For Writers

An entertaining lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on the shape of stories.        Kurt Vonnegut is one of more than 100 authors whose writing advice I share in "Your Creative Writing Masterclass," my newest book. Published by NIcholas Brealey and available from Amazon and other outlets.Read Full Story

My dragon naturally speaking speech to text software has just been delivered and I'm really impressed with the results I'm getting so far! And actually to test it out I'm going to speak the document right now using the software. One important thing to note: If you do the tutorials before you start out on your own, you will save yourself a lot of frustration because you will know the exact commands to use. Of course, I'm going to edit this document since it's the first one I'm doing, but later...Read Full Story

When you think about children’s games, what comes to mind? Nintendo Wii or Game Boy? World of Warcraft or Battleship? But what about backyard games like ‘kick the can’ or ‘ghosts in the graveyard’? Shouldn’t these be included too? For Marlene Byrne, a children’s author and mother of two from Chicago’s Edgebrook neighborhood, the answer is YES, they should. For the first time at Laura Reviews, I’m happy to feature a children’s book author and share our conversation about the creation of...Read Full Story

In the spirit of including all types of authors and artists who have changed the world of words, I'm excited to launch the inaugural edition of Interviews with Awesome Musicians , featuring award winning singer and songwriter Dayna Malow . With a long career as a musician, Dayna has produced three fantastic albums: "Anywhere But Here, "Tangled Up in You," and recently released "What's the Worst That Could Happen." She regularly performs throughout the Midwest and also has opened for numerous...Read Full Story

The number of Internet users, 1.5 billion, surpasses the combined populations of North America and Europe, and that number is growing. Estimates put the total number of websites currently online at over 162 million. Facebook, the web’s dominate social network, marked it’s 200 millionth registered user a scant eight months after it’s 100 millionth user joined, and a measly five years after it was founded. Twitter, which recently reported a year-to-year increase of over 1300%, has helped to...Read Full Story