KCVLAA is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that provides legal and accounting assistance to artists and arts organizations from all creative disciplines, including visual artists, writers, musicians, playwrights, actors, dancers, filmmakers, photographers, graphic artists, theater companies, orchestras, crafts groups, artists cooperatives and neighborhood arts councils.

Do you wonder why your cover letters and writing samples never seem to land you any writing assignments?

If so, you need to subscribe to Writers on Call.

Every week, subscribers to Writers on Call receive 55 minutes of group coaching to help them build their freelance writing careers. Not only that, but subcribers are part of a listserv that helps them network with each other all through the week. If they write additional queries during the week, they can submit them to the group for review BEFORE they send them off to publishers.

This Thursday night on Writers on Call we’ll be polishing up subscribers’ resumes and starting on queries to major magazine markets. Subscribers will also learn some tips for writing cover letters that get noticed.

Find out more about Writers on Call and subscribe here.

I’ll hope you’ll subscribe and join us this Thursday night!

Have a super week!

As The Working Writer’s Coach, I always hope I’m making a difference (for the better) in the lives of my family, friends, coaching clients, and other people in my personal network.

Thanks, Hal, for letting me know that I AM.

I have so much to be thankful for this year - a loving family, great friends and fellow writers, wonderful coaching clients and former clients, and a way of life that I love because I wake up excited and eager to start each and every day!

She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985 and established herself as a systems designer and consultant in Dallas, Texas, writing software in a variety of programming languages. In 1989, she moved to California to attend law school. While a law student, she participated in a “study abroad” program in London and clerked as an unpaid stagiaire in a small international French firm. She graduated from law school in 1992. She has licenses to practice law in New York, Texas, California and D.C.

She began developing material for a novel in 1998. In 2002, she attended a workshop for lawyers writing legal fiction. She was also accepted into the 2002 Summer Seminar for Writers at Sarah Lawrence College, but was not able to attend due to unexpected obligations. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime and Authors’ Coalition.

Recently, I interviewed Susan for a Writers in the Sky podcast segment. Listen to the interview here.

Below is a synopsis of her book, Wearing the Spider.

It starts with a simple unwanted kiss…and evolves into a labyrinthine trail of forgery and illusion…a hijacked identity, a corruption scandal involving a U.S. Senator accused of channeling illegal benefits to a shady South American firm…even kidnapping and murder. Wearing the Spider by Susan Schaab, first in a series of fiction titles from Galavant Press, may be the only novel to combine elements of sexual harassment, identity theft, and political scandal into one sophisticated plot set in the hard-driving corporate culture.

Evie Sullivan, a rising legal star on the fast track to partnership at her respected New York law firm, is being set up for a fall…a BIG fall. Besieged initially with seemingly innocuous recordkeeping errors, she overhears portions of a shocking telephone conversation. Then, she is blindsided by discoveries that are much more troubling: impersonation of her email username and unmistakable sabotage of one of her client projects causing a groundswell of doubt within the firm about her competence. Once her name is linked to a deal containing a questionable, and possibly illegal, arrangement, she has no choice but to conduct her own clandestine investigation to clear her name.

An FBI agent confronts her with tough questions about murder and fraud for which she has no answers. As she searches for the truth, the electronic evidence shifts and transforms behind a dynamic veil of security—and certain pieces of the puzzle simply disappear. How will she gather tangible evidence to prove her innocence among the elusive clues and carefully woven traps? At stake: not only her professional reputation and her future with the firm, not only a commission worth $25 million—but several lives.

If you’re trying to get started as a freelance writer, but just don’t seem to be making any REAL progress, subscribe to Writers on Call. Every Thursday night you’ll be able to ask questions and get information that will help you create the freelance writing career of your dreams. Plus, you’ll receive personal coaching at a very affordable price, via this weekly group teleclass.

Subscribe to Writers on Call here.

Sometimes writers just need to take a break, and this was a much needed break for me, even though I did get some writing done while I was there.

Still, we had time for other things. Mainly, we got plenty of fresh air and exercise. We went for daily hikes and walks and even did some yoga since Sam is studying to become a certified yoga instructor. We also ate healthy foods and just relaxed and enjoyed hanging out together.

So, what’s your plan?

Most people have only a vague plan at best.

Plus, the plan they do have involves activities they dislike, so what are the chances of their plan ever succeeding?

I’d say, slim to none.

Here’s an example: You want to eventually quit your regular J-O-B and freelance fulltime.

So, your plan is to one day start making cold calls to small business owners and offer them your writing services.

Yikes! The BIG flaw in this plan is that you HATE cold calling.

Worse yet, you hate the type of writing that most small businesses want and need.

When you really think about it, even if this plan did succeed would you really enjoy this type of freelancing any more than you enjoy your regular J-O-B?

Probably not.

The key to creating a GREAT plan is first deciding the type of writing you really love to do.

Next, you need to figure out how to attract this type of work in a way you don’t hate.

When you make this type of plan you’ll be much more successful and much happier because you’ll actually be doing work you love.

So now….make a plan.