by Diane Hatz | Mar 22, 2023 | Musings
I’m a little late to the pandemic, but I’m currently recovering from a nasty bout of covid. It’s been over two weeks since I started feeling ill, and I’ll admit, about five days were scary and beyond exhausting. But I’m on the mend. Still...
by Diane Hatz | Mar 7, 2023 | Musings
Bruce Springsteen (© benhoudijk for Deposit Photos) December 1980. I was 19 years old, at university, and writing a philosophy term paper. My father phoned in the middle of his football game to tell me that John Lennon had just been shot. He died not long after. My...
by Diane Hatz | Feb 22, 2023 | Indie Writing & Publishing
Image by Tolimir for Canva Pro Argh. I did it again. I started last week’s piece intending to discuss my feelings around AI and how complicated technology has gotten, and I ended up writing a term paper on writing groups. Why am I doing this? I feel like I’ve turned...
by Diane Hatz | Feb 16, 2023 | Indie Writing & Publishing
Photo by Extreme-Photographer for Canva Pro Right now, I’m sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Santa Fe, New Mexico. The drive here was a glorious eye-feast of post-storm snow beauty and a feels-like temperature of zero. What would get me out in such cold...
by Diane Hatz | Feb 8, 2023 | Misc
Helloooooo from New Mexico I’m overwhelmed. Do you ever feel like the world is coming down around you? That you have so much work to do that you feel dizzy thinking about it? That’s where I’m at right now. I’m at a point where I can’t even look at my To Do list....
by Diane Hatz | Jan 24, 2023 | Indie Writing & Publishing
(Image by yulkapopkova for Canva Pro) This morning, I was at my desk drafting my weekly article. The subject doesn’t matter, but it was on sensitivity readers, the pros and cons – and controversy – of hiring one. I’ll probably write the piece...
by Diane Hatz | Jan 17, 2023 | Indie Writing & Publishing
By Latino Life for Canva Pro You’ve spent months on your book. You wrote a decent first or second draft. Are you ready to publish? No. Writing also involves editing, publishing, and marketing – whether you go indie or traditional. In other words, writing is a...
by Diane Hatz | Jan 10, 2023 | Indie Writing & Publishing
Writers are writing in all corners of the world, from all ages and backgrounds, and they tend to fall into three categories: Personal Part Time Full Time Knowing which category you fit into can help you understand how to structure your life and what to do with your...
by Diane Hatz | Jan 3, 2023 | Newsletters
(Photo by sianc for Canva Pro) Welcome to the Next Draft ‘Zine, a roundup of recent posts and bits and bobs I picked up along the way over the past month. Next week I’ll start on my indie writer and publisher journey and share with you tips, tricks and lessons I’m...
by Diane Hatz | Dec 27, 2022 | Musings
At the end of 2021, I closed my nonprofit, Change Food. I thought I’d continue consulting and working in some aspect of healthy food advocacy as I wrote fiction. The universe had other plans. In early spring, a friend (Kri) reconnected after fifteen or so years to say...
