Bashful Blagger
A blagger is bold and gets what they want by brashly saying things that are not always true. A bashful blagger is the same, but shy with it. Sounds weird? Well, yes: but that’s me, both a bold extravert and a shy introvert, only I tend to tell the truth, even in fiction. Here in the Bashful Blagger blog, I post boldly on my life as a sapphic author writing for a universal audience—anything to do with writing, publishing and marketing books—and rather more shyly on my real life. Happy reading!
The author with her inhouse editor, Chino
Meme’s the word
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Which is great for people like me. When I’m lost for words, I can’t talk or write. Nothing serious, it happens when I’m overtired, usually after I’ve been focusing too long and hard on somebody else’s words....
Five Fresh Ways to Beat Writer’s Block
If you’ve never been hit by writer’s block, either by luck or because you’re stuck in… a river in Egypt, this blog is not for you. For the rest of us, read on! Here some survivors of the block,...
A Taste of Janice
Do you have music on while you work? I usually play instrumental stuff cos I find lyrics distracting. Either way, as editor or author, I’m focused on language and the Wernicke’s area in my brain...
Psst… Wanna buy a book?
Hey indie author, do you suck at selling your book? Come on, be honest. You’re a writer so, ipso facto, selling is not your favorite pursuit. If you’re like me, you’d rather get on with writing...
The “guildy” pleasures of writing groups
One of my favorite advertising slogans is The Economist’s “Great minds like a think.” I like it not only because it’s clever wordplay, but also because the familiar phrase it plays with applies...
Making SENSE of gobbledygook
Back when I was editor of eSense, a magazine-style newsletter published by SENSE, the society for English-language professionals based in the Netherlands, one of my colleagues posted a question...
CAPital pleaSURE or PUNishment?
One capital pleasure of my real life is the license my day job—English language editor for Dutch academics—gives me to goof off on Google. Or, to put it in terms the taxman will accept: the time...
Q&A – Lara Zielinsky on editing the pitfalls of sapphic fiction
Lara Zielinsky has been a journalist, technical writer, educator, and fiction editor for more than 30 years. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, Lara is also an award-winning author of five sapphic...
Two rogues recommend thumping good reads
Please join me this week in giving a warm welcome to a couple of newcomers to the Rogues’ Gallery of Janice Readers. First up is Ineke Sterringa. Her snapshot shows her relaxing in her garden in...
Booklover Lisa Day and the BookTime Q&A
Lisa Day loves books—owning them, reading them, writing about them and talking about them. She carries at least one, maybe two or three books with her at all times and when she isn't reading, she...
The importance of plain language in fiction
How important is plain language in fiction? Here two frontrunners in promoting the new Plain Language Standard discuss the pros and cons blah balh My dear old Dad loved language. Besides Dutch,...