A POEM by Kathryn Brown Ramsperger

The threat of war with Russia has been with me all my life. In a nutshell: The Soviet Union was formed in 1922, the year my father was born. It sent missiles to Cuba in 1962, when I was 4, resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis. We had community nuclear drills. Some wealthy families build bomb shelters.…

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7 Story Plot Ideas For Creating An Unforgettable Novel

story plot idea

Whether you’re new to  fiction writing or it’s an old hat, you’ll want to capture the attention of your readers right immediately. Unlike generations past, today’s readers work fulltime, have more than one job, are raising a family, and more. They don’t have the luxury of leisure time. The not-so-good news: books are competing against…

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How To Identify And Maintain Your Core Audience

Perhaps you’ve thought about writing a memoir or novel for some time, or maybe you already started. It’s both exciting and intimidating. A thousand ideas are running through your head about story lines and characters, anecdotes to include, and experiences to write about. Yet before you go any farther, there are some important things to…

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How To Write An Unforgettable Novel

unforgettable novel

What makes a good, unforgettable novel? Better yet, what makes a good, unforgettable novel great? Think of all the books you’ve read over the years; which ones stand out? What novels were real page-turners and which ones did you shelf or give away after drudging through the first three chapters? Was it the characters that…

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Navigate Relationships At Work in Covid Times

Home sweet home. It’s difficult enough bringing home into the workplace, but bringing work into the “homeplace” creates challenges of its own. These challenges can become overwhelming if not identified and addressed. The Covid-19 pandemic presented a new way of doing things, from shopping, business, pleasure, schooling, work life, homelife—and perhaps most significantly, relationships. The…

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How To Shop For A Writing Coach To Finish Your Project

Whether you’re at the beginning, middle, or end of your writing project, it’s not too late to hire a writing coach. The advantages are not a few. They can help you develop a logical outline for your book, identify your audience, set clear goals, and strategize a publishing and marketing plan, among other things (see…

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What Are The Core Elements Of A Memoir?

what are the core elements of a memoir

When you begin writing your memoir, it’s important to understand it isn’t an autobiography. It’s sometimes tempting to include all the amazing things you’ve experienced in your life, but a memoir is not meant to be a timeline of your life up until the present. It isn’t a description of your history. So what are…

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How Writing Can Help Us Through Times Of Disaster

We live in overwhelming times. Never has the world experienced a shutdown of all economies while battling an entirely invisible foe—the novel corona virus. Adding restrictions of personal freedoms, conflicting news reports, and the uncertainty creates a perfect recipe for fear and panic. Everyone has their own way of handling crisis. Yet writers can share…

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