Grace E. Robinson's Blog, page 12

So You Want to Be a Social Media Expert?

I originally wrote this post for the blog at Helps2, the social media company that I work with.  Social media manager. Content creator. Platform consultant. Growth hacker. Yes, this is a thing now. Ten to twelve years ago, social media as we know it today didn’t exist at all. So is there such a thing […]

Childhood Book Tag

I just read this post about favorite childhood books over on The Magic Violinist’s blog, so I thought I’d join in the fun. I’m blessed to have grown up in a book-loving household, so I’ve loved books and reading since day one of my life, pretty much. What is the first book you remember reading […]

You are the Narrator of Your Own Life

What is a narrator? A narrator is someone who tells a story. In literary terms, a narrator can be “I” – called first person point of view. To borrow the first line from a classic Gothic romance novel, an example of first person narration would be “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderly again.” […]

Playlist for a Jazz-Age Dieselpunk Fantasy

Music is always one of my go-to sources of inspiration, and whenever I’m working on a story I put together a playlist of music and songs. Right now I’m working on a dieselpunk/historical fantasy series set in 1920s Los Angeles. A lot of my selections are not necessarily from the 1920s; since I’m writing historical […]

My Favorite Writing Blogs

While I usually blog about something writerly (or bookish, or something sci-fi/fantasy related or geeky), most of the blogs that I read are actual for real how-to-write-better blogs. Hopefully if you’re a writer and you follow my blog, you get something of value at least occasionally. But if you’re really looking for good writing tips, […]

Why Do You Write?

Every writer has a different reason for writing. Some write from a place of pain, and their writing is both healing to themselves and a message to the world about true hurts. Some write from a place of joy, wanting to share the positive experiences that tie all humans together. Some write because they have […]

Twitter Hashtags for Writers

I love Twitter, and I’ve used it for years. I believe that Twitter is one of the best social media sites for writers, because it’s so easy to engage with people. You can follow, be followed by, and actually chat directly with everyone from readers and fans to editors, agents, and publishing companies. Another powerful […]

It’s Never Too Late to Set a New Goal

I’m ashamed to admit it, but I haven’t done any writing for several weeks. No writing at all. No journaling, no writing on stories, not even blogging. I’ve been busy ever since Christmas with a new job, and then in mid-January I got sick. Nothing serious in the grand scheme of things – just an […]

Research for Fantasy Stories: Dieselpunk Research

Yes, you can – and should – do research for your writing, even if you’re writing fantasy. Especially if you’re writing historical fantasy.  The dieselpunk short story series I’m working on is just that – historical fiction with elements of fantasy. While dieselpunk traditionally involves retro-futuristic technology (think the flying jetpack from The Rocketeer), it […]

When You’re Hit with a Shiny New Idea

Most of us creative types are often working on at least two projects at any given time. So what do you do when you’re going along as planned, making headway (or not) on your current creative projects, and a Shiny New Idea hits you out of the blue? The way I see it, you can […]