Empathic Ink

I don't know how many times I've heard non-writers say how easy it is to write. Some say we sit at home on our butts all day. Well, yes, I do write from home, and that does, in fact, involve a lot of sitting on my butt. "Writing is easy. Anyone can do it." Well, I somewhat agree. The millions and millions of books on Amazon are proof of that. The act of writing is easy and anyone who has a computer, or even a pen and piece of paper, can do it. However, writing something people will want to read isn't so easy. It's the difference between making a box of brownies, which takes no skill at all, or as complicated as a whipping up a fresh-baked eclair. Just because I can make a mean box of brownies doesn't make me a master baker. The reason I'm writing this post is to explain that I, as well as a lot of other writers, don't simply sit on our butts  doing nothing all day, which I feel a lot of people assume if you're a big-name author. Aside ...

To Wattpad or not to Wattpad... that's the question. In the book and writing world, there are many varying opinions regarding Wattpad . The ones that surprise me the most, however, are the ones that come from writers. After speaking on a panel at the Rocket City Lit Fest last year, an attendee said they thought Wattpad was useless and a waste of time for writers, since it was putting your work out there for the world to read for free. Well, I'm sure Anna Todd , now a NY Times best-selling author because of her After series, which was originally 'just a Wattpad story', disagrees. Her simple Wattpad story has been picked up by Paramount Pictures, so this is proof that Wattpad has its perks. Why Wattpad? The real question, in my mind, is why not? Firstly, you have the potential of gaining new readers who may enjoy your writing so much they become loyal readers, purchasing anything you write. Secondly, you get free feedback from readers who are (sometimes brut...

A little bit of me.... A month or so ago, I was in a funk on where I wanted to take book 3 in the 'For Always' series, so I took a weekend break and wrote ' Haunted ', which was a story that had been floating around in my head for a while. Since it's a fairly quick read, I decided to write it on Wattpad , which was/is rather frightening, since there's probably a million people on there from all over the world. Believe it or not, as much as I like to write, it's scary...putting myself (my stories) out there like that for all to judge. However, I'd rather get some bad comments or reviews than have regrets, always wondering ' what if '. The way I see it, opinions are all them , but regret is all me . I am so glad I faced my fears of failure and actually let people read my stories. My main goal was to write something that people would enjoy reading, and from what I've been told by readers, I've done that.  And I know that everyone isn...

My manuscript of 'For Always' When I printed off the first draft of my finished manuscript, I literally almost cried . . . like a proud new parent holding their baby for the first time. As you can see, my first child—ahem—I mean manuscript, was a doozy. At a little over 115,000 words, 'For Always' is a rather lengthy debut novel. Some YA publishers and literary agents won't even accept a submission if it's over 90,000 words. I gasped at this, knowing that there was no way that I would be able to cut anything out, and I didn't. Luckily, Limitless Publishing thought the length was fine and my debut novel is being published as I work to complete book two. Because I was able to get my debut novel published, and rather quickly, I might add, with no formal training or college degree, I thought I would share what I have learned (on my own) with others who, like me, have no clue to what the whole submission process entails. You have finished writing...