Category: writing

  • Interview with Andy Weir, author of The Martian now up on The Maker Mom

    When you fangirl in public, sometimes others hear! My friend Kim Moldofsky of TheMakerMom.com knew I was a big fan of the book The Martian and offered me the opportunity to interview author Andy Weir for her site. I was thrilled with the chance, and after some mayhem and mishaps of scheduling (which I’ll tell…

  • How I wrote a novel in 20 minutes a day (and you can, too!)

    How I wrote a novel in 20 minutes a day (and you can, too!)

    I just wrote “the end” today on my middle-grade science fiction novel. I wrote it over the course of forty days, with a short break in the middle to finish a novelette that was burning on me (so forty non-consecutive days.) I’m somewhat astonished with this fact, as it didn’t feel hard. I’ve written four…

  • CONVERGENCE – by Karen T. Smith, a YA Sci-Fi novel

    CONVERGENCE – by Karen T. Smith, a YA Sci-Fi novel

    Desperate for something new to read? My young adult (young end of YA, perfectly appropriate for most middle-grade readers) science fiction novel CONVERGENCE by Karen T. Smith is now available on all ebook platforms (amazon kindle, barnes and noble nook, smashwords for most other e-readers. Note: Kobo and Sony Reader distribution should be within the…

  • E-book Formatting Checklist

    How to Format your e-book for independent publishing In formatting ebooks for independent publishing, I’ve found that the detailed information offered in the Smashwords style guide, while top-notch and something that EVERY indie publisher needs to read, is a bit hard to parse when you’re going through the routine of formatting another book/story for publication,…

  • Writing with my kids

    Writing with my kids

    So I’ve been doing a lot of non-writing lately. Or, more accurately, writing for purposes other than other’s enjoyment, as that’s the only way I can think of accurately describing a Needs Assessment document or a Benefit Communication Piece. I mean, I’m sure the people reading the needs assessments and benefit communications feel very…entertained in…