Facebook: Not just for keeping up with the family

Facebook has been a part of our daily lives since 2006. Facebook is so prevalent in our society that it’s become a verb in our daily vernacular (ex “I’m Facebooking right now”). 

Making a Lie Count: Developing Dialogue that Matters

Making a Lie Count Contributing writer Savanah Burns wrote this post offering advice on writing convincing dialogue for your characters. I had a friend once tell me that it is weird how we can never really know someone because we are not them, we are not omniscient, and we are not omnipresent. Yet, through our

Happy New (Literary) Year

We’ve done it!

We successfully completed another year and now we are looking at a new calendar with twelve fresh months of possibilities.

Exercising the Writing Muscle

Professionals don’t become great in their specialty because they made As in school. While this helps them become the professionals they want to be, developing their skills doesn’t stop once they receive their diploma.

Accepting Rejection

A former creative writing professor of mine once explained said that she received a small card, no bigger than a business card, in the mail. On this little card, were the words, “Your submission was not accepted.”

The (Too) Busy Writer

A common image of the writer is one where they sit with their laptop in an oversized, comfy chair, in front of a large picture window—with or without a sheer, gauzy window dressing of some kind, but either way, allowing entry for cheerful sunlight—a cup of steaming something, coffee, tea, on a small table beside them.

Weeding Out the Good Reads

My friend has a habit of reading the last page of a book, before ever looking at the first page.

Another friend doesn’t judge a book by its cover, rather they glance at its spine.

Yet another friend does this thing where they looks at a book’s sleeve, reads the author’s biography and pretends to talk to the author by wondering, how did you get from point A to point B? How can I get published?

#Hashtags are your friend: An Introduction to Instagram

Contributing writer and social media intern Elizabeth Evans begins a series of posts for authors on working various social media sites and using them to promote their work. The first in the series is on the platform Instagram.

Insights into True Crime: An Interview with Tannie Shannon

Contributing writer Laura Brackin recently had the opportunity to ask SHSU instructor and author of Seed of Villainy Tannie Shannon about his book and get some insight into his experience writing a nonfiction work about a true crime case so close to home.

Get a Grip

Get a Grip by Kathy Flann This post was written by contributing writer Laura Brackin. Kathy Flann’s writing has seen no shortage of prizes. As the 2014 winner of the George Garrett Prize, her short story collection Get a Grip (Texas Review Press, 2015) follows in the award-winning tradition of her earlier work. With engaging