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Writing Prompts for October 2016 & Accountability Group

October 2016 Writing Prompts & Accountability Group

Okay, where did September go? I had every intention of getting my writing life organized this month and managed no more than daily to-do lists—effective, but not quite what I had in mind. Anyone else struggling with this? I’m looking for some accountability partners to help get me, and each other, on track.

Starting October 7, I’m going to be running an accountability group on my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hwrightwriter/. You set your daily writing goals (they can include, planning, research, outlining, writing) and each day you just check in with a “done” to say you’ve met your goal. I’ll be posting daily so you’ll have a place to add your “done” to the comments. If you’re signing up for NaNoWriMo this year, this three weeks of accountability will help you get your planning done for your November novel and/or help you get your daily writing habit back in shape, too. All good.

If you don’t have a story idea yet, here are some writing prompts that might help.

Create a poem or story using one, some, or all of the words in one of the following groups:

  • History, banner, black, crystal, mage, flames
  • Mountain, fear, fog, red, breath, open, hide
  • Concrete, stars, shadow, windows, swoop, lights
  • Shell, waves, storm, pride, darken, stone, gift

Maybe one of these opening lines will suggest a story:

  • That was the last thing I expected you to bring home.
  • I’m sorry. Should I have been listening?
  • You want to know when I saw him last? It was Tuesday—Tuesday morning.
  • The lights dimmed in the concert hall.
  • Pieter huddled behind the wall and cursed the rain.
  • A woman’s face peeked out from behind the curtains. Henry had told us the house was empty.
  • The forest was silent. It shouldn’t be.
  • Even mean girls can be kind sometimes.
  • I just wanted to curl up under my blanket and forget the day had happened, but instead, I kept on moving. If I didn’t, tomorrow had every chance of being worse.

Can you think of a story to go with one of these titles?

The End of the Road, The Rest of Us, Once Upon a Rainy Day, Forgotten, The Tree House, Storm’s Ending, The Hallowe’en Mystery, Starting Line, Just a Glimpse.

See if these dialogue excerpts suggest a scene or some characters that you might like to work into a story.

  • I haven’t seen you in a long time.
  • I’ve seen you.
  • What do you mean?
  • Look what Helen found?
  • Helen?
  • Why the surprise?
  • It can only be found by three people. And I’m one of them.
  • It’s time for us to leave.
  • What if I disagree.
  • I’d advise you to think about that. You’d put all of us in danger.
  • Henry’s coming with us.
  • I don’t think that’s a good idea.
  • But we can’t leave him behind.
  • We’d be safer if we did.

Don’t forget, to join the accountability group at https://www.facebook.com/hwrightwriter/  and get your writing habits on track for the fall (and NaNoWriMo, too.)

Have a writerly October!

Writing Prompts for June, 2016

Writing Prompts for June 2016

I had hoped to post more often in May, but I ran up against a challenge that needed my attention and will continue to need it for, at least, the rest of the summer. Everyone knows someone, and now, I’m that someone–with cancer. I’ll be meeting next week with oncologists to talk about the biopsies that were taken during my surgery two weeks ago, and I’ve been prepared to expect a fairly long slog of treatments. I’m glad that so many options are available for me, and am lucky that so much is known about breast cancer and its treatment. I have learned a lot about patience in the last couple of weeks. I haven’t liked it, but I’ve learned. I’ve learned that you should quit trying to do what you used to be able to do or what you think you should do, and just stop, relax and let your body heal. That’s going to be my motto for what’s ahead. Trust the therapies and give my body every chance to do what it needs to do.

I am very hopeful, and I plan to keep creating writing prompts and adding new things to the site. If you’re on Pinterest you can also find me here with lots of writing ideas, tips, inspiration, etc.

Here are the writing prompts for June. I hope you find a story or two and have a writerly month ahead!

See if you can make a story or poem from one of these groups of random words.

  • sky, iron, leaf, pillar, red, hunger
  • pain, fear, ransom, gold, pool, today
  • connect, random, beside, hesitate,joy, meaning
  • crystal, white, cold, persistent, steps, struggle

Maybe one of these titles will inspire you.

Backpack Blues, Rising Sea, Summer Camp Mystery, Mr. Quinn, For the Asking, Dragon Throne, Julia, The Wind and the Rain, The Fortune, Treasure Quest, Helen’s Song, Quantum, Ryder, Piecing It Together, Time Travel Isn’t for Sissies, Fire in the West.

