By Rita Lewis All photos by Rita Lewis I recently went on vacation for a month in the French Alps. (Tough, I know, but someone has to do it!) When I set off, I had optimistic plans for lots of productive, sunshine-y writing sessions on some mountainside. I took laptop, notes, paper and pens and pencils. I was ready. Well, guess how that went. I hiked. I ate tasty bread with ten different kinds of cheese. I read good books and learned to sleep again. I spent quality time with [...]
By Andrea Wenger, andreadavidauthor.com Photo by JessBaileyDesign via Pixabay As was announced earlier in July, the Heart of Carolina Romance Writers are now part of TAF! Formerly a chapter of the Romance Writers of America, HCRW is committed to supporting romance authors through education and networking. We offer quarterly face-to-face events as well as a monthly Book-in-a-Week writing competition. We also present periodic educational webinars through TAF. All TAF members are welcome to [...]
From Pixabay by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke By Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld, ProlificPulse.com Triangle Association of Freelancers presents WriteNow! 2025, a one-day, in-person conference on May 17th at the McKimmon Center at North Carolina State University. Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld will be presenting “Using Poetry to Elevate Journalistic Writing.” In this post, she gives us a preview of her talk. At the heart of every good story is the pulse of poetry. T.S. Eliot As a teacher of[...]
by Domanie Spencer, www.KerningEditorial.com Image by pexels-helloaesthe “I wouldn't worry about it – just use a pen name. Get your writing out there!” Couched within this exuberant advice from a well-published writer, the too-easy flippancy of it all escaped me. Of course! I thought naively. A pen name for every way to tell a story will solve all my problems. Fiction will know me as A, nonfiction will know me as B, and I shall submit poetry under C. There was indeed a way to be [...]
Image by Pexels from Pixabay by Lee O’Connell “When I am in my room alone and I write Thoughts come easily, words come fluently then” ~ Sheldon Harnick If you’re not familiar with 1960s back-catalog Broadway musicals (Really? Just me?), that quote is from the song “Will He Like Me?” from the musical She Loves Me. I consider it the introvert’s manifesto. If you have seen the movies You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, or The Shop Around the Corner [...]
Image from Pixabay by Ray Shrewsberry By Don Vaughan For much of my career, I stridently opposed writing for less than a professional rate. Pennies per word, I felt, was an insult. Writers deserve dollars. A few months ago, however, I had an epiphany: Sometimes the purpose of writing is about more than just the money. My change of heart came with the release of a new magazine titled Cryptology, which is devoted to horror comics, television, films, and related media. In [...]
Image from JDK from Pixabay by Maya SpikesExecutive Director, Triangle Association of Freelancers It’s time to look back on 2024 and the many special moments for TAF and its members. Here are some of the highlights:April marked the return of Write Now!, our popular spring writing conference. Our keynote speakers were award-winning science fiction/horror author Nicole Givens Kurtz and Writer’s Digest editor-in-chief Amy Jones.Conference sessions included: “The [...]
Photo by Mike Rumble By Mike Rumble, www.rumblesrumblings.wordpress.com Shortly after I joined TAF and became very interested in doing more writing, I had a sit down with Don and asked him, “Where is the best place to do writing?” Don’s answer was very simple, he told me, “Find a place, even just a small corner of your house, and when you find that space, decorate it in such a way that when you are in it, it will inspire you to write and create.” Not too long ago, after [...]
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay By Chanah Wizenberg October is the month of International Dyslexia Awareness. I discovered this when doing my research in preparation for my interview with Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, prolific co-authors of the Hank Zipzer children’s book series. Many of you will remember Henry’s infamous role, Fonzie, in the 1970’s hit comedy show, Happy Days. For those who may not know who Henry Winkler is, he’s an actor, producer, and director [...]
Photos from Pixabay by jhenning and rperucho By Sarah Merritt Ryan If there is power in disclosing something that bears personal risk, the chance is that it is a story that needs to be told. With each passing year in our country, the discourse on mental health deepens. People want to understand serious mental illness better and more research is being devoted to finding the root causes of it. Editors are becoming more receptive to articles about all aspects of mental health. [...]