M.Q. Barber updates
Coming soon: Tuesdays with Jay No. 23: Challenge Accepted
Ah, winter. If you're like me and live in an area with freezing temperatures and snowfall for a few months every year (and jeepers, that area seems to be expanding farther south all the time!), you know that the post-holidays part of winter has two settings: Setting...
Coming soon: Tuesdays with Jay No. 22: Reading Challenge
It's autumn! We're deep in my favorite season in the northeastern United States, and that means my mental preparing-for-writing time is often on morning walks with the dog. We crunch through the leaves and watch for migrating birds headed to warmer climes as story...
Coming soon: Tuesdays with Jay No. 21: Map Reading
Have you ever walked along a beach and collected sea glass? This spring, I took my first real vacation—you know, the kind where you actually leave the house and have new experiences—in thirteen years. The adventure was a trip with my bestie—some post-divorce healing I...
BDSM Writers Con 2016 wrap-up
Wow. Seriously, wow. BDSM Writers Con NYC 2016 was such an incredible experience that I’m still processing the wonderfulness. The fun lasted all the way home, road-tripping with my bestie and finishing a pair of New York Times crossword puzzles in pen. (No, not the...
Behind the scenes: On finding inspiration and joy through stories
Note: This is the last of six posts going behind the scenes of my writing process — what inspires me, the way I work, and how I recharge. For links to the rest of the posts, scroll down. Writers get a lot of their inspiration from reading. Many of us — definitely...
Behind the scenes: On embracing the power of memories
Note: This is the fifth of six posts going behind the scenes of my writing process — what inspires me, the way I work, and how I recharge. For links to the rest of the posts, scroll down. Some memories wedge themselves so deep that they become your defining image of a...