A Writer's Life - Stephanie A. Cain

A Writer's Life, Indie Publishing, Self-Pub 101

What to Get a Self-Published Author for Christmas

By Stephanie December 12, 2014 May 27, 2016 5

Are you shopping for a self-published author? Are you tired of giving them notebooks and pens for Christmas? (Hint: You shouldn’t be.) Do you want something more meaningful or significant than yet another book on how to market your novel? Then you’re at the right blog! I have a list …

Book Reviews, Indie Publishing, Self-Pub 101

Book Review: Book Marketing Is Dead

By Stephanie December 1, 2014 December 1, 2014 1

How do you market a self-published book into a best-seller? Start with the absolute best book you can produce. This isn’t really a new idea–marketing experts have long been touting the importance of having a good cover design, professional editing, and excellent back copy–but it doesn’t end there. Author Derek …

Book Reviews, Writers I Like

Book Rec: FAE – anthology edited by Rhonda Parrish

By Stephanie August 20, 2014 May 20, 2016 11

Book reviews aren’t my mainstay here on the blog, but I like to tell people about books I enjoyed, and I have to say that FAE is one of my favorite reads this summer. I read it just after it released, and weeks later, some of the stories are still sticking with …

Stationery

My new addiction

By Stephanie March 31, 2014 March 31, 2014 0

When I learned we were losing our Staples in my town, I thought I would go into withdrawal. And I guess I have, sort of…except that I’ve found a drug to replace Staples. It’s called JetPens, and they’ve made a lot of money from me lately. Japan really is the …

Stationery

I Can Quit Anytime

By Stephanie March 5, 2014 May 27, 2016 1

My town recently lost a precious commodity. A cherished landmark really. Well, I cherished it, at least. And I’m still in the denial stage of grief. Our Staples store closed on March 1. Please bow your head with me for a moment of silence. In the month of warning we …

A Writer's Life, Nature

The Solution to Snow

By Stephanie February 5, 2014 May 27, 2016 0

This is what my drive home from work looked like today. Since then we’ve had probably 6 inches of snow, and more is on the way.

Here is my answer to that:

Because cats are perfect little space heaters.

My Writing Process, Nature

Sunday Snippet: Snowplows and Sixth Street

By Stephanie January 5, 2014 May 21, 2016 2

With the crazy snow coming down today, I thought this was an appropriate snippet. It’s from the story I’m currently working on–an urban fantasy set here in Central Indiana. One of the characters featured in this story is a character who appears in several of my other urban fantasy stories, …

NaNoWriMo, Travel

Never Plan a Road Trip During NaNoWriMo

By Stephanie November 20, 2013 May 20, 2016 0

Oops, I forgot to tell you guys what NaNoWriMo project I picked. I decided to go with my urban fantasy story that wants to be a novel. It involves a lot of small-town Indiana settings and characters I really like. It also has an overwhelmingly female cast. It’s a lot …

NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo by Year, Writers I Like

The NaNoWriMo Conundrum

By Stephanie October 30, 2013 May 27, 2016 0

Ten years ago I signed up for NaNoWriMo and wrote the novel I’m currently querying. I took this strange, new approach to novel-writing and called it a vacation–I took a vacation from what I usually wrote, which is epic fantasy, and decided to experiment with urban fantasy. I allowed myself …

A Writer's Life, Writing Fantasy

Calling All Non-Artists

By Stephanie June 20, 2013 April 15, 2019 2

I know some very talented people who write and also draw or paint. Some of my favorite writers even write, draw, and sing (Maggie Stiefvater, I’m looking at you!). And some of them seem to only require about four hours of sleep per night. (Laura VanArendonk Baugh, I’m looking at …

Category: A Writer’s Life