Nikki Loftin

Ah, bliss! The Book Fairy came today. But her teeth look pretty sharp.
Let me explain. I received three pacakages in the mail from a silent auction I went bidaholic on a few weeks back. Many, many books from that moneysuck, I mean, worthy charitable donation opportunity,  are now or soon will be in my possession. [...]

My life is full of chickens. I have the actual living, clucking kind here on my pretend farm in the Hill Country, the hens who lay their darling little brown eggs, rendering every day of my life an Easter egg hunt in miniature — oh blissful country life! (Dang. Where is that sarcasm font?)  Also, [...]

Hi, Writer Friends! Did any of you hear that news piece a few weeks back during the Olympics, about the relative psychological ramifications of winning the silver versus bronze medal? It went something like, yeah, gold is what you want, but if you have to win silver or bronze, you’ll be happier with bronze in [...]

I did it. I just finished my torturing of a young boy… I mean, my revision of Raymond. Now, off to a couple of Betas to make sure I don’t just “think” I’ve pulled it off.
But I think I may have. Squeee!
And now I face the prospect of a week at least before my Blessed [...]

And no, I’m not talking about your kids or mine, even though they may indeed be “characters.” I’m talking about those kids we kid’s fiction writers create on the page and then — somewhere between writing The End and the call from your friend/agent/beta reader with revision ideas/suggestions/orders/demands to beef up your plot — we [...]

I never thought I’d say this, but I’ve discovered something that’s more terrifying, humiliating, and painful than trying on a pile of swimsuits in April, after a long winter of chocolates and eggnog lattes.
Revising.
I’ve also discovered something that’s more thrilling, energizing, and plain-old-fashioned fun than a trip to Nordstrom’s with a girlfriend to buy shoes.
Yup, [...]

Well, I have a thousand things to do — revisions to plan, manuscripts to finish, lunches to pack, and many, many glasses of wine to drink — so it must be time for a blog post.
I promised a post on writing groups, but I’m mostly planning on telling you what I’ve got going on right [...]

Hiya, Peeps! Not much to report this week, besides writing like my life depends on it. (Does it? A good question.) So, instead of coming up with something witty and fabulous to say, I will help you blow a couple of hours at a writerly site. Check this out. Authors tell you how to pronounce [...]

For a writer, there’s nothing like that feeling you get when you’ve been to a really great conference, and you come home fizzy and full of ideas, encouragement from your peers, and potential writerly awesomeness.
I just got home from the Best Conference Ever. (Um, the conference was Austin SCBWI, driving distance from my house, so [...]

This week, a friend invited me and thirteen other middle-aged chicks to her house for a night of food, fun, and Bunco. (Which, for me, is like saying, Margaritas, Mojitos, and Root Canal. I loathe Bunco. But I like this woman very much and I’d never seen her house, so…)
When I walked in the front [...]