In 2021, I ran a series of Author Spotlight posts. Every month, I showcased an indie author and interviewed them to find out more about their writing life. In case you missed any of them, here's a list of all the authors I interviewed! Read the full interviews for some stellar writing advice and funny anecdotes. Mary Ann Tippett Mary Ann Tippett is a writer who moved from Indiana to Ottawa, thereby rendering her law degree useless. She worked ten years pursuing fraudsters, li

Welcome to the ninth post in my Author Spotlight series! Every month, I showcase an indie author and interview them to find out more about their writing life. This month, the author in the spotlight is Jenny Hickman! I found Jenny's books on Instagram and instantly fell in love because they have absolutely gorgeous covers. I knew I had to read them, and I did not regret it. I have read both The PAN and The HOOK, and I am itching to read The CROC to see how the trilogy wraps u

Welcome to the eighth post in my Author Spotlight series! Every month, I showcase an indie author and interview them to find out more about their writing life. This month, the author in the spotlight is Mallory McCartney! Mal and I met when I edited the third book in her Black Dawn series, Kingdom of Broken Iron. You can pre-order the book now; it comes out in early 2022! Now we bond over our pets and our love of fall and Halloween. Mal has an adorable family of fur-babies—or

Welcome to the seventh post in my Author Spotlight series! Every month, I showcase an indie author and interview them to find out more about their writing life. This month, the author in the spotlight is Brianne Wik! I met Brianne on Instagram, and we quickly connected over our love for stories. As soon as I knew Brianne was publishing her debut novel, I jumped on her ARC team so I could be one of the first people to read it! Her novel One Iridescent Night is a Cinderella ret

Welcome to the sixth post in my Author Spotlight series! Every month, I showcase an indie author and interview them to find out more about their writing life. This month, the author in the spotlight is Elle Beaumont! I've edited one of Elle's short stories, and I'll be working on one of her novellas soon! She is a prolific writer, and she just released a new book with Christis Christie called The Dragon's Bride! Elle and I got to know each other through Instagram, and I'm an

Welcome to the fifth post in my Author Spotlight series! Every month, I showcase an indie author and interview them to find out more about their writing life. This month, the author in the spotlight is Lane Northcutt! Lane and I first met when I was a guest on his podcast, Indie Know. If you haven't listened to the podcast yet, I highly recommend it! Lane and I are now Instagram buddies, and I love seeing what cool new thing he's up to next! Bio: Originally from Kentucky, Lan

Welcome to the fourth post in my Author Spotlight series! Every month, I showcase an indie author and interview them to find out more about their writing life. This month, the author in the spotlight is Linda Keith! Linda and I have worked together on her thriller Black Iris. We initially bonded over our love for Scotland, and we both love baking and reading books by Katherine Arden and Leigh Bardugo. Reading buddies for the win! Bio: Linda Keith lives in Edmonton, Alberta, C

We participate in conversations every day, so you'd think it'd be easy to write dialogue. But it's not. Writing a conversation is not the same as having one, and there are many things to think about when it comes to representing speech on paper. I've broken down a few aspects of writing dialogue here to help you out. Stylistic conventions of writing dialogue differ slightly depending on what country you're in and what style guide you use. I write and edit using the Chicago Ma

Adverbs are a polarizing topic in the writing and editing world. Some people think we should eliminate adverbs altogether, and some people think we can use adverbs whenever we want. This controversy often centres around Stephen King's dislike of adverbs in his famous writing advice book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. I think people often misunderstand King's intentions, although what he wrote about adverbs definitely seems harsh: "I believe the road to hell is paved with

One of the things I comment on the most when I edit is overemphasis. People love using exclamation marks and bolding text to make sure it really stands out. Your characters scream sometimes, or they yell at each other, or something they say is really important. But trust me, you do not need all of those exclamation marks and question marks, and you especially do not need the bolded text, the sentences in all caps, or the italicized text. Take the following paragraph, for exam

Many people ask what they can do to become a better writer. The best writing advice I can give you is to read more books. Why Is Reading Important? Reading is important for many reasons, including the fact that reading is good for your brain. But reading is particularly important for writers because it helps hone the writing craft. Reading is like studying for writers—the more you study and the more you practice, the better you'll get at writing. Reading published books can g

Words have power. They can empower people and tear down civilizations, and they can also bore people to tears. Back when authors were paid by the word, stuffing manuscripts full of filler words was acceptable. Nowadays, not so much. Filler words are words that add nothing to the text. You can think of them as unnecessary words, or fluff (as we said in university). These words slow down the pace of a story, make sentences wordy, and turn readers away. Editors and writers alike

Do you ever wonder how editors keep everything consistent when they edit? How do they know which spellings to use and whether an author uses the Oxford comma? Answer: they use style sheets and style guides! Style sheets and style guides are life savers for editors. They make our lives so much easier and keep the editing process efficient. Style sheets Style sheets are documents where editors keep track of all the stylistic decisions they make, and sometimes content points as