A Blogoversary Interview With Sara Letourneau

July 9, 2016July 7, 2016 / saraletourneau / 41 Comments

Happy Blogoversary

Today marks the blog’s 7th birthday! 😀 It seems like forever ago when I signed up for a free WordPress account – and to be honest, I had no idea what I was doing back then when it came to blogging. But since then, this site has evolved so much, and I’ve learned a lot and become a better writer because of it. And now, it’s time to celebrate this special birthday with a post that YOU, the readers, voted for.

Last month, readers selected an interview with yours truly as this year’s blogoversary post. I admit that I was a little nervous about this – but I’m an introvert. Of course, I would be nervous about being interviewed. This turned out to be a lot of fun, though, and I thank everyone who submitted questions. Enjoy!
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Submit Your Questions for a Blogoversary Interview with Me!

June 21, 2016July 6, 2016 / saraletourneau / 27 Comments

Happy Blogoversary

The poll results are in – and the “Interview with Sara” option won by a landslide! So, for this year’s blogoversary, YOU the readers have the chance to grill ME with questions. How does that sound? 😉

Today’s post is a call for questions for the interview, which will post on Saturday, July 9th (the official blogoversary date). You can ask me anything about writing, books and authors I’ve read, tea, music, something else – it’s up to you! But first, in case you need help thinking of questions…

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Happy New Year – and Here’s to 2016!

January 6, 2016June 1, 2016 / saraletourneau / 24 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you had a enjoyable and safe end to your 2015; and would like to wish you the best in health, love, and creativity for 2016.

Also, I know I keep thanking you, the readers, for helping to make this blog what it has become… But, honestly, YOU deserve so much of the credit. Thank you for commenting on each post, sharing your thoughts and ideas, and sharing the links on your own blogs and on social media. Most importantly, thank you for your enthusiasm, encouragement, and thoughtful feedback. You put a smile on my face every day I’m here. 🙂

I used last year’s Happy New Year post to sort of “wrap up” the 2014 highlights for the blog and for me personally, and to look ahead to 2015. Since I was happy with the final product, I’ll do the same again for this year’s:
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Welcome to the Updated Website!

May 28, 2015 / saraletourneau / 24 Comments

Yes, I finally buckled down and did it! 😉

Welcome to SaraLetourneauWriter.com! It’s just like my previous blog, except with a domain name, a new theme, and a few simple cosmetic changes. I still have a couple other tweaks in mind, but right now I feel comfortable enough debuting the upgraded site to readers.

What do you guys think? Do you find it readable? Less cluttered? Easy to navigate? Also, I’d like to include a Random Facts section on my About page. What kinds of facts would you like to see there? Maybe favorite authors, books, movies, etc.? Anything funny or more unpredictable?

Take a look around and let me know what you think (and what random facts you’d like to know about me) in the Comments section below.

Podcast Interview at DIY MFA

May 7, 2015May 7, 2015 / saraletourneau / 3 Comments

Yesterday, Gabriela Pereira (a.k.a. my boss at DIY MFA) interviewed me at DIY MFA as part of the site’s new podcast series, “Behind DIY MFA.” We talked about my column Theme: A Story’s Soul and the importance of themes in stories we read and write. We also talked about non-theme-related topics like versatility vs niche writing, the purpose of passion in one’s writing life, and writing rituals. In other words, LOTS of writing topics. 🙂

I have to admit: I was sooooooo nervous right before the interview and again before I listened to the finished product last night, but I knew doing this would be fun and also good “public speaking” practice. And it was. Plus, Gabriela is an awesome interviewer and host; she’s warm, encouraging, funny, and adaptive to any technical glitches. (*ahem* Skype disconnections *ahem*)

The interview is roughly 45 minutes and starts right after Gabriela’s introduction. I hope you enjoy it!

Click here to listen to the podcast interview at DIY MFA.

Chronicling The Craft: FIRST DRAFT – DONE!

