The Setting Can Match the Action, or Not
All it takes is a foggy, unexpectedly warm morning in January to transform the world into something magical and full of mystery. We’re intensely sensitive to real-life settings and the moods they create, so it makes sense to use them carefully in our fiction writing, too.
Consider how a setting can support or contrast with the action of its scene. If a character learns on a Ferris Wheel that his girlfriend loves him, the setting piles happiness on happiness. If he finds out she cheated on him,… Continue reading
The Happy Lull
My house is full of people who are sleeping in. We stayed up past 3 a.m. last night talking, reading, and listening to music. Beyond the delicious meals, the new books, chocolates, games, and shoes, we have nurtured our family and renewed our sense of gratitude. In this whole world where so much is uncertain, how fortunate are those who spend Christmas at home with the ones they love.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
To Write or Shop. That Is the Question.
I have family, and needless to say, I love them. We are fast approaching the time of year when we express our love for people most obviously by producing gifts under a decorated tree. The tradition stretches back through ages of deep and silly happiness, year after year, so I’m not giving it up.
It means I need to shop, as in: it is a true project with a deadline. Since zillions of others need to shop, too, I get this sense of frenzy out there, this… Continue reading
The Spellers, the Non-spellers, and the Spellbound
Myth: Writers don’t need to worry about spelling because their editors will take care of it for them.
Truth: Writers care about their ideas and communicating those ideas clearly to their readers. They use every tool they can to explore their ideas, in draft after draft, often inventing a new process for each novel they’re writing. They cut and shift around chapters, write in and delete characters, streamline plot threads, lop off endings, try new ones, and get lost in research of obscure facts. They confer with… Continue reading
Gift Books for Favorite Kids
Long ago, when my nieces and nephews first came on the scene, my husband suggested that we stake out territory as the aunt and uncle who always send books for gifts. It was the perfect decision. We love the kids, and books, and giving. We live far from our families, so it was harder to create bonds with kids we seldom saw, and being book-senders gave us an identity that would have been diffused if we’d sent a toy one year and toe socks the next. … Continue reading
Ripples
When you throw a stone in the water, the ripples spread outward in predictably widening circles. When you throw a stone in a novel, it has ripple effects, too, especially if the stone kills somebody off. This makes sense as long as I’m writing from the beginning to the end of a novel, in order, but sometimes when I’m revising, I add an event later in the book and realize I have to go back in, earlier, to set it up. In such a case, I’m working… Continue reading
Ari & Milo, my serial novel, is now up on Wattpad! I drew illustrations to go with each chapter, and best of all, it’s free! Because of problematic themes, this novel is for mature readers age 17+.
Book Trailer for Promised