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Last night, I was looking over this ratings list of self-publishing services, which is curated by the Alliance of Independent Authors. I...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 6, 20202 min read
FAST IS OVERRATED
Last week was the third anniversary of my Lisfranc injury. For most people, a broken bone is a six-to-eight-week experience from injury...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 5, 20202 min read
"YOU'VE TAKEN YOUR FIRST STEP INTO A LARGER WORLD"
Happy Star Wars Day! In honor of the occasion, I'm listening to the soundtracks in the background as I write this email. 🔦 (Apparently...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 4, 20203 min read
TOO EASY?
Happy May Day! However, please don't celebrate it by getting yourself into a mayday situation. 😉 Speaking of mayday situations, I did...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 1, 20202 min read
ENGLISH VS. ENGLISH-MAJOR-ESE
A common reaction when someone slips into English-major-ese One of my favorite college professors essentially introduced herself on the...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 30, 20202 min read
THE WEIRD THINGS YOU HAVE TO GOOGLE
I live in the basement of my house. For the last few nights, I've been hearing some weird noises: scratching, rustling, small thumps,...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 29, 20202 min read
"MAWWIAGE!" (AND OTHER VERBAL DIFFICULTIES)
My professional hero Blake Snyder gave me a rule that I've been having trouble implementing in my work: "In a good...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 28, 20202 min read
"YOU KEEP USING THAT WORD. . . ."
Yesterday, someone asked me how I differentiate between some of the services I offer. (You know who you are—thanks!) I've updated my...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 27, 20202 min read
HOW DOES TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING WORK, ANYWAY?
After yesterday's post, it occurred to me that a lot of new authors probably don't know what happens to a manuscript once they send it to...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 24, 20206 min read
HOW WELL CAN YOU EXPECT YOUR BOOK TO SELL?
Last night, I was doing some research about how well sequel books sell compared to originals. There's a surprising lack of information...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 23, 20201 min read
PERFECTING PERSPECTIVE
You may have heard about the two students in Georgia who posted a racist video on TikTok (NOT. COOL.) and got expelled from school...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 22, 20203 min read
ADVERBS, BEGONE!
When I was in college, the campus newspaper had a weekly section called the Police Beat. It featured tiny blurbs (no more than three...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 21, 20203 min read
WHAT'S THE WORD?
Has this kind of thing ever happened to you? https://www.pinterest.com/pin/483433341224769205/ Embarrassing, right? Besides the misused...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 20, 20202 min read
WHEN WHACKING CHARACTERS ON THE HEAD . . .
As you might have guessed by now, I may have done one or two silly things in my life. Thankfully, some of them have helped lead me to...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 17, 20203 min read
THE NOT-SO-USELESS SNOWSHOES
In college, I took an outdoor recreation class, which included a day of snowshoeing in the mountains near Provo, Utah. I had a ball and...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 16, 20203 min read
ARE YOU WRITING FOR AN EIGHTH GRADER?
In my editing capstone class in college, I learned about something called popularization. Essentially, it means taking a highly technical...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 15, 20203 min read
JUMPING THROUGH (MORE) HOOPS
As the weather has been getting warmer in Denver, I decided to buy a bike so I could check out the local trails and get some exercise...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 14, 20203 min read
SCARS
Update: My surgical scars as of August 2020 (ignore the patterning from my sock 😁) The other day, my roommate "M" set up an Easter-egg...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 13, 20203 min read
THE SECRET TO SUCCESSFULLY WRITING HUMOR
You know you're a nerd when you get to the point of analyzing humor. 😁 In my defense, Dr. "O" started it. He was my Introduction to...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 10, 20203 min read
THE THINGS WE FEEL COMPELLED TO SAY
I recently joined a Facebook group that was formed in response to an invitation from my church's president to fast on Good Friday for...
Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 9, 20203 min read
THE STORY ENGINEER BLOG
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