Hey friends and future authors, take a peek at our community calendar to find a workshop that's right for you. I'm here for every author, no matter where you are in your journey. Let's start with writing your rough draft. Every Wednesday at 4 pm, we get together for Write With Me, where we simply put words on the page side by side. If the blank page is your struggle, this is the antidote. And on Tuesdays at 11 am, our Guest Workshops bring in fresh voices and fresh ideas to keep you inspired and learning. Need a little accountability to keep the momentum going? Write On Track meets on the 2nd and 4th Friday at 8 am to help you actually finish what you start. And when you want to talk through a question or just connect with fellow authors over coffee, the Author's Brew Coffee Chat is waiting for you every Thursday at 11 am. Bring your mug and your questions. Jump into the Premium membership to have access to these events! If you're ready to roll up your sleeves and work directly on your manuscript, we've got you. The VIP Editorial Review on the 1st and 3rd Monday at 9 am is where you bring your pages and get real eyes on your writing. The VIP Group Coaching Workshop on the 3rd Tuesday at 8 am digs even deeper. Take advantage of our VIP membership today! Every one of these sessions exists to assist authors in our community in overcoming the challenge that's been holding their book back, whether that's finding the time, staying consistent, or finally getting solid feedback on their pages. So take a look at what would move you forward, and if those events are what you need, come join the membership level that includes them. We'd love to have you in the room. 🦫 Which session would make the biggest difference for you right now? Drop a comment and let us know!

One of the Substack publications I follow is called "Write, period." They have timely information on a variety of items to assist writers. This latest newsletter has information on grants and fellowships. "You’ll find big money fellowships for fiction writers, playwrights and poets covering your accommodations, travel and insurance! We’ve also got massive fellowships for visual artists, performance artists, filmmakers, and researchers among many other disciplines and mediums! https://open.substack.com/pub/writeperiod/p/over-1-million-usd-in-fellowships?r=26yiz2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

I am obsessed with watching and reading sci-fi ever since I watched the original Star Wars in 1977 as a five-year-old girl. I walked out of the theatre knowing that I wanted to be an X-Wing fighter and save the galaxy from the bad guys. Princess Leia was my first feminine hero, and I adored her. I'm currently listening to the Backyard Starship series by J.N. Chaney and Terry Maggert. Thirty-six audiobooks to date. If you love space opera, great space battles, strategic space station planning, power struggles, and a good love story, then you will happily disappear into this world for hours. Every single one of those books has made me a better writer. When you spend that much time inside a skilled author's work, your ear starts to change. You begin to notice how they open a chapter, so you can't stop listening. You catch the rhythm of a great line versus a clunky one. You feel the moment a scene drags, and you feel when it sings. You sense why a character feels real instead of flat. None of that is an accident on the author's part, and slowly, you start picking up on how to write better. You don't learn to write only by writing—you also learn by deliberately consuming great writing and paying attention to how it works. Whether you read with your eyes or listen with your ears, you're training your writing skills. So here's my challenge for you. The next time you're reading or listening to a book you love, ask yourself why this is a great book. How did they hook you? How did they make you laugh, or hold your breath? Then take that lesson back to your own manuscript and put it to work. Your favorite authors are some of the best writing teachers you'll ever have, and all you have to do is pay attention. What are you reading or listening to right now, and what has it taught you about your own writing? Tell us in the comments. I'd love to know. 📚