Robin Tidwell's Blog, page 35

Writer Wednesday—Back to Basics

It occurs to me that many, many people are in the process of writing a book. Now, I’ve said repeatedly that not everyone should do that, and I’ll stand by those words. See, there are storytellers, and there are writers. Often, very often, people have both of those skills. Sometimes they don’t. You may have […]

Prep Monday—Finding the Right Property

We spent Saturday on the Great Property Search. I suppose I could call this chapter one, because it might yet turn into a full-length novel . . . I do a lot of research before we even get in the truck and head out: location, size, terrain, area, neighbors and developments, aerial view, plat, etc., […]

RHP—New Stuff

Yes, stuff. I used up all my big girl words over the weekend, so you’re stuck with “stuff.” First big announcement: The Reduced Series is undergoing a makeover in anticipation of the release of book four: Repeat. Second big announcement: Debbie, by Conny Manero, is ALSO getting a makeover and will be reformatted into […]

Writer Wednesday—Beware the Ides of Social Media

You’re moving right along, doing your thing, promoting yourself and your books, and all of a sudden—BAM! You lose friends; people say mean things; sometimes, even, people threaten to “stop” buying your books and say hateful things about you. What the hell just happened? People. That’s what happened. First, it’s really hard to comprehend because […]

Prep Monday—Update and a Challenge

Our realtor sent us half a dozen or so properties to start looking at—yay! Now, we haven’t gone yet, we’re working on the pre-approval process, but most of those on the list are definite possibilities: 35+ acres, mostly wooded, and vacant. Good start. A couple of them have houses pretty near, as in the owners […]

RHP—Bogeyman 101

Calling all middle-graders! Here is your definitive guide to the monster under your bed—or in your closet! Shh! The bogeyman is here! You’d run if you could, but you can’t. You’re curled into a ball, hiding under the covers. Should you scream? Faint? Hold your breath and pretend to be dead? Nope. Take a […]

Writer Wednesday—Book Events

Yeah, here we go again. But I read something the other day that said book events can cost an author $500, and that’s just not accurate. Well, unless you count the therapist bills before and after . . . Most authors are absolute crap at selling their books. The biggest reason is distribution, if you’ve […]

Prep Monday—Uh Oh

So, it’s time. Time to find that piece of land . . . somewhere. And while I’m ridiculously excited to be able to start looking, in person, I’m terrified that we won’t find it, or it’ll be too late, or even that we’ll choose the wrong one. Our “wants” are simple: 35 acres, +/-, mostly […]

Writer Wednesday—Book Submissions

Or, how to get your manuscript accepted by a book publisher. I blog about this quite often, it seems; why? Because of the sheer number of submissions I receive, approximately three a week, on average. Now, considering that window is open twice a year for 2-3 months each time, that works out to nearly one […]

Prep Monday—How to Handle a Crisis

Last night, we watched The Worst Movie Ever. Kid you not. “Area 407” should be banished, erased, burned, SOMETHING. The basic premise, annoying girl-child aside, was that a plane crashed in a government testing area. Roughly six or so people survived the crash: the annoying one (I can’t stress this enough), her sister, a fat […]