WARNING:  this is a no-edit zone... First and foremost, a very big thank you to Kass (Kassandra Bakke at Consulting Services, Inc.) for working her computer magic and getting my...

©2008, Vicki Hinze What follows is a handout from a workshop on CHARACTER from this past weekend at the Emerald Coast Writers Conference. Actually, I’m going to have to link to...

Pitching your novel to an editor or agent causes many writers anxiety.  Here are a few tips that will hopefully squelch that! Remember:  No matter how much an editor loves your...

I received a note with the subject line:  HELP!  I’M BAFFLED.  WHAT DOES HE MEAN? Now who can resist stopping to read a note referenced like that?  So I did--stop, that is--and...

Birthdays are special days--and at times in our lives when we’ve thought we wouldn’t have any or many more of them, we learn a new appreciation for them.  Actually, it’s a new...

When writing, we don’t often think specifically about a character’s contentment.  There’s a reason for that:  we’re in the conflict business.  That, conflict, not contentment, is...

WARNING:  This is a no-edit zone... Now that income taxes are done (THANK YOU!!!!), two things are on my mind this morning.  Well, actually, three things, but two apply to...

My sympathy and condolences to the family of Sabeeha Johnson.  May you be comforted and find peace at her passing.  Kind and warm-spirited, know that she will be sorely missed....

WARNING:  this is a no-edit zone... Writing is never easy.  Oh, sometimes we get into the flow or the zone and the work flows, but usually that comes after intense planning and...

WARNING:  YOU HAVE ENTERED A NO-EDIT ZONE.  THIS IS VICKI IN CHAT-MODE... NOTE:  I originally wrote this as part of another article, but a reader response was so inspiring that I...