If you've read Silver Hollow, or been wanting to read it (it's free on Amazon, whoop!) we're now offering reader copies of Blackbriar Cove. I am so excited to share and hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I loved writing it, friend.
witter (ˈwɪtə) vb – (often foll by: on) to chatter or babble pointlessly or at unnecessary length n – pointless chat; chatter COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY – COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED, 12TH EDITION 2014 © HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014 Did you know you can read Silver Hollow for FREE where ebooks are sold? Yep! The first... Continue Reading →
Happy 2023, friends! I am alive! Reports of my untimely demise were greatly exaggerated. Although, a part of me has been put to rest ever since I had my baby girl last May. Okay, I swear I’m not being melodramatic (no more than usual). Let me explain.
If you follow my witterings, you've probably heard me talk about the choices we make. It follows the same vein as how you make a daily habit. You put in the minutes, the time to literally do. And if you aren't doing, chances are, you aren't seeing results, right? That's how a book gets written, or you stay in serviceable shape. It's ten minutes of your day, more or less, where you put in the time. It seems so pithy, but trust me when I say it adds up.
The best advice I can offer you is to not be your worst enemy. You’ll always find someone out there who is better (or more experienced) than you are. But when you focus too much on how much better someone else seems to be or be doing, it’s way too easy to lose sight of your progress. Remember, if you’re writing, you’re constantly growing your craft. It won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take time, hard work, and little thanks in the beginning (sometimes longer).
I'm excited to share I'll be live on Twitter tomorrow at 10AM CT (for my fellow US mid-westerners!) (11AM NY / 4PM UK) for the @WyrdandWonder event! Our main topic will be about forest fantasy. Think of all the tales you loved growing up that took place in an enchanted forest. It so happens that Silver Hollow and Blackbriar Cove use forests as part of their storytelling element. I happen to think I'm also most qualified for this topic for a more obvious reason...
Most creatives I know reach that point where the cup runs empty. You struggle to find inspiration, the muse leaves you, or you can't seem to find ways to replenish your creativity. For fun, and on a variation of a theme, I wanted to share some of what has inspired me lately. Are you ready?
I no longer beat myself up for not accomplishing what I set out to do or compromising in order to keep up my emotional and interpersonal health. Like I tell my six-year-old, so long as you try your best, that's what counts. These days, I am trying my best to do better in every aspect of my life. With the mental and emotional room to turn to business and the business of writing, I'm approaching 2022 with a fresh attitude.
It's been a while since I wrote about writing. Probably because I've had something of a love/hate relationship with my passion for the past year. The older I get, the harder it becomes to simply throw myself into a story the way I did pre-kid and pre-adulting. I can no longer blindly write into the night. If I want to get anything accomplished in any of my current projects, it needs to become habit.
After a year’s hiatus, I came back to publishing to a whole new world. Many of the authors I had followed were no longer publishing. The ones still around either rocketed to stardom or cut comfortable corners into their perspective niches. Many of the methods I had utilized at the start of my career were null and void, I just wasn’t aware until it was too late.
Jennifer Silverwood 