Author Heather McCorkle

To stay on top of our game, and to keep up with the competition, we must always strive to improve our writing skills. Easier said than done in a struggling economy when every penny counts and gas prices are putting the oil-consuming vehicle on the fast track to extinction. Traveling to a workshop completely blows the budget for many of us. So what are we to do?  #WriteTip: Attend an online workshop instead of driving or flying to one. For writers of children's and YA books there is Write On Con which is completely free (no joke), and it's amazing. I know several of the ladies who host it and they are fantastic. There's also the San Francisco Writer's University (online). I haven't taken classes through them but I hear they're great. And keep an eye on my friend TS Tate who is putting together a list of other workshops. If you know of any great online workshops let me know in the comments!  Also, don't miss the live chat with myself and author Chris...

Today's post is a two parter. Tonight I'll be over at the fabulous YA Bound blog doing a live chat all about the Tour Of Secrets. That means you can ask about myself, my writing, my novels, just about anything! And there will be a swag bag with a signed copy of The Secret of Spruce Knoll given away to one chatter during the chat so don't miss it! It starts tonight at 6pm PT. You don't need an account of any kind, you can just sign in using your name, nice and easy. Click here to join in. And now for Twitter Tuesday! This first one is from Chuck Sambuchino about pitching to new agents: ChuckSambuchino  My first post as a Writer Unboxed contributor: Should You Pitch (and Sign With) a New Agent? The Pros and Cons: bit.ly/qP9Efu Don't miss agent Sara Megibow's chat on Thursday! SaraMegibow In honor of my son going back to school (finally, right?) - I'll run an #askagent here on Facebook on Thursday.... fb.me/1eNxpS5J7 Author Melissa Garrett spreads t...

This week I bring you a lot of great advice from agents and editors to digest, plus a few contests. Since so many of you have been asking, this first one is the first of my big announcements (mark your calendars): @ HeatherMcCorkle Heather McCorkle The first of my big announcements (and the last one happening!): tinyurl.com/4x2rzhy A live chat on YA Bound August 30th! #WritersRoad This one is an indispensible list of great tweets for writers from Jane Friedman: @WritersDigest Writer's Digest Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 7/15/11) - I watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the wee... http://ow.ly/1dQNGP If you love writing contests then you've got to check out Writer's Digest's new contest: @WritersDigest Writer's Digest Win $1000 in our new YA writing competition: http://bit.ly/qehF57 Enter your science fiction/fantasy story in our new competition: http://bit.ly/r0mbe0 Got winning romance? Enter it in our new Romance comp...