Tag Archives | writing

Rachel Hauck, Princess Ever After

Learning By Reading

By on September 25, 2014 in Writing Life Coaching

I found a book that looked interesting to me on Barnes & Noble’s site.

A story set in the ’30s and had some element of football in it. So I downloaded it.

Devoured it. The story captured me. The writing… I didn’t spend half my time rewriting the sentences in my head or pondering why the character was acting without proper motivation.

I told Susie, “You have to read this book!”

And, as it was set in the ’30s and had football element to it, she was keen to give it a go.

Two days later she emails. “I’m mad at you! I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. reading that book.”

By now, I’m dying to talk to her about it because it had some fascinating elements. But she halted me from gushing on and on until she finished.

THEN, we had a long talk, breaking it down, decided what worked, what didn’t, why we liked it, how we could learn from this author.

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When an Author’s Backstory Sparks a Story Idea

By on September 18, 2014 in 1. Discover your story, Beth Vogt, Brainstorming Strategies and Tips, How do I get started?

At the very first My Book Therapy (MBT) Storycrafters Retreat in 2010, Susie May Warren had the attendees complete a seemingly simple – and insignificant – exercise on page nine of our workbooks.

I kept that workbook, the one with the working title of my manuscript scribbled inside the front cover: Wish You Were Here. Thanks to that weekend and how it changed my life and my writing, Wish You Were Here became a “real book” in 2012.

And I refer back to that seemingly insignificant exercise on page nine time and time again.

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Conference Is Coming! Are You Ready To Submit?

By on September 11, 2014 in Book Therapist, Rachel Hauck

The ACFW conference is right around the corner!

And you’re ready! It’s time. Really time. You’ve been writing and rewriting this book for eons. Or at least it feels like eons. You want to submit it, get going on your stellar writing career. Time’s a wastin’!

Maybe you haven’t been working on it for eons, but you went to a conference or two, and you’ve heard an editor say she was really looking for the next great romance author to groom and you have just the story.

Or finally, one of the BIG PUBLISHERS is actively seeking speculative fiction and your space navy story is ready for the picking.

Perhaps your story has been through a critique or edit of some kind. A reader (mom, dad, sister, best friend, hubby, wifey) LOVED it. They want more! Now.

So you rush your baby off to an editor or agent. Maybe some of you rush it off to someone like me or Susie here at My Book Therapy.

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Rachel Hauck, Princess Ever After

7 Ways To Wreck Your Career

By on August 28, 2014 in Book Therapist, Rachel Hauck

Unusual title, isn’t it? Choosing the negative instead of the positive.

But sometimes we have to hear the “what not” in order to grasp the “how to” in our writing journey.

We all make mistakes as we develop our careers, whether we intend to be full time or not. Mistakes are good. We learn from them.

But some can be costly.

Here are seven actions I think you should strive to avoid.

1. Genre hopping. Or, not deciding on a specific path. Over times, readers come to expect a certain kind of book from their favorite authors. I may be tired of a “Rachel Hauck” book, but my readers are not.

When starting out most of us would write for anything or anyone, and that’s a great way to get started, boost your publishing resume, but be careful you don’t spread yourself too thin.

I was blessed to have an agent in the beginning who kept me steered toward trade romance and chick lit I also believe the Lord really watched over my steps. Several opportunities I wanted to leap at but the doors closed. Or I felt uneasy about and didn’t pursue.

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