Here are some opening lines. What story do they suggest to you?

  • Once again I was awake at the crack of stupid.
  • Grey clouds scudded across the sky. It smelled like like rain.
  • “Benny is lost.”
  • That rumble in the distance wasn’t thunder.
  • Helen looked up from her laptop. Henry was the last person she wanted to see right now.
  • That last arrow was too close.
  • “We have to move.”
  • Buster whined and pushed my leg with his paw. Then I smelled the smoke, too.
  • Henry blew out the candle and we waited in the dark.
  • Helen was a collector.

Some random dialogue excerpts. Who’s talking? Where are they? What are they doing and thinking?

You said you were going to help.
I changed my mind.

Where were you yesterday?
None of your business.
I/We missed you.

What do you really know about Henry?
I know enough.
Are you sure?

I saw you yesterday at the park. I waved but you didn’t see me.
You couldn’t have seen me. I never left the house.

Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?
I’m sure.

If you’re trying to figure out the conflict in your story, check out this great post from Janet Hardy: What’s the Problem: The Four Classic Conflict Types.

Writing Prompts for April, 2016

daffodils-716370_1920Sorry to be a day late, but yesterday was one of THOSE days. My mom, who has an apartment in our basement, woke up to a soaked bedroom carpet, our sump pump broke, and what I thought was going to be physio for a sore trapezius muscle turned into a diagnosis of rotator cuff injury and tendinitis. Today we still need a part for the new pump hook-up and the carpet (now dry) needs to be re-laid with new underpadding, and it snowed over night. On the positive side, it wasn’t rain and I woke up early enough to get these prompts to you for a creative, writerly April ahead.

My online course, The Teen Writer’s Toolbox, is behind my personal deadline. I’m at the recording stage and it’s going slowly, but I’m pleased with any progress right now. I have hopes that it will be available by the end of next week. Look for a notice soon with the announcement and a discount price for those willing to be part of the beta launch.

I’ve used a photo of daffodils today. Mine have been through rain, snow, sleet, hail, high winds, frost, freezing rain, ice, you name it. If they bloom this year, they will qualify, in my books, for the most tenacious plant ever! I have a lot to learn from them.

The winners of a free PDF copy of 201 Writing Prompts are Kari, Lisa, and Christine. I’ll send those along to you tomorrow. Congratulations and thanks to everyone who commented on my post and who offered great suggestions for my new course!

Here are the prompts I promised.

Use one, some, or all of these words in a story or poem:

fire, light, field, lost, run, black
case, grip, red, box, secret, cord
bowl, gold, web, border, track, glimpse

Here are some opening lines for you to try:

Who’s that woman in the photo?
Two years ago, I swore I’d never come back here again.
It’s no unusual to find odd bits of paper tucked into library books for a bookmark, but this time it was a letter.
Some jokes just aren’t funny.
“Next time,” said Henry, “we’ll plan our escape in better weather.”
“Moon Base Omega failed to report, sir.”
We heard the approaching horses (car) and hurried further into the woods.
I was not ready to admit defeat.

Perhaps these titles will inspire a story: The Reluctant Prince, Fire in the Hills, Murder at the Laundromat, Love and Old Movies, Yesterday Rain, The Haunting, If Looks Could Kill, Box Lunch, Danger’s Throne, Push Button to Reset, Three Robots, Holiday for Horror.

Here are some snippets of dialogue. Can you picture a scene or a story to go with them?

Am I late? Did I miss the bus?
Yes, and yes.
Why did you wait for me?

I can’t come. I’ve got work to do.
Look, it’s just this once, and we won’t be late.

Why did Henry choose to meet us here?
He said it would be safe.
You’re joking, right?

Lord Henry doesn’t trust us.
How can you tell.
His men are following us.

Oh no! My laptop’s got some weird virus!
What’s it doing?
My screen is blank except for three sets of numbers and the word help.
Let me see.

Writing Prompts for November 2015

If you’re starting NaNoWriMo today, I wish you every success. I’ve drafted a bit of a plan using tips from this extremely helpful blog: 6 Tasks You’ll Love Yourself for Checking Off Your NaNo Pre-Writing List. I know I’ll be going back to it as I work through my story. I’m fully prepared for my final NaNo word count to be nowhere near the 50,000 words of a winning NaNo novel. My life (and a recently acquired freelance contract) are going to make that impossible, so, if I can cobble together a detailed novel draft this month, I’ll be extremely happy.

