This is definitely one of my better pieces, maybe because I love peacocks. I've Always Loved Coloring Books I loved coloring when I was a kid, and as it happens I still love to color. I consider myself a wannabe crafter. I used to dabble in painting with acrylics, and while coloring in a coloring … Continue reading What Can Coloring Books Teach You About Writing?
Author: Meredith Allard
What is the Spark of Creativity?
The History Quill's Convention for Writers of Historical Fiction On Saturday, February 5, 2022, I was invited to speak at The History Quill’s convention for writers of historical fiction. My topic was writing and publishing short historical fiction. I had a lot of fun speaking to the attendees and sharing my presentation. Right before my … Continue reading What is the Spark of Creativity?
How To Avoid Clichés Like the Plague
Photo by Debby Hudson for Unsplash Writing is Rarely Easy For someone who loves to write as much as I do, I find writing quite hard. I love that saying from Thomas Mann: "A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." After all, who else but a writer … Continue reading How To Avoid Clichés Like the Plague
Living the Writing Life: Being Honest About What You Need
Photo by Mark Paton from Unsplash Productivity Can Be Over-Rated We’ve all become so geared toward doing more, achieving more, producing more that we forget to be honest with ourselves about what we really need, especially if what we need has changed. It wasn’t that long ago that productivity was all the rage. Everyone declared … Continue reading Living the Writing Life: Being Honest About What You Need
Living the Writing Life: Those Dreaded Supposed Tos
The Las Vegas Strip with a snowy background. Self-Acceptance Plays an Important Role in Creativity Accepting my life as it is, not as I wished it to be, has been an important part of the process as I learn to revel in this creative skin I’m in. However, like everything else that is worthwhile, acceptance … Continue reading Living the Writing Life: Those Dreaded Supposed Tos
What Exactly is the Writing Life?
What Does it Mean To Live a Writing Life? I’m not sure that being a writer or living a writer’s life are necessarily the same thing. We can be writers without pining for a writer’s life. And please note that while I’m talking about writing, you can fill in the blank with any artistic endeavor. … Continue reading What Exactly is the Writing Life?
Frequently Asked Questions: The Duchess of Idaho Edition
I've Received Many Questions About The Duchess of Idaho I’ve been promising this FAQ to my newsletter friends for a couple of months now, so let’s do this! 1. Are James and Sarah in the new book? Of course! What would a Loving Husband story be without James and Sarah? The main focus this time, … Continue reading Frequently Asked Questions: The Duchess of Idaho Edition
The Challenges of Writing a Time-Travel Story
Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash Where Did the Time Travel Inspiration Come From? I have a tendency to come up with story ideas a lot faster than I write them. I mean a lot faster. Fans of When It Rained at Hembry Castle know that I came up with the idea for that book … Continue reading The Challenges of Writing a Time-Travel Story