The Southshire Pepper-Pot Mentioned in Boston Globe

You can read up on the brief nod the Southshire Pepper-Pot received from the Boston Globe. Every little mention helps!

Deleting Good Writing

One of the lessons every writer must learn goes something like this: just because your writing is good doesn’t mean it works. This could be filed under the "not taking ourselves too seriously" section. In the process of recounting a story I can provide juicy details, detailed descriptions, and events following one another in quick [...]

Category Confusion

Are you noticing that I have a few categories that don’t quite belong on the site of a freelance writer? Well the reason is I began this site as a kind of catch-all blog for my areas of interest: writing, photography, and nonprofit organizations, especially volunteers. Since I’ve gotten more serious about writing, I’ve had [...]

Newsletter Tips

Who has time to read newsletters? Well, some people do if the newsletter is helpful and concise. Check out these articles that offer some great advice on newsletters: one, two, and three.

Freelance Writing Price Guidelines

I found this great little article that helps freelance writers figure out how much to charge. I generally would guess somewhere between $20 to $25 per hour, though this article hints that certain situations may call for higher rates.

Construction

This site is under construction and may go through some pretty major changes as of January and February of 2008. Hang in there!!!

Southshire Pepperpot: New, Improved, and Ready to Ship

After hitting some snags with our previous publisher, the Southshire Pepper-Pot has been released again with Lions Mark Press. It has some awesome features, such as a real ISBN number now!!!
The Pepper-Pot is a collection of fantastic short stories and recipes by a group of Vermont writers. I was lucky enough to join them and [...]

I Never Wrote a Sentence I Couldn’t Delete

I Never Wrote a Sentence I Couldn’t Delete: This is my new mantra. It makes writing bearable.

Living in Vermont, From the October Newsletter

If you already receive my newsletter, then you’ve had a chance to read the list of changes in my life since moving to Vermont. For those who have not yet seen it, I’m republishing it below along with a few additions at the end. If you enjoy what you read, you can sign up for [...]

Telling Your Own Story

The Story Core Project and This American Life, both projects that focus on everyday people, confirm what we should have known all along: ordinary people are fascinating. Celebrity may amuse or interest on occasion, but who would take People Magazine over the story of a wealthy business man who attempts to negotiate a peace deal [...]

The Mutable People

Start writing for 20 minutes with the following opening line:
“If the mute button worked on people . . .”
If the mute button worked on people I would put it to good use in cafes, trains, planes, and other public places. Cell phone technology has advanced to the place where even people who shouldn’t have cell [...]

On Improving Grammar and Punctuation

The web site Dumb Little Man provides the ultimate link list that will help writers improve their grammar and punctuation. Who doesn’t need a little help in this area?

From Blog to Book

Problogger has an article with some tips on ways to take a blog and turn it into a book. the publishing industry is unpredictable and hard to break into. Though this article claims to hold the key to six figures, I think getting published in the first place is enough of a feat.

Chiselville: Picking Out Paint

The paint mixer thunked away while Clint tapped his finger tips on the counter. Don Dunham sauntered out to visit. Boxes of bolts, screws, washers, and bits lined the walls, rattling with Dunham’s heavy foot steps.
Tom lined up a series of color chips at the color center and shuffled them about. He originally planned [...]

Rescued From the Kitchen Sink

I never found profanity tempting until I attempted plumbing. Plumbing is unforgiving, stubborn, and awkward. There is nothing worse than working on something fragile and difficult in close quarters. No wonder plumbers don’t give a second thought to the height of their pants.
Our new home had a nice location, but everything else was either [...]

Blogs on Writing

Writer’s Market has a great collection of blogs, complete with contests, writing prompts, and other tips.

Working to Spread the Word

The New York Times has an article titled “Selling Yourself, in a Good Way,” that is essential for every writer and other freelancer to read. Marci Alboher shares her revelation: “I realized that if I did not convey passion and pride about my ideas, how could anyone else?”
While some may worry about promoting themselves for [...]

Writing About Nothing

Below is a writing exercise in which I was instructed to write about nothing for 20 minutes.
The music is pretty, but the dog was zooming through space so fast you could have heard a pin drop on a field of blazing tumbleweed. The dog landed and the aliens were so glad to see him [...]

The Scripture Translation Service

UPDATE: The following piece is a humorous satire that is not true.
Living Word Bible Chapel has found a way to use every translation of the Bible at one time during Sunday morning services, a key way of connecting with the broad range of generations in attendance. “We call it the scripture translation service,” shared [...]

Books Outnumbering Readers?

This article says that the number of books will one day outnumber the number of readers if current publishing trends continue. Should I just give up on my book dreams now?

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