Mary Ann

I find find helpful tips on the blog info@daily writing tips.com .  Some days I read it, but do not save the information. Other days it is spot-on with the exact answer I needed that day. I belong to the Writers League of The Villages, FL — where I live. We often have great speakers. Recently I heard […]

DON’T GIVE UP! To all writers, my message today is, DON’T GIVE UP. It has taken me almost ten years off and on to get my book to completion. There were times I would rather do the dishes or the laundry, than sit down to that annoying ever present computer screen. Today I am working […]

It’s been a long time since my last post. I have shamefully neglected my blog. Perhaps some of my followers are still out there. I welcome you back. What can I say, life happened.  Jumping to the bottom line — in May, 2013, I moved to The Villages, Florida with my rescue cat, Sammie.  More about The […]

Notes From a Ghostwriter Last month at Barnes and Noble’s Writers’ Night I caught Jane Lorenzini, a freelance writer, speaking on her recent  ghostwriting project.  This is not paranormal stuff; I’m talking about writers who write a memoir for another person. Often celebrities and corporate executives will engage a ghostwriter to tell their story either because they […]

  If You Write, You Are a Writer  I remember the day a published author said, “If you write, you are a writer.” That was an eye opener to me. She was speaking to a group of wanna-be writers at a writers’ conference. With that comment she instantly gave us permission to think of ourselves […]

   YOU SHOULD WRITE A BOOK  I guess almost everyone has thought about writing a book. It has been my intention forever; I always loved to write. Though I had no idea what I would write about, there it was tucked in the back of my mind—the goal to write a book some day. Writing […]

New Year’s Resolution I have not made a list of resolutions for the 2011. I have one goal: To get my manuscript FROM MONASTERY TO MATRIMONY in the hands of a publisher. In preparation for that I am slowly joining the social media scene. You can find me on Facebook now. Never thought I would be a […]

HAPPY NEW YEAR My wish for all is a peaceful, prosperous, healthy and Happy 2011. I rang in the New Year in beautiful downtown Nashville. A friend invited me to the Re-Opening of our magnificent Schermerhorn Symphony Center. It was the  celebration of  the first concert in the Center since the devastating May, 2010 flood that […]

A PIGGLY WIGGLY CHRISTMAS Author Robert Dalby has written a series of Piggly Wiggly books; the most recent is A Piggly Wiggly Christmas.  I heard him speak at a book signing at Spring Hill Library, Spring Hill, TN and gleaned words of wisdom about developing characters. Dalby says characters need a real story; the writer should […]

THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHER I attended a Barnes and Noble Writers Night in October. The speaker was Matt Braugher, Senior Vice President of Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville.  Some of the notes I took: Publishers are looking for emotional experiences, a deep story in memoirs. Have something unique to say and it must be written well. Agents […]

The writings in this blog will vary as my day to day life varies. I’ll share the progression of my writings, tips on writing and books I have found helpful in writing. My life with a rescue cat may appear now and then;  we rescued each other. I’ll try to make an entry at least […]