Welcome writers! It is worthwhile for emerging writers to enter these paid and free competitions to practice writing to deadlines and rules, tighten their prose and hopefully get their name out there. I am based in New Zealand and it is difficult to find these opportunities in a small country, so here is my updated …
Freelance writing is an ideal job for stay-at-home parents. It provides independence and freedom, while allowing us to pick up our kids from school. But how can bloggers get paid to write? It’s not easy to completely change careers. From working in finance, I started a French travel blog five years ago and loved it …
Families make great book fodder: sibling rivalries and love, functional and dysfunctional, family expectations and disloyalty. Being one of four children myself, it is interesting to ponder the interplay between birth order and parental attention. There are so many books that make use of these conflicts but we have chosen the very best books about …
We are hopping around with the Bookish Blog Hops group again and recommending great books. This time, we are discussing books set during wartime. This is one of my favourite subsets of historical fiction. Wartime was a time of extremes, when people’s attitudes and relationships were tested to the limits. A lot of the soldiers …
September’s featured New Zealand author writes romantic suspense set in our own beautiful country. Patricia Snelling has self-published six books so far and is writing her seventh. K: What is an early book / author that inspired you to write? What are you reading now? I thought about writing a book nine years ago. At …
For this post, we’re celebrating all those books that we can’t put down. We’re addicted, we’re reading til 2am, we are turning pages like we’ve forgotten we have housework, partners and families. Find a comfy spot, because you won’t be moving much! These are the books to read in one sitting. Books to read in …
In the weekend, The Engineer opened the door and a woman asked if we have a black dog. Yes, we do. She asked if he was here. He checked and the dog was sitting on the couch, all big-eyed innocence and fluff. She went on to say that a dog matching that description had been …
August’s featured New Zealand author is a busy mum and health professional. Eileen Merriman writes short stories and novels for young adults and older adults, often at night after her child has gone to bed. K: What is an early book / author that inspired you to write? What are you reading now? The Outsiders …
Naming characters is hard. I have been known to spend half a day trying to find the PERFECT character name. Readers will build up a mental image of your character based on the first mention of their name. So would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? The Dorian Grey Effect The science …
Writing prompts are a great way to get the creative juices flowing. Think about one of the following and free write whatever comes into your head. These can be used for flash fiction, short stories or even a novel or memoir. Feel free to link back to this post. I have added below some free …