What are your plans for the month? Are you writing? Are you preparing for Thanksgiving? Are you glued to the World Series or football or curling or …? Whatever you are up to this month, I hope you have a creative 30 days and lots of good times with family and friends.

To keep your creative side ticking, here are the writing prompts for the month.

  1. Use these random words to create a story or poem:
  • Cold, grey, mark, trail, storm, silver
  • Frame, glass, pen, square, white, words
  • Card, circle, phone call, strong, blue, why
  • Fire, wind, photo, black, strange, wall
  1. See where these opening lines might take you:
  • Don’t ask about my day.
  • Henry pulled goggles over his eyes and waited for the signal.
  • They say never start a story with the setting, but I think that, if you think you’re going to drown in it, it’s as good a place as any to start.
  • Helen/Henry woke to the sound of yells and crashing swords.
  • I think that magic should only happen on stage, or on a screen, and a safe distance from me, but apparently, not today.
  • Helen handed the flowers back to the delivery man. “Give them to someone else,” she said and closed the door.
  • The woman in the photo on the gallery wall looked just like my mom, except the photo was taken in Paris twenty-five years before my mother was born.
  1. Try one of these titles and see what story or poem appears:

Agent Fear, The Crystal Mountain, Summer Storm, The Prisoner, What Next?, Babies and Blue Jeans, Jake Plays the Blues, No Limit, Robot’s Curse, The Island

  1. What scenes do these groups of dialogue lines suggest?

I’m sending you to New York.
Why?
I thought it was about time you met your mother.

That will be $200.
For this?
For that. Plus my guarantee that it will always do your bidding.

I don’t know why you put up with Henry. You hardly know him.
He’s not so bad.
Why don’t you just dump him?
I can’t until I can explain that he’s my brother.

Put the box on the table over there.
Okay.
Now open in.
What are you afraid of—a bomb or something?

It’s too dark. I can’t see.
Let me help.
How did you do that?

  1. What’s your character’s secret? What is the one thing that he or she never wants anyone to find out?
  2. If your character is just ticking along in your story, play “what if” for 10 minutes and come up with as many things as possible that could make your character’s life a lot harder right now. A broken leg? Abduction by an alien? A meeting with an old flame or an old enemy? Play “what if” until you find something that ups the ante for your character and adds some more suspense to your story.

September 2015 Writing Prompts and Vacation Reflections

2015-08-16 20.55.29Well, I’m back from a lovely vacation and immersed in deadlines, contracts and school prep. That lovely vacation vibe is sliding away far too quickly, but this year, I’ve decided to do something about it. I’ve thought about the things I enjoy about vacations and how I can fit them into the days and weeks ahead to give myself a necessary break from the stresses that start September 1st and last for the rest of the semester. It’s not that I don’t like what I do, but I tend to charge at things head down without taking time to feed the other things that are important to me. My language becomes all about the “have-tos”, and this time, I’m determined that include in my life moments that recharge my batteries and my creativity.

This year has been incredibly productive with 11 new books published (more about that later), so I know that I can get a lot done when I have to. (There are those words again!) But I also took time this summer for other things, like watching part of an old movie in the middle of the day, or reading, or meeting friends for coffee, or sometimes, just having a nap. And the work got done. I’m learning to be more productive during ‘work time’ and learned that walking away from it all for a while is okay.

What changed was me deciding that I didn’t have to wait to take a break until I’d earned it. That meant that a break could only happen at the end of the day when everything was checked off the to-do list. That’s not when I needed the break, which was clear from the number of Facebook checks, games of solitaire I played, and cups of tea that I made—all of which were telling me to walk away from the screen for a decent period of time and regroup. If I walked away for an hour, that hour was probably less time away from the work than I spent frittering with other distractions. On the days that I took a real break, my productivity was better and my spirits were better, too.

So, that’s my lesson learned this year. I’ll keep you posted on my success in continuing this strategy through the next semester. What have you learned about staying energized while working? Do you take long breaks or a series of short ones? Do you give yourself rewards for your accomplishments? How do you fit in exercise? (That’s my next challenge!)

