Author Archives: Gina Decker

From the HSW President  No, I’m not going to talk about New Year’s writing resolutions or how to find the time to write. Instead, I want to talk about a coincidence that brought into focus an issue near and dear: … Continue reading →

From the HSW President  Particularly because of looking at entries for the short story contest, I think it would be helpful to contrast two key elements of a story: setting and immediate scene. I’ve talked about immediate scene before; it’s … Continue reading →

From the President YOUR QUERY CHECKLIST So you’ve done your research, created a list (or a spreadsheet if you’re a paragon of efficiency and organization) of agents you want to query, and think you have everything you need. Your query … Continue reading →

From the HSW President USE THE HOLIDAY SLUMP TO YOUR ADVANTAGE Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Year. The next three months will suck you away from whatever writing routine you may have. Don’t lament, don’t cry, don’t panic. … Continue reading →

From the HSW President There’s no THERE there. How to engage readers with active verbs. Whenever you see “there” you usually have a passive verb, except when “there” is a place, as in “over there.” Word search for “there” and … Continue reading →

From the President Happy June! I can’t attend the June meeting, but I’d like to share recent experiences that relate to this month’s topic. Kindle Scout You can go to their website for all the details, but essentially this is … Continue reading →

From the HSW President  Howdy, Members, This month’s focus will be on Dialogue: what’s good and what’s bad. We’ll have hands-on working sessions followed by analysis of the dialogue we write in the sessions. Since our recent survey showed your #1 … Continue reading →