I Love My Life, Really
or
How I Had to Postpone the Novel. Again.
by
Sandi Layne
My goal this year is to finish for the final time the historical romance with which I started my career as a novelist. That sounds either remarkably grandiose or deliberately obscure – depending upon how well you know me – but I assure you it’s...
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A Year in the Life of a Novelist
or
How I Wrote a Great Deal Without Saying Much
by Sandi Layne
I am sitting here with my new laptop computer. Actually, it’s a refurbished MacBook Pro. I used to have a MacBook, when I started writing here for My Vamp Fiction. Then, in September, my computer took an unexpected trip to The...
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Researching as Recreation
or
If I could get paid to follow historical rabbit trails? I totally would.
by
Sandi Layne
While I sit here, still without a personal laptop computer (mine died a quick, undignified death back in September), I have found it hard to write.
Ironic, I know.
Please note, I have not said I have...
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I Don’t JUST Write, You Know
or
Books I Have Read This Past Month
by
Sandi LayneI have always read too much. When I was a little girl, I was prone to spend hours of every day reading. Hours when I should have been cleaning my room, helping with the dishes, dusting, or maybe even playing outside.Astonishing, I know.As I got...
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Time Management
or
I’m a Writer! Watch Me Do the Laundry!
by Sandi Layne
After writing my previous column on why writers don’t…well…write, I was struck by those who said that “real life got in the way” or “real life was a problem” or that they just didn’t have time, what with everything real life was...
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Yes, This Actually Happened
or
Hey, This IS My Life as a Writer
by
Sandi Layne
My life as a writer is not all timetables and outlines. I really don’t spend my entire life taking actual notes or plotting the heartbreak or healing of characters. Sometimes, I just hang out with my guys or go see the in-laws. You know, like...
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Why Am I Not Writing, Again?
or
Excuses and Resolutions
by Sandi Layne
All right, I confess. I am not writing three thousand words a day right now because I’m moving. On the date this column is posting, I might have Internet in my new house – but I might not, so I am writing, gasp, early! Hence the performance lag. A...
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Getting Jealous on Twitter
or
Wanting to Go to a Writers’ Conference
by
Sandi Layne
“Going to #RWA twitterpeeps! If you’re gonna be there, @ me and we can hook up!” “So excited to meet @JennyAuthor and @JennyAuthor2 and @JennyAuthor37 at #RWA!” “Come to my workshop at #ACFW: Can you say that in an inspirational...
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Squeezing Blood from a Turnip
or
Sometimes, You Have to Let it Go
by Sandi Layne
I have a story-start file on my computer. I have had one since I first began writing, back in 1997. This is a file in which I put stories that I’ve…ready?…started. An idea probably hit me in the gray matter and I, in a burst...
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The Job of Productivity
or
An Author’s Work is Never Done
by Sandi Layne
Since the last time I have had the privilege of appearing here at MyVampFiction, I have put out a new novel. And had it “translated” to Kindle format. And had both of them make their debut at Amazon. And…
Well yes, of course there’s more....
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One Perspective on Self-Publishing
or
DIY is Not Just for the Handyman
by Sandi Layne
“You’ve been writing for months about being a novelist, ‘Submitting to Rejection’ and now you say you self-publish?”
Why yes, yes I do. And, with all the brouhaha of late about self-publishing and so on, I thought I’d share a...
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Building Characters
or
The Voices in My Head are Very Loud
by Sandi Layne
“Where do you get all these ideas?” I am often asked. Like many writers, I am always at work on a project, with at least two or three others in some stage of development. Julie Garwood said once that she will start out by writing on a few different...
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