Amanda Shofner's Blog, page 3

My word for 2017: upcycle

I hadn’t intended to choose a word for 2017… and then I made breakfast.

It started with Tater tots, as most good things do. I put my last food of 2016 (loaded Tater tots) into a frying pan, added a couple eggs, and made myself a breakfast burrito. It was delicious, and the perfect start to 2017 (even as I would later spill coffee on two separate blankets).

And I decided this concept would be my mantra for the new year: take what 2016 has given me and create something new and fabulous in 2017...

Historical Fiction — The Mystery Edition

Now that I’m no longer posting on my book blog, one of my goals has been to share what I’m reading, especially when it involves books I’ve checked out from the library. If I don’t buy a book, I want to support the author by talking about the book.

(Psst. This is something I encourage you to do, too. If you love an author or her work, support her whatever way you can, even if it’s spreading the word. Every little bit helps!)

I’ve read a couple mysteries lately that have been set in the Victor...

A case for reading the genre you write

Especially if it’s romance. (Seriously. Romance is one of the most misunderstood genres out there.)

So here’s the thing about genre: It’s a framework.Within each genre are conventions that readers expect (and want) to see.

We seek our favorite genres for the predictability of the plot, and we admire writers who twist conventions to create fresh stories. These can exist together, without contradiction.

Read to learn.

Facebook groups provide a wealth of information, especially in regards tothe...

On writer’s guilt (and planning for the new year)

Writer’s guilt usually comes in the form of the voice that whispers you should be writing.

Writer’s guilt doesn’t care what else is going on in your life. If you work 40hours a week, commute to work, and have kids (human or furbabies), you should still be writing enough to compete with peoplewriting full-time.

Writer’s guilt feeds you lies.

As I craftmy writing and publishing plans for 2017, I’ve had to take a serious look at my priorities. In a community where we’re told to make time for wr...

NaNoWriMo 2016 Recap

In November, I participated in NaNoWriMo. It went great… until it didn’t.

I don’t think I’m alone in saying that November was a rough month. I started off strong with 25,000 words within the first two weeks.

Then everything fell apart. Ha! But I ended the month with 40,000 words, which is no small amount! Here’s what I accomplished:

One Year

By far, One Year was mymost successful project in November. Topping out at 10,555 words, One Year is ready to be sent out to my email fun list tomorrow....

Adult and YA mysteries to give you a thrill

Pun most definitely intended.

While I’m a big fan of all things romance, my first love (heh) was mysteries and thrillers. I suppose it’s not really a big surprise that I ended up wanting to write romantic suspense.

Last time I talked about the books I’ve been reading, it was to spotlight some truly fantastic romantic suspense. Now I’ve got a couple mystery recommendations for you.

Adult mystery: Karin Slaughter

Oh my word, Karin Slaughter. I discovered her six or so years ago, and have been...

What Mel from Redemption is thankful for

Hey everyone! Mel, here. You may not know me, but you’ll find me as the lead (YES, LEAD, because Ian refuses to participate in this list-making torture, so I can say whatever I want) in Amanda Shofner’s book Redemption. She asked me to pop by today to talk about what I’m thankful for while she’s celebrating Thanksgiving with her family.

Seriously. Authors. Making their characters do all the work. Like I don’t have my own things to do.

These are the things I’m thankful for…

…my mom

HI, MOM, I...

Why you should add The Verbs to your inbox (or RSS feed reader)

Long-time blog readers know that I’ve enjoyed posting articles on writing, editing, publishing, and book marketing here, either on this blog or The Path of Least Revision. When I was working for Hillcrest Media, the marketing department and I were developing similar content for Published Magazine. And it was awesome.

But the company was sold and we got laid off, and nothing’s been done with Published Magazinesince we left. Enter The Verbs.

Rock your publishing journey with The Verbs

Pronoun,...

This is a safe place

If you need someone to talk to, I’m here. I am listening and I care.

I chose not to speak up during this presidential election because I have always wanted to avoid politicizing my online space. But I’ve learned that this is white privilege talking. Here’s an ugly truth: The American culture is designed for the white person (man) to succeed—which means it’s also designed for everyone else to fail.

That is not okay.

By staying silent, I have participated in and taken advantage of white privil...

ICYMI: A Veiled Truth and One Night

If you follow me on Twitter, you might know that I’ve talked about updating my blog. About a year and a half ago, I merged my content from The Path of Least Revision with this website. It was a fantastic idea.

Unfortunately, it left me with a lot of messy content. I recently decided to get over my bad self and get to updating the images, SEO, and links. Consistency is good. Making sure older content is still relevant is better.

Diving into all 200+ blog posts showed me, much to my embarrassm...