Writing Tips for Mysteries: If you are into writing mysteries and thrillers, here’s a blog post from Goodreads: Writing Tips from Mystery and Thriller Writers that you might find worthwhile. Writing tips are offered by Dan Brown, author of The DaVinci Code, and Mary Higgins Clark, author of Where Are the Children?

Here’s a list of upcoming children’s books posted on the Publishers Weekly blog: Publishers Weekly Spring 2018 Children’s Sneak Previews.

Subito Press is a non-profit publisher of literary works based out of the Creative Writing Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder and they are currently accepting submissions. Visit their website for guidelines.

Here’s a cool post on the Book Riot blog: When Reading Isn’t Enough: Book-Adjacent Hobbies! Also included is a list of teen books you might want to check out.

To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme. – Herman Melville

Hooks in writing. As writers, that’s one of the first things we learn—creating great hooks to get a reader’s attention. So on that note, here is a fantastic list of first lines from the Publishers Weekly blog, Shelftalker. The post, “Fabulous First Lines of 2017 (Round 1) is put together by Elizabeth Bluemle. I went through the entire list to read firsthand some of the great first lines in books.

How serious are you about your writing? Are you disciplined and set time aside for just that? Or do you, like many of us, find excuses to put if off until … later? On her blog, author Ingrid Sundberg brings that problem to a head. In her post, “You Can Make Writing Your First Priority,” she addresses this topic and then gives the writer tips on how to correct it. Makes a lot of sense to me when we keep telling ourselves like she notes in her post that: We tell ourselves that our writing must wait. We tell ourselves that we need more time and more money. We tell ourselves we’ll focus on our writing when we have fewer obligations, and less stress, and things calm down. We brainwash ourselves into believing it isn’t time. And so our writing waits. 

Submissions:  Cricket and Ladybug magazines   North-South Publishers

Have a fun summer and get in some writing!

Serenity

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island … and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life. – Walt Disney