As we’ve been working to get Plume out into the world, we have been thinking a lot about how arduous the process of writing and publishing a book can be. To get a recent firsthand account of this process, we conducted a mini interview with Casandra Lopez, who will be an upcoming featured writer with Plume. Plume: Did you always know you wanted to be a writer? Casandra Lopez: I always … Read more
The Myth of Summer Reading If you’re like me, you often begin the summer with this image of relaxing in the backyard or by the pool, devouring all of the books you didn’t read throughout the year. Maybe it’s the pervasive myth that things will be easier in summer, that your schedule will magically clear itself to match the weather, or maybe it’s the memory of childhood summers, of having … Read more
Pivot for Plume
“Are you familiar with the word ‘pivot’?” the judge asked. The judge was on a panel of mostly male business owners in the community as well as some folks in the entrepreneur ecosphere. Melanie and I are both graduates of the University of New Mexico’s creative writing program. We both hold Master’s of Fine Arts degrees: Melanie in fiction, I in creative nonfiction. We we are both well aware of … Read more
It’s that time of year when every other article you come across is about spring cleaning—throw it out, donate it, organize, organize, organize! But here at Plume lately we’ve been thinking about the idea of spring cleaning your creativity, so to speak. Just like a home, a creative mind can become cluttered and difficult to navigate. So how do you find your way back to your best creative writing self? … Read more
A monthly Plume subscription is sent each month to your home. You’ll receive a personalized letter from a successful woman writer along with a sampling her work. We’ll also include some tea and goodies, writing prompts, and the opportunity to connect with other women writers. The Plume Plus! subscription (launching at the end of the summer) will include a book, and extras, items to nurture– what we are calling Self-Care … Read more
If you’ve talked to Melanie or me over the last few months, you know that Plume is …. well, maybe you don’t know what it is other than something for women creative writers. We’ve actually been refining our idea, researching the market, and we entered a business plan competition that we hoped would net us some startup funds. Melanie wrote about those results in the previous post (hint: as writers, … Read more
Ouch Facing rejection is never easy. Whether it’s not getting a promotion, being dumped by your significant other, having your kid tell you that the dinner you just made is gross, or getting a form letter from your favorite literary magazine saying “unfortunately your work isn’t a good fit for us”, it all can sting. As creative writers, if and when we decide to submit our work for possible publication, … Read more
Library Magic There’s something magical about libraries. Whether it’s being surrounded by so many books or being in the company of others who are of the bookworm persuasion or maybe it’s all of the childhood memories they evoke–whatever the case may be, I think of the library as my happy place. As a child, I spent countless hours in my small hometown’s library, reading The Babysitter’s Club, The Borrowers series, … Read more
Do people read short stories anymore? It’s fair to say that they do, but the audience just isn’t what it used to be (in quantity more so than quality). As Stephen King puts it in The NYT Sunday Book Review, “Once, in the days of the old Saturday Evening Post, short fiction was a stadium act; now it can barely fill a coffeehouse and often performs in the company of … Read more
For a while now you’ve been reading our blogs and seeing our social media posts about creative writing; maybe you even took our marketing survey, but who or what exactly is Plume, anyway?
With a hat tip to one of my writing mentors, Judy Reeves, I thought I’d write about writing groups…. The first writing group I ever attended was a half-day workshop facilitated by Judy Reeves, author of A Writer’s Book of Days, and Writing Alone, Writing Together (and More!) . It was in 19- 90-something hosted by the first iteration of the San Diego Writing Center. The 4th Street building was … Read more
A was for A New Romance The first time I read a mystery I was visiting my aunt and uncle’s house in Aptos, California, a small town just south of Santa Cruz. They had a sunroom on the west side of the house with a wall of bookshelves. Filled with books. For some reason I picked up A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton. Although the book was a cozy mystery … Read more