Slide1The two writing prompts journals that I mentioned in my last post are now available at Amazon, and will eventually be out and about at Barnes & Noble and Chapter/Indigo. Each journal contains the complete text of the book it was derived from plus over 100 lined pages so you can play with the writing prompts and suggestions in the books. The last book of my Better Business Communication series also saw the light of day last week, too. It’s available as an ebook only.

Now, to keep you writing for the next month, here are your writing prompts:

  1. Use one, some or all of the words in these groups to write a story or poem.

Sign, grey, fog, horizon, posts, sky

Clear, field, inside, tall, burn, patch

  1. Here are some opening lines to try.
  • The swish of the wind turbine’s blades filled the night.
  • A line of scraggy pines marked the path.
  • I didn’t recognize the footsteps in the hall.
  • If anyone needed a guardian angel right now, it was me.
  • Henry threw the newspaper on the floor and reached for the phone.
  • Henry swore this would be the last time.
  • Helen was late again.
  1. Maybe one of these titles will inspire a story or poem:

The Mist, Dear Diary, A Light in the Window, The house on Planet X, Bad Blood, Captains Outrageous, Fire in the Heart, Death on Page One.

  1. What scenes can you imagine taking place before and during these lines of dialogue?

I told you I didn’t do it.

But can you prove it?

 

Look  behind you.

Seriously? You expect me to fall for that old trick?

Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

The wind is changing.

Yes. I can smell it now.

Let’s go.

 

But I thought you left Henry in charge.

He thinks I did.

 

Something’s the matter.

How can you tell?

Helen’s quiet.

 

Happy Writing!

Writing Prompts for August, 2015

Like a good Canadian, I’ll begin with the weather. Wow, has it been  hot!

And now for the writing.

I’ve been working on a couple of things: one, a journal with writing prompts to guide writers toward a daily writing habit (draft cover below); and two, the last of my business communications books focusing on improving grammar and writing skills. They are both at the ‘nearly there’ stage, so fingers crossed they’re both on Amazon by the end of next week.

I’ve had a good think about my writing. I realized that in my head I’ve been splitting my writing into two categories—non-fiction and joywriting (fiction.) I believed that I had to get the non-fiction finished in order to reward myself with the fiction, as if one was work and the other was pleasure. Well, that thinking was just plain wrong.

I get a lot of joy out of writing and publishing non-fiction. I love that what I do helps people learn to write, or get inspired to write, or helps them become better communicators, or saves teachers from reinventing the wheel when  they have to teach Shakespeare for the first time. So, since this all makes me happy, it is now officially joywriting, too. (Okay, well, sometimes it takes me longer than most to see the light, but at least, I finally made it.)

I hope that August’s writing prompts help you find some joywriting, too.

draft cover for journal

1. Pick one of these groups of random words and use one, some or all of the words in a story or poem.

  • Crown, red, stone, door, blade
  • Flower, wall, blue, eyes, shell
  • Wind, rustle, footsteps, black, shelter

2. Here are some opening sentences to try.

  • The town was shrouded in silence
  • Mary lied.
  • Medicine bottles cluttered the bedside table.
  • Hank loved football—and murder.
  • For a secret code it was pretty lame, but I got the message.
  • The pool was inviting.

3. Maybe one of these titles will inspire a story: Mystery on the Menu, Harry and the Bear, The Mage’s Promise, Half Love, Day’s End, An Ocean View, Yesterday Again, The Convertible

4. Can you imagine a scene to go with one of these short dialogue excerpts?

  • That’s the last one.
  • Are you sure?
  • No, but I sure am hoping.

 

  • Are you sure that belongs to Harry?
  • Yes, I’d know that blood anywhere.

 

  • I don’t like flying.
  • It’s a bit too late to decide that.
  • I don’t like jumping either.
  • Also, too late.

 

  • I didn’t know that she liked cats.
  • Is that a problem?
  • Yes. No. Well, maybe.

 

  • Is Harry home?
  • No,
  • Can you tell me where I can reach him?
  • I can, but I won’t.

5. Where would be your favourite place to sleep—your own bed, a four-poster in a Scottish castle, under the starts, on a ship sailing to a special destination, you choose? Why did you choose this location? Answer this question for your character.

