Sherrie Miranda's Blog, page 9
February 7, 2022
Are you Stuck? How to Start Your Next Great Novel
Some of us brainstorm in our head but best results are usually achieved by writing 
or typing your ideas first. Or better yet, making a visual.
If you just start writing to see where it takes you, you will likely get lost & waste a lot of time. Many get frustrated & quit.
I have a coach who I share my ideas with. She often throws some ideas out to see what sticks for me. This is very helpful.
Some writers brainstorm in groups. If you have a small group you trust, go f...
February 5, 2022
How Do I Overcome “Writer’s Block”? In giving Kaylee advice, I answered the question for myself!
Kaylee Allgood · February 3 at 11:51 PM ·
HELP. How do you overcome writers block and lack of motivation? I had surgery 5 weeks ago and haven’t written a thing! I was so excited thinking I’ll have so much time to write my book, but I feel so unmotivated 
I’ll be out of work for at another month at the earliest and I want to use my free time to write but I can’t. It’s been months since I’ve written because I’ve been so stressed and so much has been going on in my life, so I think it’s due to...
January 20, 2022
Brain Pickins is now The Marginalian:
“A self-respecting artist must not fold his hands on the pretext that he is not in the mood,” Tchaikovsky wrote to his patron as he contemplated the interplay of discipline and creativity. A century later, James Baldwin echoed the sentiment in his advice on writing, observing: “Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent l...
January 15, 2022
An Interview with me about my novel “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans. The interview is titled “A Closer Look at New Orleans”
Sherrie Miranda’s “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans” follows the dramatic story of naive, sheltered Shelly going to “The Big Easy” to prepare for El Salvador, but has no idea she will encounter sexism and witness racism as well as illegal activities by government agents.
https://www.amzn.com/dp/B08KMHNNDK
Author, Sherrie Miranda’s husband made the trailer for “Crimes & Impunity in New Orleans.” He wrote the music too.
https://youtu.be/7_NL-V9KEi4
Review: Shelly’s journey in “the city that car...
January 10, 2022
No luck submitting my book to agents and publishers – should I hire a different editor?
Notice she says it will be 2 years before your book will be published. That’s if it is published at all. Why not self-publish if you believe the book is ready?
I had this interesting email.
I’ve written a thriller. I worked on it for a few years with an editor who said it was ready to submit. However, following lots of submissions but no requests for the full MS I began to work with another editor. The two are like chalk and cheese and I`m now in a quandary as to the...
January 5, 2022
On-line vs. In-person Classes
Before 2020 very few students took courses on-line though I had. I also took a course through TV (PBS) once.
I find it sad that the vast majority are choosing on-line over in-person classes, but I kinda understand too. I got my MFA completely online (in ‘09). It was perfect for a writer because we weren’t being judged for our looks or personality but completely on our writing.
We didn’t zoom & could do the work whenever we wanted. Some students were in other countries; some even in war zones.
I...
January 3, 2022
The Winning Mindset
By Felix Tih
The Winning Mindset By Felix TihHappy New Year to all. Here’s hoping this is your best year yet. ~SherrieConquer Yourself In 2022Bruce Lee once said we are born to achieve great things if we can conquer ourselves. “Conquer” is not about subjugating yourself, but instead it is about knowing yourself in order to liberate yourself.
“If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self ” – Napoleon HillAre you ready to level up your life in 2022? Make up your mind to stay focuse...
December 24, 2021
Merry Christmas
Herry Christmas & a happy new year!
Sherrie
Hi, Gang! Craig here today. It seems like I always get the holiday posts, so I’ll soldier on with one. I had the Valentines Day post this year too.
I’m spending the holiday with family, and so are the rest of my Story Empire colleagues. On the odd chance that you wander through here, I sincerely hope you are too.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Story Empire. I hope Santa brings you all of the books you’ve been looking forward to, and e...
December 4, 2021
Canceled and/or Beloved?
Some of the best advice for writers that I’ve ever seen.
Hello SE friends, Gwen with you today. When we last met, the topic was 1984, and we focused on writers who predicted the future. Several of the mentioned books were banned because the content was controversial. Of course, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley were two of those authors. SE writer John Howell had an excellent post on banned books earlier this year. If you’d like to check it out, you can find it here.
What was s...
