Excerpt: Writers don’t usually suffer from a lack of ideas—we suffer from too many. Between errands, reminders, story ideas, and random questions, our brains can become so cluttered that writing feels impossible. Here’s how a simple five-minute “brain dump” can clear the mental noise, help you focus, and get you back into the flow of writing.
I’ve stopped collecting books for the person I imagine I might become someday. No one can read everything anymore—not with thousands of new books appearing every day and old books never truly disappearing. So I’m changing the way I build my library: only the books I want to read now, or very soon. No more guilt-inducing digital hoards. Just books that are actually mine because I’ve read them.
When writing starts to drag, the problem often isn’t laziness or lack of discipline — it’s that you’ve lost sight of what you’re writing toward. In this post, I explore the “magic cookie” method: finding the one scene, moment, or beat in your story that excites you enough to pull you through the difficult middle. Because sometimes the best cure for procrastination is knowing there’s something wonderful waiting a few chapters ahead.
The first quarter of the year has disappeared in a blur of drafts, edits, releases and looming deadlines—business as usual at Stories Rule Press. Mark is deep into the next Thomas Billings thriller, Tracy is preparing new fiction and nonfiction releases, Taylen is starting an all-new fantasy series, and Cameron has another big-concept science fiction novel on the horizon. Different genres, different voices, same mission: story comes first. Always.
Most people think reading ebooks on a phone is impossible: the screen is too small, there isn’t enough text, and you have to keep swiping. But once you discover the trick that makes page-turning effortless, phone reading becomes not just easy, but addictive. Here’s why your entire library belongs in your pocket.
Readers do not know what they want until they see it. They cannot ask for the strange combination, the odd obsession, or the idea that should not work but somehow does. That is your advantage. The books that stand out now will not be the safest ones. They will be the ones only you could have written.
She didn’t lead armies or topple kings—she simply thought. In a world that was growing increasingly hostile to independent minds, Hypatia of Alexandria became one of the most brilliant—and dangerous—women alive. Her fate would shock the ancient world and echo through history as a warning about the cost of knowledge.
The voice that breaks your writing streak doesn’t show up on a bad day.
It shows up after a good one—and tells you to take tomorrow off.
Struggling to reach flow when you write? It might not be a discipline problem. Flow isn’t just about focus—it’s about whether your brain trusts that everything else is handled. If your mind is still tracking loose ends, unfinished tasks, or “don’t forget this” thoughts, it won’t let go. And without that mental quiet, true immersion in your story stays just out of reach.
International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women in every sphere of life—but it’s also a reminder that progress never happens by accident. Equality is shaped in everyday moments, in the choices we make, and in the behaviors we accept or challenge. Whether writing strong women in fiction, uncovering the forgotten women of history, or simply modeling respect and fairness in daily life, each of us has the power to influence change.