6. NaNoWriMo starts in three months. Are you planning to sign up? It’s never too soon to start thinking, planning, and researching for your writing marathon. Set up a file, buy a new journal, grab some paper and think about the kind of story you want to live with for those crazy 30 days in November. I’m signing up this year, so I’d better start following my own advice. Onward!

Happy Writing!

 

 

Writing Prompts for November 2014

November

I’m wishing lots of good luck and good writing to those who have signed up for NaNoWriMo this year. And for those of you who haven’t, I wish a creative month that brings you closer to achieving your goals.

Here are some writing prompts to help you find stories or add to the ones you already have underway.

1) Think of a story or poem that you could write using one, some or all of the following words.

  • Dead roses, photograph, lamp, window, card, sigh
  • Candle, glass, bowl, rustle, paperweight, cord, breeze

2) Here are some titles that might help you think of a story or two: Last Day of Summer, Pumpkin Patch Mystery, Lights Out, Shattered, When One Door Closes, Never Forgotten, The Crystal Throne.

3) See if these opening lines can get your story started:

  • “Why do you think she lied?”
  • The only thing I could think of saying when I woke up was, “Where am I?”
  • That’s it. I am done with men. Forever!
  • Going home should be a good thing—but not always.
  • I swore that I’d never start a story with someone waking up in the morning. But when you wake up in a tent with a large dog and a (pick the kind of person you want) for roommates, neither of whom you’ve ever seen before, I think you can make an exception.
  • Henry closed the door softly.
  • Moaning winds, rain and thunder. Just what I needed for my first night in the house alone.

4) Here are some lines of dialogue for you. Who are the speakers, where are they, what are they doing, what are they going to do next?

  • Do you think we’ll get away with it?
  • We did last time.
  • Yes, but this time we won’t have Henry with us.

 

  •  I’m sorry.
  • What for?
  • For telling Liz about what happened.
  • It’s okay. She had to know.

 

  • Everything’s going to be fine. Don’t worry.
  • That’s easy for you to say.
  • You’re hurt, but I’m not giving up.
  • We’ll never get away now.

 

5) A lot of special holidays and family events are ahead in the next two months. What are you looking forward to most? What are you dreading? What do your characters look forward to? What do they dread? Write the diary entry your character wrote as a child about a special family or holiday event.

October 2014 Writing Prompts

20131013_135739Welcome to October! We’ve just finished nearly two weeks of perfect summer weather, but yesterday the rains came and today we’re facing cold winds and cloudy skies–and the furnace is on! I’m usually right on time with my writing prompts, but I’ve been laid low by the back-to-school cold/cough/flu, and lost track of time catching up, and frankly, sleeping whenever I could. Hope you and yours are having a healthy fall.

Here are the new prompts for October.

1. Use one, some, or all of these words in a story or poem.

  • Clouds, rope, splash, branch, jar, grey
  • Car, pen, lighthouse, trail, fence, never

2. Try one of these opening sentences to start your story.

  • Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.
  • Where are the pumpkins?
  • The dark figure lurched through the door.
  • This was one of those mornings when I should have stayed in bed.
  • The wind dragged the dead branches against the window.
  • My bike jerked wildly toward the curb. Flat tire.
  • Unlike my sister, I think that two kittens are two too many.

3. See if one of these titles inspire a story: Bubble Trouble, The Old Cottage Mystery, Ghosts at Lunchtime, Storm Warning, Frozen Dreams, Running, Hiding Mandy, Crushed, Clean Sweep

4. Write a scene to go with these lines of dialogue.

  • Henry is going to be there.
  • What difference does that make?
  • Henry always wants to be the boss.
  • Then we need to make sure he doesn’t get what he wants.

 

  • I can’t go.
  • But you promised!
  • I have to babysit.
  • Then I’ll just go on my own.
  • You can’t. It’s too dangerous.

 

  • Did you hear that noise?
  • Yeah. So what?
  • I’ve heard it before. We’d better hide. Now.

 

  • Where did Mike get all that money?
  • That’s none of our business.
  • It is my business. My sister’s wallet went missing yesterday.

 

5. What do you like best about autumn? Hallowe’en? Colourful trees? Back to school? Football season starting? Baseball season ending? In Canada, Thanksgiving? Write about the things that you like about this season. Does the character in your story like autumn? What does he or she like the most? Write about the things that you and your character dislike, too.