February 26, 2015February 25, 2015 / saraletourneau / 35 Comments

What’s Next, and A Question For You

Chapters Completed: 35

Chapters In Progress: 0

Chapters Not Started: 0

“Chronicling The Craft” is an article series where I share my experience with writing my current work-in-progress (WIP), which is a fantasy novel. Every 5,000 words, I let readers know what I’ve accomplished since the previous article and share advice, discoveries, techniques, etc. Besides the word count in each article title, a “chapter ticker” at the top also tracks my progress as I use the skip-around / “writercopter” method to write the novel. Today’s installment celebrates the completion of the first draft.

SURPRISE! 😀 I had originally promised to post a new Chronicle when I hit the 115,000-word mark. However, between various blogging commitments and how quickly (on my standards) I was cranking out the remaining chapters, I decided to wait on a novel-writing update until it reached the most important milestone of them all. And now – 25 months and 132,000 words after I started with an outline and this crazy idea of a quest story with magic, life-size Faeries who can fly, shadow demons, and a female protagonist who is her own worst enemy – the first draft is finally DONE! Continue reading →

Time Flies!: January 2015

January 30, 2015January 30, 2015 / saraletourneau / 9 Comments

[EDIT: Somehow I forgot there were 31 days in January, so this is accidentally going up one day early. *oops*]

No, that’s not possible. Another month hasn’t gone by yet. I’m still trying to get used to writing 2015 instead of 2014!

That pretty much sums up how I feel as I write Time Flies!: January 2015. The first month of this year went by way too quickly – and it was an awfully stressful month offline, which stalled my blog-writing for a while. I was forced to put articles for this site on the backburner just so I could meet my deadlines for my outside columns. So… yeah, January 2015 was a blur. Things look like they’re starting to slow down, though, so I’ve been able to start catching up and cross off items on my “to-do” list.

Let’s be more positive from here on, starting with the past month’s updates: Continue reading →

Chronicling The Craft: 105,000 & 110,000 Words

January 20, 2015January 18, 2015 / saraletourneau / 15 Comments

Your WIP’s Characters and Their Myers-Briggs Personality Types

Chapters Completed: 28

Chapters In Progress: 4

Chapters Not Started: 3

We’ve hit the home stretch now! I’m itching with excitement and impatience now that the first draft is getting closer to THE END. Half of me wishes I was already there at the finish line, done and ready to collapse creatively speaking. That’s when the other half of me chimes in, “Not yet, Sara! Be patient.” It’s a very fine tightrope to walk, but I have to keep at it for now.

I took work-related time off around Christmas and New Year’s to relax and (among other things) work on the book. That “mini writing vacation” helped me pass not just one word-count milestone, but two! So, for brevity’s sake, I’ll give a general overview of my progress since early December: Continue reading →

Happy 2015 – and Thank You!

January 1, 2015December 30, 2014 / saraletourneau / 23 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you ended your 2014 with a safe and fun celebration; and I wish you good health, joy, fulfillment, and great success in 2015, whatever your goals may be. 🙂

I also want to extend huge hugs of gratitude to everyone who visited the blog this year and continues to come back on a regular basis. 2014 turned out to be the most successful year statistically at this blog, with more visits, likes, and comments than in years past. *breaks out confetti and pompoms*

One thing has undoubtedly contributed to that increase: outreach. Joining Twitter and making a greater effort to visit blogs by writers, book reviewers, and other bloggers last year helped make a difference. But there’s only so much I can do myself by commenting and putting myself out. So, for all your feedback on book reviews, novel updates, and other musings… for your retweets and Facebook shares… for your support, curiosity, and enthusiasm… I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Now, I’d like to look back on what 2014 meant to me, and what my hopes and plans are for the year ahead. Continue reading →

Time Flies: December 2014 Edition

December 31, 2014December 31, 2014 / saraletourneau / 9 Comments

Looking for this month’s Freelance Article Round-Up? It’s here – under a new name!

The Freelance Article Round-Up series will now be known as Time Flies!, a monthly wrap-up article that… well, does exactly what the Freelance Article Round-Ups had been doing. Originally, the round-ups were designed to share my columnist projects at A Bibliophile’s Reverie, Grub Street, and DIY MFA. Then I started including other happenings related to writing, this blog, and life in general. And so the round-ups evolved into something more – and a couple weeks ago, I realized the title didn’t fit the purpose anymore. What do you think of the new name? And the new logo? 🙂

Let’s jump right in with this month’s updates: Continue reading →