My latest Scoops4Scribes cover how developing a book proposal helps tap into your audience's needs, finding ways to prioritize creative work, an amazing MIT Press book I helped structurally develop, and more.

preview.mailerlite.io/preview/8012...

No more trophy hunting for big beautiful creatures says British Columbia

It's nice to see that an author whose hybrid memoir I structurally and voice and style edited for Stanford's press is interviewing about his life and work. A very impressive individual and scholar.

writing-latinos.castos.com/episodes/alb...

My latest post helps creatives consider how to draw on principles I've learned while training for decades in the Japanese self-defense art, Aikido, to build your writing life. Image by freepik.

www.vitalwordplay.com/post/claimin...

Happy Juneteenth! A good day to consider the value of diversity, as shared by civil rights leader, Baptist minister, and politician Jesse Jackson:

“Inclusion is not a matter of political correctness. It is the key to growth.”

Fun to pick up the recently released collection by the accomplished essayists, Rick Bass, and see that I'm on the acknowledgments page. I highly recommend With Every Great Breath, which I proofread for Counterpoint Press, if you're into nature writing and more.

Great to hear a fight to maintain public and other library services, and museums, has gotten early court support.

What remains, though, is frozen funding that had already been allocated for library services, as covered w second link below.

www.ala.org/news/2025/05...

www.ala.org/faq-executiv...

The late Canadian short story writer, Alice Munro, put it well when she said that a good story "casts a spell" rather than being all about following what happens, aka #theplot.

Learn more here: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Happy #worldbookday! To keep reading options open for all, consider purchasing from banned book lists of your choice, and learn about how books increasingly are being targeted and anti-ban measures from groups such as PEN America in the U.S. pen.org/book-bans/re...

This, and less support from traditional publishers in recent years, is why #bookcoaches can be life savers, helping keep projects moving forward (particularly if brought on during the book idea stage).

Get a free guide to test your book idea's potential and join Scoops4Scribes for #writingtips and #publishingtips at subscribepage.io/scoops4scribestips

I may have to take my editing hat off for this one, but shouldn't it really be called Fri-yay?

Learn how to cover characters with mental health struggles in fiction, via a new post from YA authors that dovetails with a guest post I wrote about covering health topics in general as a writer.

booklife.com/news/authors...

www.crazednovelist.com/post/health-...

The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...

For writers who've considered hiring someone to look at how their content portrays individuals--real or fictional--with a different background than their own, my latest post covers working with sensitivity/inclusivity/authenticity readers: www.vitalwordplay.com/post/when-an...

The price of eggs in the US is spiking, mostly due to #H5N1 bird flu. Solving the problem requires urgent, important communications from the CDC & FDA* and rapid development of research by the NIH**

* Currently paused by Executive Order
** Grant reviews now all canceled
www.kcur.org/news/2025-01...

For writers who want to use a middle-of-the-story scene to add impact at the beginning of their book or other work, the "e" is an effective #storystructure.

transom.org/2016/story-s...

A good day to honor connected leadership

Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

MLK, Jr.

So glad to have found a new social media option for connection that allows short takes on life, as succinct writing is my jam! 💃