*deep sigh*

This is the hardest blog post I have ever had to write, and it breaks my heart in the writing of it. Two days ago, I heard the shocking news that one of my dearest friends, Lindsey J Parsons, had suddenly and tragically passed away.

Shocking is the word…at a time when words seem to fail. I simply cannot believe it and I cannot understand it.

Lindsey was not just one of my closest internet friends, she was one of my closest real friends. We talked and laughed almost every day, messaging each other back and forth like a couple of idiots, just being daft on the internet. http://lindseyjparsons.com/

She was one of the first people I’d share my woes with. One of the few truly wonderful people on this planet.

I met Lindsey back in 2010, along with my other AWB friends (Alliance of Worldbuilders)…

I’ve often heard that everyone has a book inside them. It may be true. But I think many people don’t realize how difficult it is to write a novel, let alone a good novel. First of all, you need self-motivation. You have to really want it, not so you can become famous, but because you have a burning need to write it.

You need tenacity, a willingness to keep writing no matter how difficult it is or how much criticism you receive.

You need a decent working knowledge of grammar and punctuation.

You need creativity/a good imagination.

You don’t have to write-what-you-know, but you need to be willing to do research to get the details right.

You need to read other people’s novels.

If you don’t already know how to create a novel, you need to study the basics of writing, plotting, character development, etc.

You need to be willing…