A September New Year’s Day

School Supplies 3Big changes today. My son moved into residence at a local university, and even though he’s not far away, his absence will change our lives significantly. A cheerful, talkative, smart young man and talented musician, he’s leaving us with looking for ways to keep the house from feeling so quiet and so empty. It’s time for him to move on to the next part of his life, and for us to sort things out here, too. Interesting times are ahead for all of us, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. If you’re heading to school this September, as teacher or student, I wish you every success as you take more steps to grow and learn and decide what kind of person you want to be and what kind of future you want for yourself and those around you.

For my Facebook friends today, September 1st seemed more like New Year’s Day–full of plans for new projects, new directions and resolutions to make much-wanted changes. If one of your resolutions is to write more, here are some writing prompts for September.

1. Use one, some or all of these words in a story or poem:

a) Bus, trap, rain, pen, dread, grey, coin

b) Rail, gold, title, wind, surprise, empty, fall

 

2. See if one of these opening lines inspires a story:

  • Are you sure you’re okay on your own?
  • I don’t know what comes after this.
  • Does that car look familiar?
  • When the last time you saw Rick?
  • I thought he was going to win.
  • I’ve lost it. Again.

 

3. Here are some lines of dialogue that you can use to write a scene or include in a story.

  • Move over.
  • Why?
  • I can’t see.

 

  •  Have you heard from Henry lately?
  • No. He’s been awfully quiet.
  • That’s not like Henry is it?
  • No.

 

  • Are you ready to try again?
  • I wasn’t ready to try the first time.

4. Maybe one of these titles will give you a story idea:

Bricks and Sticks, Meeting at Sunrise, The Blue Throne, Mystery on the Red Planet, The Hunter, Open Book, Game Day.

 

5. Leo Tolstoy wrote: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Think about what it would be like to live in a family different from yours. If you have lots of siblings, imagine going through a day as an only child. If you have sisters, imagine your life with brothers of vice versa. You get the idea. What kind of families have you created for the characters in your story? Make a list of the details that you thought of while imagining a different family and see if you can use them to help build the families of your characters.

Writing Prompts for May 2014

IMG_2877
Peonies after the rain

“Tra la it’s May” goes the song, but it’s been hard to feel very “Springy” with gloomy skies and rain for the past few days–and forecast through the weekend. I hope these writing prompts help nudge your creativity into flower, whether you are waiting (not so patiently) for some green to finally show in your trees or whether your roses are already in bud. I’ve included a photo of my peonies to remind me that warm sunny days will eventually arrive.

1. Use one, some or all of these words in a story or poem:

  • phone, wire, mail, cloud, window, yesterday
  • glow, green, star, string, hand, wave
  • bird, blue, alarm, fence, soil, partner

2. See if one of these opening lines will spark a story idea:

  • “Captain, we have a problem.”
  • The screen went black.
  • “You’re awfully quiet, Henry.”
  • No TV for a month!
  • I was sure he’d said the tunnel would get wider before we reached the cave.
  • The last sunset of the summer always made me happy.
  • Whatever had happened here in the past was bad, really bad.

3. Maybe one of these titles will inspire a story or poem: Where Were You at Midnight?, Finishing Last, Subway Nightmare, The Cake Box Mystery, Flower Power, Blinding Light, When I Left, Since Monday, The Way things Ended, Beamed Up.

4. What kind of scenes can you imagine around these lines of dialogue?

  • What’s your problem?
  • I don’t think it’s a good idea, that’s all.
  • Have you got a better one?

 

  • I thought that was due today?
  • It is.
  • Then why aren’t you handing it in?

 

  • I thought you were going to give that to Mike.
  • I changed my mind.

 

  • We need to rest here.
  • Why? I thought we were in a hurry.
  • We were. But things have changed.

5. Our local gardening columnist wrote about how we were having a late Spring, reassuring gardeners that plants and lawns would catch up when the weather finally got warm and sunny. Brainstorm around the idea of being late or around expressions such as, late bloomer, Johnny-come-lately, better late than never, it’s later than you think, a bit late in the day, late-breaking news.

I’m currently working on a new book, Writing Fiction: A Hands-On Guide for Pre-Teens. If you would like to know when the book comes out, please fill out the following form. I promise that you will not be bombarded with spam emails, just the odd thing that I come across that you might find useful, a couple of sample chapters as I work through the project, and my newest writing prompts.

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