Archive for January 2011
Drumroll Please . . .
Thanks to all who participated in my Favorite Things giveaway by commenting here at Southern Exposure. I really loved reading what you had to say. You certainly cheered up anybody who took the time to read about the things that make you happy. Random.org selected five winners and those readers will receive an autographed novel…
Read MoreSummer Winds and Winter Blizzards
Winter Blizzards I truly wasn’t expecting the storm that began last night. First, the Washington DC area, which has somehow managed to dodge all east coast blizzards this year, is suddenly under siege. We woke up to a white world, no telephone, television or internet. Our neighborhood was lucky, because despite that, we still had power. This…
Read MoreEndings and Beginnings, Careers, Novels and Quilts
Although I have never started a novel I didn’t finish, I have a host of quilts I’ve begun that are still waiting for their final stitch. I quilt because it’s fun. Not because I need warm covers on my bed or bright patches of color on my walls. The real reason I quilt is because it…
Read MoreNovels, Novellas and Novellinis
I’ve always loved writing novellas. I’ve written more than a few in my years as an author, most often in a collection as a holiday promotion from my publisher. For someone who writes long books, novellas are an odd attraction. Still, from the beginning, I found the format was a welcome break. While our practice as…
Read MoreSnowflakes That Stay On My Nose and Eyelashes. . . Really?
Right about now, many of you are dreaming about spring. What a winter. Blizzards, mudslides, floods. And it’s still only January. But let’s not talk about climate change. In fact it could be dangerous for me to mention. After all the Attorney General of my own fair state, a global warming skeptic, is currently trying to…
Read MoreSaying Ahhh. . . Dealing With Stress in Our Lives
I’ve begun a new tradition. When I wake up in the morning, I turn on the light and read for a little while. It’s a much more civilized way to face the day than to jump out of bed running, which was my old tradition. Lying in bed a few extra minutes has had a welcome…
Read MoreWhen That Pesky “But Maybe. . .” Comes Calling
Last month I submitted a proposal for a new series to my editor and agent, both of whom liked it. A lot. How lovely. Whether an editor and agent like a book is not the first hurdle an author experiences. To begin we must come up with the germ of an idea, then expand it into something…
Read MoreIn The Beginning: With Nothing To Lose
On Monday I explained the reasons I was destined not to become a writer. Other talents and activities. Strange educational decisions. No scholarly examinations of the written word. And while all of those were factors, I saved the most important. Like so many of us, particularly those of us of the female persuasion, I was…
Read MoreIn The Beginning: The Creation of A Writer
Some months ago I asked my Facebook fans to suggest ideas for future blogs. What did they want to know that I could possibly tell them? I received wonderful ideas, and today I’m using one from Denise who said: “I’m interested in how you started out, all the details of how you became a writer.” …
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