Robin Brande, Author, Dog Lover, Coffee and Chocolate Addict. Living an Interesting Life.

Fiction author Robin Brande talks about writing, reading, and other vital matters

For writers, readers, and independent thinkers–book talk for readers and writers, life chats when we need them, writers’ motivational articles, secret behind-the-scenes stories from the publishing trenches, and more.

Because I am a sucker for the handsome

March 8th, 2010

Some nice surprises here!

Technorati Tags: Random Acts of Handsomeness

Writers: The value of conferences and other continuing education

March 4th, 2010

I just finished reading the current installment of Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Freelancer’s Survival Guide. This week’s topic: Why writers–beginning, mid-career, bestselling, all of us–need continuing education and continuing contact with other people in our profession. This is about finding the holes in your knowledge, and being smart enough to fill them.
I [...]

For those of us writing something right now

February 23rd, 2010

Hi, all. Thought I’d take a break from the manuscript I’m writing right now with the Olympics playing in the background so I know when to pause in the middle of a sentence and go watch skiing and skating (don’t really care about the bobsled–sorry, bobsled fans), and with Lost being recorded on another [...]

Writers: Goals and dreams

February 22nd, 2010

Here’s the latest installment of my teacher Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s fabulous series The Freelancer’s Survival Guide. This time, goals and dreams–the difference between them, how to set them, how to make them hard enough to be worth working for, yet not so hard that you’ll disappoint yourself continuously.
After reading it, I sat down and [...]

Why writers need to keep learning

February 18th, 2010

Excellent new post by my teacher Dean Wesley Smith. If you really want to blow your mind, go back and read all the posts in the series–and especially read the discussions that take place in the comments to those posts. I agree entirely with Dean that as writers we need to continue educating [...]

On creativity, being wrong, and having Shakespeare (the student) in your English class

February 16th, 2010

I love this lecture! Watched it once already this morning, and will now go watch it again.
I especially love the line, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.”
And I especially, especially love the whole discussion of what it would be like to have a young William Shakespeare [...]

This stuff, I love

February 11th, 2010

A lot of us pretend we don’t self-Google, but honestly, if I didn’t, I never would have found this:

It makes me smile so large to see stuff like this. I appreciate the girls’ creativity–what a great job they did! And of course I appreciate that they decided to do their video book report [...]

Having a business plan as a writer

February 11th, 2010

I hope that you, my fellow published and aspiring writers, really do see your writing life as a business. You are the president, the CEO, the principal player, the monarch (in some of your cases)–call yourself what you will.
You could choose to just let things happen. To not take yourselves seriously. To [...]

The fifty pounds Meg Cabot & I have in common

February 8th, 2010

Wow, you never know what you’re going to find out about an author–especially one you admire as much as I do Meg Cabot. Those of you who have followed this blog long enough know that I’m a huge fan of both her books and her blog.
And now, in one of those strange loop-de-loops, I [...]

Writers and role models

February 4th, 2010

Another great post from Kristine Kathryn Rusch as part of her ongoing Freelancer’s Survival Guide. This one on the value and pitfalls of having other writers as role models.
There are two authors out there whose careers and productivity I aspire to and admire. Not telling who they are, but I think [...]

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