Sarah Belliston

MBM: 10 Things Your Freelance Editor Wishes You Knew by Sarah Belliston

Welcome to the fifth day of MARCH BOOK MADNESS! (Full explanation and schedule here.)

Today my sister-in-law, writing partner, and friend Sarah Belliston is here to help us with our editing, specifically working with a freelance editor, which she is. Sarah is incredibly smart and graduated from BYU with a degree in English when she was fourteen years old or something (okay, she was a little older, but not a lot). She’s been a huge supporter of my writing over the years, and I love her to pieces. She edits novels, picture books, doctoral theses, queries, and lots of other academic papers. She’s great. So are you ready for some tips when working with a freelance editor?

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Marching, Teaching, Writing

MBM: 5 Reasons to Get (or Not Get) Your MFA by Sarah Belliston

Welcome to the second day of March Book Madness! (For a complete schedule and explanation, see below this post.)

Today I have my wonderful sister-in-law, critique partner, and friend, Sarah Belliston as a guest presenter. Sarah was one of the first people who read my first manuscript, the first to give me encouragement in writing. Seven years later, her input and suggestions on my writing are invaluable. Plus, she puts up with me in so many ways.

I love her.

Sarah has written several novels and stories and she’s a regular contributor on grammarist.com. She graduated from BYU with a degree in English, and she was recently accepted into an MFA program in Kansas. I’m very excited for her–and me, since I plan to live vicariously through her. :)

So here she is.

5 Reasons To Get Your MFA by Sarah Belliston

5 Reasons to Get (or Not Get) Your MFA by Sarah Belliston

The decision whether or not to get a Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing is a big one. I have helpfully given you 5 reasons to get one, and, not so helpfully, 5 reasons NOT to get one.

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Marching, Writing

MBM: “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson”–by Sarah Belliston

It’s the fifth day of March Book Madness, and I’m loving it. Tons of great writing tips and advice so far, and we’re not even half way.

(If you’ve missed any days, make sure to catch up. The schedule is at the bottom of this post.)

Today, Sarah Belliston is here talking about the writers of Sherlock. You may have noticed that Sarah and I have the same last name. We married brothers (although she and I look more like sisters than they look like brothers).

Sarah was one of my first readers with Sadie. When she didn’t run away screaming, when she said she actually liked it, I had the courage to keep writing. Today, she and I still swap manuscripts for feedback. I love having her as a writing partner, and I’m happy she’s here as part of March Book Madness.

(See her previous post at the end of this one.)

Sarah Belliston:

“Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson”

That’s the final line of dialogue from the pilot episode of the BBC Sherlock, co-created by the amazing minds of Mark Gatiss (aka Mycroft) and Steven Moffat, of Doctor Who fame.

Even if you don’t know about the British geek invasion that was crammed in that last sentence, you know Sherlock. You know Dr. Watson. The story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (I tried shortening that to Sir Doyle and it just couldn’t do it) has been dramatized on screen over and over and over again.

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Marching, Pinning, Writing

MBM: Pinterest for Authors (Going Down The Rabbit Hole), by Sarah Belliston

Welcome to the seventh day of MARCH BOOK MADNESS!

Today, Sarah Belliston is talking about what’s Pinteresting in the book world.

You may or may not have noticed, but Sarah and I share a last name. That’s because we married brothers. Back when I finished the first draft of Sadie, I still hadn’t told anyone I’d written a book. It took weeks to tell my own husband. Lame, right? Well, my wonderful sister-in-law, Sarah, graduated with an English major. She loved books, both reading and writing, so she was the second person I told.

You know what? She didn’t laugh in my face. Bonus #1. Then she said she wanted to read it. Bonus #2. She promised to give me honest feedback. Bonus #3. And when she came back a few days later and really liked it, that was a huge bonus #4. Very huge.

Had she not seen my potential as an author, I don’t think I would have given my book to another soul. I would have chalked it up as another of my crazy ideas. But she had faith in me — even more than I had in myself. So . . . I owe her a lot.

Sarah and I have been writing buddies for five years now. She’s put up with my roller-coaster, new author venting. Poor girl. Funny enough, she and I look more alike and have more in common than the brothers we married. We’ve been mistaken for sisters before, which is fine by me. I love her. She’s awesome!

So, I’ll quit talking now and let her take over. Sarah

Sarah Belliston: Pinterest for Authors, or in other words, Going Down the Rabbit Hole

Pinterest was made famous by crafters and DIY’ers pinning projects to a board that showed images instead of links, so you could visually remember what you were going to do to your house, garden, clothes, and children.

Then others started finding Pinterest, designers pinning their inspiration boards, artists collecting their background works, and people in need of laughter collecting memes about angry cats and people with braces.

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