My wrists are feeling pretty good, so I'm going to be open to scheduling some one-on-one email coaching services. However, because of book deadlines, I won't be able to start any coaching until October. If you know you want to take some coaching from me and you're okay starting later this year, let me know so I can schedule you. In addition to Synopsis one-on-one coaching ($35) and Characterization one-on-one coaching ($35), I am also adding Deep Point of View one-on-one email coaching for $45 and Self-Editing one-on-one email coaching for $45. All my one-on-one coaching lasts four weeks, which gives you a bit more time to get in your homework for the lessons and revise them and resubmit them for additional feedback if you desire. The structure of my one-on-one coaching is the same as my worksheets, but with the addition of my personalized feedback on your specific manuscript. Only one manuscript/character per coaching session, please. Again, I will not be schedul...

NEW SELF-EDITING WORKSHEET! After Katie commented on my blog about my Self-Editing class, I realized that I could just offer a self-editing worksheet for those of you who wanted to take my online class but couldn't because of timing or cost. So here it is! Self-Editing Worksheet $20 You've finished your novel! How do you make sure you have a good character arc, strong story structure, good pacing? How can you smooth over rough writing patches, eliminate episodic writing, or increase emotional intensity? My Self-Editing worksheet combines a variety of techniques that I have taught in online workshops into one place, with tips to help you refine and polish your manuscript. By the end of the worksheet you'll have: 1) A good large-scale view of your story structure and character arc, and knowledge about how to fix any problems in that area 2) Tips for how to revise more emotion into your writing 3) Tools for solving pacing issues 4) A deeper look at technica...

From 8-10pm EST. I hope you’ll join us! No need for a password. http://chat.eharlequin.com/flashchat.php#

From 8-10pm EST. I hope you’ll join us! No need for a password. http://chat.eharlequin.com/flashchat.php#

I gave an interview at the Avon signing at the RWA conference at the end of July and they just aired a clip of it on NPR! http://www.npr.org/2012/08/15/158699571/a-rainbow-of-happy-endings-in-ethnic-romances Update: Here's the link to the transcript if you can't do the audio: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=158699571

Hey writers, it's not too late to sign up for 2 online classes I'm giving in August: Self-Editing online class ($40) August 15 - 30 Deep Point of View online class ($40) August 15 - 30 More info here !

Mystic City by Theo Lawrence My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was intrigued by the story concept of this book as soon as I read the back cover blurb. Others have detailed the storyline already, so I won't go into what it's about here. The dystopian world is striking and interesting, becoming a separate character in the story. Aria, her parents, and Hunter are also unique personalities that fit with the story world and with the plotline. I did think that the story started off very slow. The first several chapters seemed to drag a bit to me. The story was interesting enough that I kept reading, and the plot eventually picked up, so I guess that says it was engaging enough to keep my interest, but the first third of the book seemed so slow to me that the book would have been easy to set down at some points if I'd had something else I needed to do. After the story picks up, it was interesting to see how Aria changes as events unfold. I thought it took he...