ARC Review — I Rise

Title: I RiseAuthor: Marie ArnoldGenre: YA FictionPages: 320 pagesPublication date: August 2, 2022  Thank you NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review! I'll start with my highest praise: I enjoyed this book more than The Hate U Give. I Rise is about a teenager—Ayo—dealing with racism and … Continue reading ARC Review — I Rise

Fantasy and sci-fi tips from an award-winning editor

I attended a Reedsy Live where Jonathan Oliver gave some wonderful tips for fantasy and sci-fi writers that I'd like to share. Some of these tips are for all genres though. What's a word count for fantasy and sci-fi? For adult fantasy, he mentioned the range to be about 130,000 to 250,000 words. Sci-fi landed … Continue reading Fantasy and sci-fi tips from an award-winning editor

Free chains

The world met me with a smileTold me to dream for the skiesWhile putting chains around my feet I grew up with chains digging into my skinFor years, I didn’t realize they were thereBut when I did, I couldn’t take them off Sometimes, the world comes back aroundAnd lets a random person out of the … Continue reading Free chains

The sad truth (haiku)

Yearning for the dayWe don't have to fight to liveAnd can be ourselves Copyright © Robin LeeAnn Perhaps I'm just waiting for the world to turn upside down. Copyright © Robin LeeAnn

Maybe friends (haiku)

If you had a clueor a hint that I exist,we could be good friends. Copyright © Robin LeeAnn

Common writing mistakes #5

#5 — Misusing hyphens Besides the gray with an a vs. grey with an e battle, there's one common spelling error I've often noticed while editing: hyphenated words. Sometimes we believe a word needs a hyphen when it doesn't. Or we forget the hyphen when we actually need one. It could also depend on how … Continue reading Common writing mistakes #5

How many rejections is too many?

A while back, I was on a live stream with Anna Akana when she did something that surprised me. Instead of saying "aw man" or so when I mentioned how many rejections I have gotten, she got excited. She said it was good for me. After the rejections made a mountain on my desk, they … Continue reading How many rejections is too many?

Book review – The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications (Spoiler Free)

“Even if you haven't formally studied English grammar, you know countless aspects of grammar as an English speaker. You would never say or write "I are hungrily very," no matter how many hours had passed since your last meal. Not all questions of grammar are that simple, of course, but many tangles are easily resolved … Continue reading Book review – The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications (Spoiler Free)

11 editing tips from a professional

At the ACES conference, one session had many editing tips for editors and writers. Here are some: Check all quotations (to see if it is a verified source) Don't ignore your inner voice (when it says something's wrong) Omit needless words Favor active voice (because we need passive voice sometimes) Edit out loud Advice is … Continue reading 11 editing tips from a professional

How to spark the story

Somedays, it’s hard to know what to write about. The inspirational genius inside shuts off and we don’t know what to do. But we have to write. Some thoughts could spark a story though, jumpstart our creativity. 1) Childhood memories Some childhood memories are more interesting than most. Perhaps you met a strange animal as … Continue reading How to spark the story