Living a Creative Life with Hannah Deurloo, Author
I’ve been hard at work on a special project recently and I’m finally ready to tell you what it is! I’ve been writing a book and I’m so excited to share more details (including the cover and how to pre-order your copy) with you soon. Be sure to keep an eye out for my official… Continue reading New Book Coming Soon!
I've been digging deep these past few weeks working through a historical fiction picture book series (I'm so stinking excited about it). On that note I've gotten fairly good at finding information and I want to share some of my best tricks and tips. Unpopular opinion #1: Wikipedia is NOT a safe research source. While… Continue reading Research Tricks & Tips You Can’t Live Without
Oftentimes someone has said what I wish to say far more eloquently than I ever could. So today I'm going to let others way in on reading. I hope you enjoy these quotes as much as I do. I'm also going to take Bill's advice as the weather is dreary to a fault. So cheers… Continue reading 10 Reading Quotes to Fall In Love With
I've come to realize the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas are somewhat of a twilight zone for writing. It seems like either it all gets written or none of it does. So how do you fit in a routine when life's routine is out the window? The short answer is, I don't know. The long… Continue reading How to Write During the Holidays
I've been doing a lot of story critiques lately. I see a few different stages of writer because of this, each has pros and cons. Here's what I've observed thus far. There are the one edit writers. All they want is for someone to say they are brilliant and the story is ready to submit.… Continue reading Critiques Aplenty
Don't ask me who has influenced me. A lion is made up of all the lambs he has digested, and I've been reading all my life. -George Seferis
So I may be in a slump with writing. I've got ideas and words are being written but a Twitter fight has left me a bit scared to share my stories. THIS IS AWFUL. I mean why am I so upset? Mostly because the fight wasn't rational, it wasn't even about what was IN my… Continue reading Creative Abandon with Signs
Setting can be as shallow as the seasonal stream along the road or as bottomless as an ocean chasm. I've talked about setting before in another way and love how it was described at a KDL Conference I attended a year ago. These ideas build upon each other like a blocks. Master each level through… Continue reading Activating Setting Within Story
Last week we discussed #goals. This week, we’ll talk about how to achieve those goals. Here’s a simple step-by-step process that takes a lot of time and effort: Step 1: Learn from the pros. Step 2: Do what the pros do. Step 3: Achieve goal. No matter what your goals is – writing a book,… Continue reading Got goals? Learn from the pros!
I'm a little riled up. I just saw a list circulating Twitter for young adult stories set in college. Young adult is supposed to limit the age of the characters in the book to 18. So unless you are all writing the next version of Young Sheldon Cooper I don't know why this list exists.… Continue reading The Young Adult Book Buyout
I love to entertain but sometimes I get a tad bit carried away. So when I had the thought to throw a Harry Potter themed party just for giggles I had to set myself a limit, and stick to it! For me, a die-hard DIYer, the Décor is my bread and butter area. But on… Continue reading A Harry Potter House Party
My toddler has her favorite parts of movies (cue Let It Go) and I find it fascinating how movies effortlessly transition- just like a story scene should. I study these transitions to improve my writing. Next time you're staring down the barrel of another Disney movie try this! Go to the scene selection menu on… Continue reading Disney’s Frozen as a Case Study in Scene
Guest Post by Janelle Franz blogging at Invent Your Story. I’m not a professor. Before you hit X, you need to know I did take a nature writing class in college. So, I am professionally taught. Right now, my butt is on a rock and an oak root is buddying up to my coffee mug.… Continue reading Nature Writing 101
The elusive and rare critique partner. Nearly impossible to find in the wild but possible to create? Let's experiment, can a good beta reader or writer friend become an excellent critique partner? You've heard the old adage to have a friend you must be a friend? Same goes for critique partners. Best place to start is… Continue reading The Chemistry of Critique Partners
If I'm being totally honest I've never been a funny person. I've dreamed of being the one telling an epic story of embarrassment and having the whole room erupt in laughter. Never happened, not once. So I gave up on trying to be funny. Sure it happens on occasion, I get lucky and make someone… Continue reading Seriously Funny Writing
To those of you who think PokémonGo is a joke. You are entitled to your opinion but for many it brings joy and fun to a bleak world right now. It's a rally against the things tearing us apart by bringing people together at parks, churches, and street sides. So to my special group of… Continue reading PokémonGo and Writing: An Encouraging Comparison
Yes, I know any hype you can get for your book is better than no hype at all. But lets be real, not all hype is created equal. I've seen this (de-identified) Tweet many times for books, "Amazing Book (link) @soandso." How nice of @soandso to say that about your book. You see these blurbs all the… Continue reading Hype, Engagement, and Twitter
On one of my past blog post Quotes, I talked about how much I love lettering quotes that I find. I came up with an idea on how to do something a little different with lettering. When I am reading through a book and I find a quote that I love I start creating Ideas for… Continue reading Hand Lettering: In Books
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