blown away when I got the email telling me someone had nominated me. Why? Because I don’t formally mentor anyone. 

Brainstorming for Writers—Use Social Media to Get Unstuck

by Lynette Eason @LynetteEason

So…what do you think about brainstorming? Do you do it? Do you enjoy it? Or are you afraid someone will steal your story idea? Or do you simply prefer working alone?

I have to say I’m a mixture. LOL. I love to work alone most of the time, but there are brief moments when I come out of my writing “cave” and love to brainstorm. The problem is I’m much better at brainstorming someone else’s story than I am my own. LOL. I don’t usually get “Writers block”, but sometimes when I’m first fleshing out a story, I love to get a bunch of ideas and thoughts to wade through.

My Writing Process

by +LynetteEason  @LynetteEason

When Edie asked me to post on her blog, my mind went blank. I was like, “Um…so what do I write about?”

Edie: “Writing?”

Me: “Oh, that. I can probably do that.”

Edie: “Yeah, I figured you might be able to.”

So, here I am, writing about the topic of writing. The problem with THAT is choosing a subtopic. LOL.

So here it goes.

I get asked all the time, “How do you plot your stories? Where do you get your ideas? Why did you choose that theme for that book? Why did your character do such and so?”

Those kinds of questions make me stop and think because my first response is that I have no idea.

But when I stopped to think about it, at this point in my career, I kind of do have an idea.

Thursday Review—I Want a Magic Bullet

by Lynn H. Blackburn

I want a magic bullet.

Somewhere there’s a book, a routine, maybe a diet, or even an outfit. Somewhere, there’s one thing I’m missing and when I find it, my publishing dreams will come true!

Right?

In my quest for the elixir of publishing success, I had a rare opportunity to do some extensive research. I got to hang out with four published authors as they wrote, brainstormed, and it must be said, consumed copious amounts of coffee and loaded grits.