writer’s life – Rebecca J. Allen

Looking for My Recent Blog Posts?

I blog both on this site and at TheWingedPen.com. Here, you’ll find my recommendations for adult books. (I write these infrequently). At the Winged Pen, you’ll find my young adult and middle grade book recommendations, as well as thoughts on writing. I post there monthly. You can find those posts here.

Get Ready for WriteOnCon!

WriteOnCon is near and dear to our hearts at the Winged Pen because it’s where a lot of us first connected. I’ll be attending this year and I hope you will be too! If you haven’t before, here’s some tips on making the most of it.

Twitter 101 for Writers: Building Your Twitter Writing Community

Back in February, I wrote my first post in the Twitter 101 for Writers series. That post covered the Twitter Writing Community hashtags writers can use to find resources for every stage of the writing journey, from getting words on the page to finding a literary agent. At that point, I had the idea thatContinue reading “Twitter 101 for Writers: Building Your Twitter Writing Community”

First Pages: My Search for the Un-put-downable Start of a Story

I’m revising manuscript number five of my not-yet-illustrious writing career. The story is complete, has been read one critique partner and revised, and is ready to go to beta readers. This story has heists, fight scenes and even kissing (new for me since my prior stories were middle grade), and I’m very excited about it.Continue reading “First Pages: My Search for the Un-put-downable Start of a Story”

Twitter 101 for Writers

Over the holidays, my father-in-law mentioned that a friend had just written a book, his memoirs about the Vietnam War. Since my father-in-law knows I write, I felt like I should offer to help his friend, but I write middle grade and young adult stories. What useful advice would I have? Then I asked ifContinue reading “Twitter 101 for Writers”

Secrets of a Great Author Photo: An Interview with Pam Vaughan

I met Pam Vaughan at my first NESCBWI (New England Society of Children’s Book Authors and Illustrators) Conference in 2014. At the time, I was overwhelmed by the awesome authors all around me and my mind buzzed with all I was learning from the great workshops on craft and the publishing industry. I kept catchingContinue reading “Secrets of a Great Author Photo: An Interview with Pam Vaughan”

How I Hit My 2015 Reading Goal in June.

2015 was the first year I had a goal for the number of books I wanted to read. In previous years, I read books, but not as many as I would have liked. There were always books that came up in writerly discussions that I felt I should have read, but hadn’t gotten to. IContinue reading “How I Hit My 2015 Reading Goal in June.”