Candee Fick's Blog, page 22

The Author Toolbox: Word Processing Made Easy

The most important thing to a writer is writing. Without words on a page, the rest ofour futurediscussion about formatting, editing, pitching, platform building, and marketing is pointless. So the first tools to put in your toolbox are those that will help you write and that’s why I’m about to help make word processing easier. Of course, you will need something to write about (and I’ve got my go-to tools for plotting a novel and unpacking what makes a character tick), but that’s a topic for a...

The Power of Setting Small Goals

It’s no secret that I’m a goal-setting woman and I’ve got a long list of things I’d love to accomplish this year. But recently I heard an analogy about goals that transformed how I think about the power of setting small goals.

The speaker described goals in terms of a soccer game or a football game. In soccer, players have one primary objective–get the ball into the net. And they basically run around for a long time with little measurable progress. In football, teams break the huddle looking...

The Author Toolbox: Establish Your Website as a Home Base

Nowadays, when everything is online and “Google” is a verb (as in “I’ll just google that”), every author needs a place where readers can find them. However, since social media channels rise and fall in popularity or adjust their algorithms almost as quickly as the weather changes, you absolutely need toestablisha home base on property you control.

A website (with or without a blog) is your home base and it certainly doesn’t have to be complicated. Just make sure it looks professional, stays u...

Guest Dawn Cahill – A Recipe For Single Moms

Dear readers, from time to time I ask others to share their stories of faith, hope, and love in order to encourage us all. If you have a story to share, you can find my guidelines under the Connect tab. In the meantime, welcome Dawn V. Cahill!

Recipe for Single Moms

Many years ago, my three-year-old son discovered a love for food preparation. He’d come up with all kinds of concoctions.Here’s one of them:

gallon of milk 2/3 quart chocolate milk powder Approx 8 tbsp salt can of pepper jar o...

Does Your Work Delight You?

“My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.” Eccl. 2:10 NIV

I started off 2016 with a determined focus (like the guy in the picture) on a few areas, but struggled through most of January with the uncomfortable realization that I just might be focusing on the wrong areas. Ouch!

You see, I have a financial goal for this year and that means I need to increase my business income. Through listening to various marketing podcasts last fall while preparing to laun...

Paying It Forward – Encouraging Other Writers

After ten plus years on this writing journey, I’ve gleaned massive amounts of instruction and encouragement from published authors further down the road. While I sometimes wondered if I’d ever have anything to offer future writers that hadn’t been said before, I knew that some day it would be my turn to pass along some wisdom while paying it forward.

Then came a day a few months ago when a handful ofus went out to lunch afterour local writers group’s monthly meeting. I mentioned a social medi...

Behind the Scenes: The Power of Great Editing

I have a secret weapon.

While it’s true I’m the one who dreams up characters, weaves together plot threads, writes 80,000 words, and then rewrites most of them multiple times, my story is not nearly ready until it’s spent time in the hands of my amazing editors.

Since I’ve recently finished the editing process for my next novel Dance Over Me (releasing in September), I’ve got plenty of examples of my secret weapon of great editing in action.

First, a little background. I wrote this particular...

Guest Travis Inman – Drowning Turtles

Dear readers, from time to time I ask others to share their stories of faith, hope, and love in order to encourage us all. If you have a story to share, you can find my guidelines under the Connect tab. In the meantime, welcome Travis Inman!

When I was a boy I spent most of my time outdoors. Fortunately, I grew up in the ranch country of West Texas, so there was plenty of outdoors for me to explore. One fine, fall afternoon, I was walking along and noticed a small box turtle trying to hide fr...

Behind the Scenes: Standalone or Series?

As part of my resolve to keep my focus this year, I’ve begun work on a new book and am right in the middle of the fun part of writing.

The dreaming. The imagining. The getting to know my characters and launching them on a journey.

But one question many have asked is if I’m writing a standaloneor series.

My first published novel, Catch of a Lifetime, is a “stand alone” book. A complete story from start to finish that doesn’t require (or benefit from) a previous story in order to understand it...

A Year in Review and a Preview

I have a confession to make as I look back over the past year and my One Word for 2015-Balance blog post. I desperately needed balance and also feel like I failed to achieve it, especially in the last few months with the fevered pitch of launching my debut novel. (Yikes! How’s that for a depressing year in review?)

The good news is that it’s never too late to focus on what matters most. My personal mission statement has been “Faith, Family, and Fiction” with the desire to keep my priorities...