Who knew you can make this easy Caramel Sauce just by boiling water? I have wanted to try this method for years but I never thought it would work. Let me be the first to tell you……it really does work!

Ingredients – Yes that’s it but don’t open it!

Remove the label.

Fill a deep pot with enough water to

cover the can by at least 1”. If it gets

lower than 1” you will have to add

more water. I simmered mine with a

lid and didn’t need to add any more

water. Bring the water to a simmer

and simmer for three hours. Keep on eye

on it and adjust the temperature as

needed to keep it at a simmer.

Do NOT open the can.

 It will remain sealed the

entire simmering time.

Remove the pan from the heat.

Carefully remove the can from the water.

Let the can cool and then…

on Just Publishing Advice:

Can you improve your writing with the Hemingway app?

Clearly named after Ernest Hemingway, the Hemingway editor is a popular free writing tool.

Compared to other grammar and spelling checkers and writing software it is a simpler alternative.

There is a desktop version available for Mac and PC, which is quite cheap. But most users prefer the online free version writing editor.

Like all free writing tools, there are some compromises. So how well does the Hemingway app stack up?

Continue reading HERE

When you’re writing a novel, you want to use concrete, everyday verbs. Examples of these are jump, smile, run, look, show, and eat. You can picture the actions in your head and there is no ambiguity.

He ran down the street and jumped over the fence.

Replace weak or dead verbs with concrete verbs as often as possible. I say as often as possible, because there will be rare occasions when the weak or dead verbs are necessary.

Weak verbs usually end in ‘ate’ or ‘ize’. You know the ones. Some examples are finalize, incorporate, anticipate, categorize. They leave a vague sense of action without spelling it out. As a reader you have to reach for it, and these verbs can really way down your sentence.

The bookkeeper utilized her expertise to manipulate the numbers.

Dead verbs don’t evoke movement or images. They stop the action. They allow us…

Today, I am thrilled to host fantastic author, D.L. Finn. After visiting a couple of the other stops on this tour, I have decided that this book is a must read! Hopefully, you will agree.

D.L. is offering some fun giveaways on her tour. If you leave a comment at any of The Button tour stops, you might win one!
The Button Tour Giveaway:
2- “The Button” Kindle Format
$5 Amazon Gift Card
1-“The Button” Signed Paperback and Book Marker

* * *

Poetry has become an essential part of my life. I’ve found a place to express my hidden emotions. Some of my poetry no one will ever read, it’s more venting and healing than anything else. The rest I share on my blog or newsletter, and I’ll be releasing my first poetry book, “Just Her Poetry Seasons of a Soul” March 22nd.

While I’m writing a book, I…

I am currently hard at work editing my 90K+ collection of short stories that will be published soon. As I go through this work and apply some of the things that I’ve learned editing other authors’ works, I found that I have some crutch words.

In public speaking, crutch words are things like ‘um’ or using the word ‘so’ to start sentences when there is a pause needed to collect your thoughts.

It’s a bit different in writing. In writing, crutch words can pop out at you during the editing process. This is partly true because enhancements to Microsoft Word’s grammar check actually point them out with nasty brown underlines (appropriate color).

The important thing to remember is, if you overuse a particular word or phrase, your reader will notice it and will start to get annoyed by the frequent repetition.

My Crutch Words

My worst crutch words that I…

So happy, now I’m crying to be so honored by such a world wide literary organization. Happy Tears. This organization has writers from 105 countries united in Christ, many are Nobel Prize nominees, and United Nations literary chair holders.

Dear Authors,
The Ambassador De Literature award maintains qualitative literary ethics, it’s given with a dual purpose as below.

* To give focus on global talent

* To make sure all national micro talents are applauded and merged with the macro United world of literature

We have so far awarded, and identified talents in 28 nations. The people have been chosen with an unbiased approach attempting to cover all nations by Motivational Strips.  We have honoured from small countries to big nations like from Bhutan to US.  Our search for national talents of every countries continues and we will make sure that Motivational Strips will leave no stones unturned in finding national…

on Make a Living, Writing:

Magazine editors can seem so unapproachable. Am I right? You send them a query, and nothing.

But there’s one place where many editors seem to be easier to connect with: Twitter.

As someone who once got $6,000 of assignments from a tweet, I’ve always been a fan of trying editors on this platform.

If you call an editor, you know it’s going straight to voicemail, every time. Right?

On the other hand, asking a quick question on Twitter can be a useful workaround. Some magazine editors love Twitter, and turn out to be fairly approachable on there.

Interested to learn more? Let me give you my favorite question to tweet to an editor. I’ve also got a list of interesting magazine editors (online and traditional print) you might want to follow on Twitter:

Continue reading HERE

If you’ve ever edited a manuscript, you’ll know that it takes many drafts and lots of re-writing to shape said manuscript into a readable book. Amongst those drafts should be a pass that includes finding a word that is repeated so much that you could turn it into a drinking game.

I call these instances The Repeats; a list of words that I know my writing-self likes to cram into sentences, but my editor-self knows shouldn’t be there.

My personal Repeats list includes…

• Though
• Realize/Realized
• Took
• Stood
• Surprise/Surprised
• Doubt

These are the words that flow during a first draft and then survive the rest of the drafts because they’re so ingrained in my writing voice that I don’t even notice them.

When looking at these words amongst others, it’s easy to think that they’ve been used sparingly, but with a Repeats draft added during the revision process, it’s plain…