The following is an assortment of 'writerly links' that will surely prove of interest and provide practical help to anyone seeking advice about writing. Everything can be found here - from assistance in finding the right agent for your work to wonderful articles and advice on a myriad of other writing-associated topics.

I hope this information helps and inspires you and I regret that my deadlines make it impossible for me to respond personally to such queries.

The Info Links:

The website of RWA (Romance Writers of America). This is one of the writing organizations I belong to (the only such organization open to unpublished writers) If you click on "Resource Links" which you'll see on the homepage, it will take you to a plethora of great articles, etc .. on writing.

Another tip is to explore the "Author Links" and "Member Links" because many authors and also not-yet-published RWA members have great writing tips and articles and other links on their personal websites.

Here is the URL:

http://www.rwanational.org/

This is a similar organization but this one is specifically for writers of science fiction. They, too, should have excellent resource information for you to explore if this genre interests you:

http://www.sfwa.org/

A link to really great writing articles on the website of another author. They are excellent. This is why it is worthwhile to explore the various author websites you'll find in the 'Author Links' section of the RWA website.

http://www.stephaniebond.com/how-to_articles.htm

More from the same author. This time in a Q&A format.

http://www.stephaniebond.com/Writers_pages.htm

One of the best resources around:

http://www.writersdigest.com/

This one has a bit of everything.

http://www.eclectics.com/writing/writing.html

This one is another author website --  her articles / advice are pretty basic, but may be of great interest as a starting point for the new writer.

http://www.lizfielding.com/tips.html

This one goes to huge sampling of articles on writing that appear on the website of the Denver local chapter of RWA. (see RWA above) That is another source for info --- if you visit the various "Chapter links" also listed on the RWA website, you'll see each chapter often also has great sections filled with practical, how-to, and inspirational articles on writing. 

http://www.hodrw.com/articles.htm

This one has a plethora of interesting resource links:

http://www.passionatepen.com/links.htm

This one is at the website of an author friend of mine and she has some of the best advice and articles available:

http://www.vickihinze.com/library.htm

The following are agent-related links:

The BIG agent 'union' here and filled with agent listings and great info:

http://www.aar-online.org/

All around agent info:

http://www.agentresearch.com/

More general agent info:

http://www.booktalk.com/agents1.asp

This one can overwhelm, but if you wade through it, it has tons of gems of info:

http://www.literaryagents.org/

Agent listings and general info (includes some UK agents):

http://www.invirtuo.cc/prededitors/pealj.htm

Info from the above-mentioned SFWA website:

http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/agents.html

General but good advice:

http://www.writing.org/html/a_agents.htm

For my beloved Scots (and others based in the UK ) ~ Just a few Scottish-based (and UK-based) writing groups I know of that might be of interest:

This one looks especially nice and has good resource info:

http://www.wordsinc.co.uk/Resources.htm

Another good one:

http://www.societyofauthors.net/groups/scotland.html

Yet another UK-based writing organization:

http://www.contemporarywriters.com/

Just remember, the best writing advice I have is to just sit down and do it.

Writers write. No book ever landed on a bookshop bookshelf that was not first written to completion, polished and  polished some more, and then sent out until it landed on the right agent's or editor's desk.

Develop a very thick skin. (this is a highly competitive and tough industry)

And if this is your dream ~ do not give up. We'll never know how many wonderful books we will never be able to read because someone somewhere gave up too soon.

Good luck to you!

All my best wishes,