Nonetheless, I find I’ve learned a lot by visiting writing-related websites, and thought maybe I could share a few of the sites I’ve found useful.

The list is completely subjective and random, and reflects my own interest in the genres I like. Some are related to book reviews, some provide writing advice, others help with writing markets, some are by renowned editors and agents. This is by no means a complete list of all the sites I visit, they’re just off the top of my head.

Here’s the list, and feel free to point us towards other sites writers could find useful in the comments to this post. Happy browsing!

Guardian Books

Nathan Bransford

Stroppy Author

Alan Rinzler

Help! I Need a Publisher!

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1. Useful links to terrific articles and pointers from agents etc.

2. An Agent’s Wish List

3. Fab Writing Tips

4. Checkpoints when writing scenes

5. Brainstorming Techniques

Some of the links contain links to more useful writer’s resources.

Happy Reading, Girls!

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It’s been such a busy month! My new book, It Happened On Night, came out on November 1, and the reviews have been fantastic!

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of my writing at a café not far from my apartment. There’s no free WiFi (it’s a per hour service) but not being attached to the internet while I’m writing keeps me from getting distracted by things like Twitter and email. PLUS I’ve been doing a lot of research for a third book, which is set in a coffee shop. It’s win-win-win all the way around.

People often want to know how I incorporate my research into my writing without making it seem clunky or distracting. While writing It Happened One Night, I was fascinated with wildflowers—the folklore about them, how they got their names, the special characteristics that each flower has. I knew I wanted to write a book set at a wildflower farm, so I spent a lot of time reading about flowers.

As a result, each chapter of the book begins with a little bit of trivia about a different flower—and the trivia is actually a symbol for the action. For example, the book’s “dark moment” takes place in December. At first I thought—“Oh no. What wildflower am I going to be able to use for the winter months?”

But as it turns out, the flowers made it easy for me. There’s a summertime roadside plant, called common mullein, that looks a lot like a thick, tall rod or pipe. The ancient Romans used to dry out the plant, then soak it in fat and store it. During the dark nights of the year, they could use mullein as a torch to light the way. My hero and heroine, in their dark moment, find their own bit of light to keep them going.

Anyway, it was a blast researching wildflowers and now I’m having just as much fun learning about the history of coffee—which is wildly over the top and fascinating.

SO TELL ME: What do you like learning about: food, history, science, culture? One random winner will receive a free copy of my first book Simple Wishes.

Best,

Lisa Dale

www.LisaDaleBooks.com

A lifelong bookworm, Lisa Dale is a firm believer that there are few things in life better than curling up with a novel and a cup of tea. Lisa Dale grew up in rural Northwestern New Jersey before attending McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. She worked briefly in publishing before going back to school to get an MFA in fiction at Fairleigh Dickinson University. A nominee for Best New American Voices and the Pushcart Prize, her writing appears in many literary magazines, such as Fourth Genre, Flyway, Fugue, Sou’wester, The Southeast Review, The MacGuffin, Many Mountains Moving, and more.

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