Category: How To

A few ways to get a mini-MFA in writing.

about me / How To / Indie Publishing / writing how-to / writing tips / YA

Here’s a helpful rule of thumb for novelists: Read 100 novels in the genre that you want to write in. You can choose any novels you like, but include recent novels, good books written within the last 10 years. Read the classic novels from this genre, too — just so you get a bird’s eye view of how the genre has changed over time

Garden Boss answers YOUR questions!

Easy-Growing Gardening Blog / gardening / gardening month by month / gardening tips / General silliness / horticulture / How To / Melinda has a gripe / pest control / urban gardening

Q: Dear Garden Boss, My neighbors are constantly peeking into my backyard to offer a running commentary on the dismal state of my garden. What can I do to make this stop?

A: There are all kinds of helpful plants out there that will save you heartache and agony.

1) Wisteria will creep into your neighbor’s yard and pull down their house like Samson in the temple, thus forcing your pesky neighbors to move. We now offer the WWE series, which includes “Hulk Hogan” with cute pink flowers and “The Rock,” which likes to creep into the kitchen to smell what YOU’RE cooking!

2) Our trumpet creepers have just come in. Michael Dirr says of these, “Plant these and run.” These vines will eat up anything you turn them loose on, including your neighbors. They are available in red, yellow, orange, yellow-orange, orange-yellow, red-orange, and puce.

Q: Wow, thanks, garden boss!
A: Yeah, no problemo.

Edible Landscaping

Book Preview yah! / Easy-Growing Gardening Blog / edible landscaping / foodscaping / gardening / gardening tips / horticulture / How To / permaculture / Tomatoes / urban gardening / vegetable gardening

It seems a shame to relegate food plants to second place in the garden. They aren’t as tidy as ornamentals, but they were bred to produce bountiful crops, but they can also look very good, and many of them can fit in well in a mixed border.

August List o’ Things to Do!

Book Preview yah! / Easy-Growing Gardening Blog / gardening / gardening month by month / gardening tips / horticulture / How To / Tomatoes / vegetable gardening

August is the hottest month — allegedly, as it started out as pretty cool here in Missouri, but now the heat’s finally showing up. At any rate, the vegetable garden is going like gangbusters right now. Here’s a little list of chores for the August garden, just to keep you up to speed.

In praise of the Alphasmart Neo.

Alphasmart Neo / How To / Indie Publishing / Self-Publishing / writing devices / writing how-to / writing tips

Now with the Alphasmart, my writing routine often includes waking up in the middle of the night and writing stuff in the dark, as I am now. I’ll put this under the covers on my lap so the tapping of the keys doesn’t disturb my husband, and I’ll write until I fall asleep. Or I’ll wake up in the morning and spend a few minutes typing on a story.

I’m teaching an online self-publishing class!

classes / How To / Indie Publishing / Self-Publishing / writing news / writing tips

This class will introduce you the zany world of self-publishing. We’ll talk about publishing options in the indie world, how to put your books out as ebooks and paperbacks, ways to build a newsletter and an audience, how to keep self-publishing costs down while doing quality work, best practices for success, and much more.

I’m teaching an online class in Indie Publishing!

classes / How To / Indie Publishing / Self-Publishing

This class will introduce you the zany world of self-publishing, where YOU make all the choices. You make your deadlines, your publishing schedule, your creative direction, as well as marketing and book design decisions. We’ll talk about publishing options in the indie world, how to put your books out as ebooks and paperbacks, ways to build a newsletter and an audience, how to keep self-publishing costs down while doing quality work, best practices for success, and much more.

Location! Location!! Location!!!

Book Preview yah! / Easy-Growing Gardening Blog / gardening / gardening tips / horticulture / How To / Tomatoes

The best place to grow tomatoes will have full sun for six hours a day. Hotter southern locations might need a little afternoon shade to give the tomatoes a bit of relief so they can survive and thrive. A well-drained site with rich, loamy soil is ideal. If you don’t have a location with full sun for six hours a day, you might have to trim back some tree branches. If your soil isn’t ideal, start adding organic material like compost to it.

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