VS Grenier ~ Award-Winning Author, Speaker & Podcaster

What is the inspiration behind writing “Baby Come Home”? When I hear of taste or see something good, I have to let others know. The same rings true for a good story. “Baby Come Home” was inspired by a true-life story that proved to be a good life lesson. My daughter was in the rebellious teen years when every rule was viewed as a hindrance to her growing up and enjoying life. She would often tell me I was caging her and stopping her from experiencing the world.    At that time, we had a beautiful bird named “Baby”. He belonged to my son, Sam. He was an unusually friendly bird that seemed to enjoy exploring our home from the perch of someone’s shoulder. Often we would take Baby outside, but kept him in the confinement of his cage. My daughter seemed to have transposed her feelings of entrapment onto Baby and decided one day he didn’t need a cage outside. She defiantly placed him on her shoulder and preceded to head outside, thinking the bird loved her too much to fly aw

It has often been said that writing is a pursuit best undertaken as a hobby or a genuine passion, with any financial gains resulting from it being viewed as a bonus. Although almost every writer, whether specialising in fiction or non-fiction, likely dreams of fortune, fame and topping a best-sellers list, the contrasting reality for many is that their writing barely pays the bills, even if they have a supreme talent. The writing profession as a whole is sometimes overly romanticised and writing is perceived to be one of the elite arts, with the printing press offering people a chance of immortality. When people speak of great writers, images of Shakespeare or Milton spring to mind, yet, on the flip side, there are a host of talented writers who have failed to achieve such far-reaching success and influence, or have failed to make money from writing during their lifetimes, despite seemingly having the talent to do so. It is clear, therefore, that the difference betwe

Today we have debut author Traci McDonald sharing her thoughts on writing, revision and critique groups.   A few years ago, I was listening to a series of audio books, while recovering from a kidney transplant. These particular novels were topping the best seller lists and taking the country by storm. I hated them. The characters were underdeveloped, the story line was too slow, and I was not engaged in the plot…blah, blah, blah. I can do better than this, I told myself. If I know what’s wrong with these books, then I can write better ones. Armed with my sure knowledge of how to be a great writer I set out to write a series of stories that would top this pathetic group I had been reading.  A year and a half later, I can’t read what I wrote; it is so bad. What was I thinking? Well, I was thinking that a little talent and determination are all you need to write good stories. While that may be true, being a great writer in your own head leaves your stories good for… on