Characters
The Conversation Concludes: Diane and Emilie
Diane Chamberlain and I have been chatting back and forth for the past two weeks, covering subjects like how to present “unsympathetic” characters sympathetically, character growth and change, whether characters become real to us, and more. If you missed the previous posts, you can scroll down here for my portions, and visit Diane’s blog, as…
Read MoreA Conversation with Diane and Emilie
Diane Chamberlain, one of my best friends as well as one of my favorite authors, is joining me for a chat on our blogs. To celebrate my new book, One Mountain Away, we decided to have a conversation about characters—specifically characters who might not be all that sympathetic, at least not at first blush. We started our chat…
Read MoreAggie Sloan-Wilcox Wants To Know
Some people can not be ignored. Even if you hope they’ll just go away if you send them a smile and a nod, in your heart you know better. They’ll still be hanging around at the end of the day, until finally, they can slip right in and ask a question or, in this…
Read MoreEverybody Loves a Hero
Novelists watch life unfold and shake our heads. There’s a test to tell just how absurd it all is. We ask ourselves, what our would editors say if we went to them with a particularly odd story. For example: “Have I got an idea for you. Let me do a modern day Titanic novel, okay? Only this…
Read MoreStill Haunted By Things I Don’t Know
Some of you who pop in an out of my Facebook page know that I’ve been working non-stop on character sketches for the first book of my new series, which will debut in August of 2012. Not all authors bother with this. Some are content to allow the character to reveal him or herself as…
Read MoreTreasure Beach–Whose Story and Why
By now, maybe you’ve guessed who the major character of Treasure Beach is going to be. The first installment of the “novellini” went up on Tuesday, to be followed by many more. Each Tuesday, right through July, a new part will debut. Timewise the story fits snugly between Fortunate Harbor and Sunset Bridge, at the…
Read MoreThe Fine Art of Letting Go
So there I was on Christmas Eve, getting ready for the big day and all the celebration. The Christmas carols were turned up full volume, and the house smelled like baking bread. Cookie dough was waiting its own turn in the oven, but with all this good cheer, I still couldn’t shake an unusual sense of…
Read MoreWanda’s Lasting Legacy: Snickers Brownie Pie
“‘This is your Christian day of rest,’ Janya said. ‘You bake pie all week, and tomorrow, even if Wanda’s is closed, you will be there preparing for Tuesday.’ Wanda stared out the narrow rusty window with its view of scrub and one screeching blackbird. ‘Wanda’s Wonderful Pies? That’s work. But creating a new pie in…
Read More“I Was Adorable”–Eddie Fisher and The Men We Love
Eddie Fisher died this week, and now, thanks to this morning’s excellent Washington Post obituary, the man and his “impact” are on my mind. I’m a novelist, after all, and understanding the human heart is my job, maybe even my responsibility. I’m just old enough to remember Eddie Fisher as someone other than the father of Carrie, the…
Read MoreThe Challenging Life of a Minister’s Wife–An Interview With Aggie Sloan-Wilcox
Please welcome today’s guest, Aggie Sloan-Wilcox, who has chosen this interview over the Women’s Society monthly meeting at her church. The Women’s Society’s guest speaker will be Browning Kefauver, Emerald Springs’ mayor, who may be running for re-election next year against the Women’s Society’s own Sally Berrigan. Aggie preferred not to witness the slaughter. Of…
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