Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

“The best writing tip…hmmm. I guess it would be keep your head down and get the job done, first of all. You can’t be published if you don’t finish your book. Be ruthless. Pretty good books aren’t going to sell, so dig deep. And have faith in yourself. No one was born published.”

Visit Kristan’s website at www.kristanhiggins.com
Purchase Kristan’s latest release, The Next Best Thing

“Grammar matters. So does punctuation. Seriously, they do, and your future editors don’t exist to fix them for you. Editors reject books that need basic grammatical polishing even if the story’s good.

But here’s the awesome part. The correctness of grammar and mechanics, 95% of the time, isn’t a matter of opinion, unlike so many other aspects of writing. Revel in the security you can at least get that part of your book “right”. Just be careful, and don’t trust Microsoft or anyone who tells you to put a comma where you pause when you read it aloud or that the word “was” means you overused passive voice.”

Visit Jody Wallace’s website at www.jodywallace.com
Purchase Jody’s latest release What She Deserves, now in electrons from Samhain Publishing!

“Find a good critique partner (or two) that you trust and work closely with them. A second set of eyes to view your work and give input is invaluable.”

Visit Ashley Ladd’s website at www.ashleyladd.com
Purchase one of her releases or read excerpts at Ashley Ladd’s book page.

NB: Note from Shelley. Want to find a critique partner? Want to know what to expect from a critique partner? For more details about critiquing or finding a critque partner check out my article – To Critique or Not to Critique

“I believe that to make it as a writer takes a combination of skill, persistence, and luck. William Feather aptly puts it, “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” There is no way to predict what will be the right pitch at the right time, so my only advise is the kind no one wants to hear. Sit down, write, and finish. Correct it and send it off. Then ignore it and write something completely different. Then send that off. Don’t get attached to your work. Because that’s what it is. Work. Not your art. Not your baby. Just your work. If you can’t disconnect yourself, I don’t think you’ll be emotionally able to survive this industry. ”

Visit Gail Carriger’s website at www.gailcarriger.com
Purcahse one of Gail’s books – Soulless was trust upon the unsuspecting public Oct 1, 2009. Changelessis due in April of 2010, and Blameless September 2010.

“Don’t fall prey to believing everything you read in Craft books or hear in workshops is the only way to do things. Always remember that what people tell you works, is what works for them – and what works for them might not work for you. You may be different, and forcing yourself to do things in a way that isn’t natural to you will only hurt your writing. Ultimately you have to learn to Trust in yourself, and your own process.”

Visit Sasha White’s website at www.sashawhite.net
Sasha’s latest release, One Weekend is out today at Samhain Publishing!

“Form a network with other writers. This can be in person at local writer’s meetings, or online on forums and websites, or some combination of the two. More heads are better than one when it comes to knowing about new opportunities for authors or hearing about changes in the industry (and there are always changes). It gives you people to bounce ideas off of or to ask questions of that might not be appropriate for editors or agents. It also gives you a social group in this crazy world of writing. As important as it is to have non-writing friends to keep you grounded, you also need people who understand the process you go through every time you sit down at the keyboard.”

Visit Crystal Jordan’s website at www.crystaljordan.com
Purchase Crystal’s next release, In the Heat of the Night

“My simple tip for writers is this: write. Write every day. Don’t let your internal critic talk you out of it because you still need to learn this or that skill, or you haven’t got that perfect synopsis yet or the ‘just right’ computer to get started. Tell that fussy critic to shut it. Learn from action. Set up a word count goal and meet it by writing X number of words daily. If you can’t hold yourself accountable, then do a check-in with a writer friend, and be honest when you don’t meet your quota. If you miss your word count, make it up the next day. Keep track of your progress in a notebook. Writing down your daily word count number is a kind of positive reinforcement, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you accumulate 20 thousand words, 40 thousand, 60 thousand. Don’t get side-tracked by the glittery stuff associated with being an author. Writers write, and if you want to publish, you need to create product.”

Visit Beth’s website at www.bethkery.com
Release, Berkley Heat, February 2, 2010
Sometimes you have to let desire run wild.

Read an excerpt of Beth’s latest book, Release