Author Archives

I am a writer of adventure stories (although this is not an official category my writing spans YA, NA, Speculative Fiction, and Romance) who taught high school English in a past life.

I am a freelance writers and editor who loves giving creative writing workshops and advising about the self-publishing landscape. I'll have 3 books published in my Chronicles of Xannia series as of April 2017, 3 non-fic industry publications, three short stories in two anthologies, and one essay on the believability factor in fiction writing in a guide to writing.

I am a mother and a wife with an OCD bent toward organization - but I hate cleaning and anything related to it, so I'm definitely not a housekeeper! ;)

I learned how to shoot an olympic bow when I was in high school and I look forward to taking it up again in the future.

I enjoy playing adventure games on my PSIII, X-Box 360, and Wii.

I have a quick mind and a good sense of humour but I am not a humourous person, though I try.

• 10 Things Every Writers Needs To Know About Conflict

  By M.J. Moores on October 17, 2016 • ( 1 )

  

  Originally posted on Sacha Black:
  Conflict – the foundation of every novel bled onto the page. Without it, your book flatlines harder than the grim reaper. No self-respecting book doctor will even attempt to resuscitate it. And yet, you need to, because…

• Editing Tip #133 – Cutting the Fat From Your Writing

  By M.J. Moores on October 10, 2016 • ( 3 )

  

  After writing and rewriting several drafts, you’re finally ready to submit your book to agents, publishers, or send it to an interior formatter for self-publishing… But then you notice/remember that the ideal length of a manuscript in your genre is… Read More ›

• Editing Tip #132 – The Dreaded Synopsis

  By M.J. Moores on August 22, 2016 • ( 29 )

  

  While it’s nice to think that once you’ve written and edited your magnus-opus, your editing work is done … think again. Time to Write Your Synopsis If an agent or publisher doesn’t get a “taste” for your writing in the… Read More ›

• Editing Tip #131 – Fact Checking

  By M.J. Moores on July 25, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  As an editor, one of the things I do is look for consistency in the book’s reality when it comes to human beings. The story might not be memoir or creative non-fiction, but fiction in any genre dealing with humanity… Read More ›

• THE HUMAN CONDITION: Infinite Pathways Press’ 1st Anthology Publication

  By M.J. Moores on July 6, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  It is with great pleasure that I announce THE HUMAN CONDITION — the first anthology published by Infinite Pathways Press celebrating those Canadians who participated in the many and varied writing contests held on this website since it’s inception in… Read More ›

• Editing Tip #130 – Scoping Out Your Scenes

  By M.J. Moores on May 30, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  I just came across this wonderful little infographic that really hits home on an important point – honing your scenes to make sure A) they’re necessary and B) they’re doing all you need them to 🙂 Happy Editing!

• Editing Tip #129 – Knowing When to Change Paragraphs

  By M.J. Moores on May 16, 2016 • ( 2 )

  

    One of the biggest things to remember when you’re writing fiction is to keep your paragraphs relatively short. Why? When someone opens a print book they don’t want to see a long line of unbroken text covering most of… Read More ›

• Editing Tip #128 – Pay Close Attention to What Your Body Parts Are Doing

  By M.J. Moores on May 2, 2016 • ( 2 )

  

  “Her eyes darted left and right.” “His fingertips fell to the table.” “Their arms dropped.” You might not see it (heaven knows I miss it in my own work more than I care to admit) but the body parts in… Read More ›

• e-Book Spotlight – What’s Your Story?

  By M.J. Moores on April 25, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  ~ A self-guided memoir writing workbook, part 1. So, you want to write your memoir, or maybe just write some stories from your life? You’ve come to the right place if you’re having a tough time getting started. This self-guided… Read More ›

• How to Hire a Professional Editor … and on a Budget!

  By M.J. Moores on April 15, 2016 • ( 0 )

  

  The team at Book Marketing Tools was kind enough to invite me to do a guest article this week. Here’s a sneak peek! Regardless of whether you’re an author planning on working with a publishing house or are doing it… Read More ›