KS

Nightmares & Stars is currently available at Amazon, Barns and Noble, and other fine retailers.

Ethereal - Has been my favorite word since I first heard it as a kid. It conjured pictures in my head ahead of tulle, smoke, and stardust. I think about ghostly women walking through ancient castles or foggy graveyards in the middle of the night.

When I was very little I learned that stories could be a place to escape to. I could be a princess one day and a cave monster the next. When I got older, I learned to process events in my life through the eyes of characters. Words have power. By default storytelling has no choice but to be powerful!

Eat chocolate. Put it off until I can at least face getting the bare bones of the scene down. Eat more chocolate. Then a line at a time until I can feel every sense that my character's sense and feel every emotion that they feel. Afterward I have to take a break for a couple of weeks to process whatever it is that I pulled from my own experiences to immerse myself in that moment. Eat more chocolate. Move foreward. Write more.

The best investment I have made in writing is reading! Check out My Bookshelves to see where I learned how I wanted to write and develop my own author voice, style, and approach to communicating with my readers.

That you have to write every day to be a writer. Yes writing is the foundation of what makes a writer, but it is just the beginning. There are some days I need a breath and space from my stories, to see them through new eyes. I take those times to focus on the other parts needed to not just be a writer, but an author. I have runner up answer, don't share your writing, because someone might steal it. Feedback from good Beta Readers is so crucial to help with developmental edits. You can avoid someone stealing your work by being cautious with who you select and being prepared with what you need from your carefully chosen BRs before they even start. Come check out my BR Questions and Expectations!

It depends on what I am working on is the short answer. I do read works within my intended genre to get a sense of the style I want it to be written in and genre expectations. If it pertains to large parts of the world building, such as time period, specific settings, character details then I try to get lots of reference points. I usually will add these to specific boards in pinterest, add it to my Scrivner binder where it is relevant, or add it to my physically story/series bible. Get behind the scenes looks at research for my WIPs.

J. Darlene Everly - https://jdarleneeverly.com/ Kristy Mickelson - Lady For Hire and other works available on Amazon Check out My Quarterly Recommendations or My Bookshelf for links to all my favorite authors and their amazing works.