Researching A Novel: What Do You Need to Know and When?

Researching A Novel. Really? I mean, it’s fiction. Don’t we make stuff up? No matter how much we think we know, all novelists worth their salt do tons of research.  This week a novelist who follows Southern Exposure asked me to blog about researching a novel. I’m always delighted to help if I can. I…

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The Write Way: What Belongs in Your Novel?

When is just enough too much? Certain rituals develop when you change houses twice a year. Since our summers here in Western New York are short, one of the first things we do once we arrive in May is to plant our “garden.”  Garden in this instance mostly means pots because our yard is in…

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The Write Way: Fifty Shades of Beige

I live in a small housing community in Florida, ungated and maintenance free–which means someone else mows my lawn and trims my hedges. Whatever I choose for my yard must be easy to maintain. Our community is situated  beside a state park so we must also abide by their rules when it comes to invasive plants. Within those limits…

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The Write Way: How Much Control Does an Author Have Over Covers?

Recently I received several emails in response to my last newsletter complaining that my newly reissued romance, The Unmasking, was only available as an e-book and wasn’t in paper–unless a reader can find the original paperback, which is almost a collector’s item. While I sympathize, and wish I could magically produce books in all formats,…

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The Write Way: Finding Ideas for your Novel

I’m sitting at my desk in my new writing home. I wish I could tell you it’s the perfect study, soundproof, light-filled, roomy enough for all my books and research material but not the least bit barny. Actually this room is light-filled, because I’m working in the glassed-in porch of our old, old cottage in…

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The Write Way: The Hornets or the Alligator?

Let me tell you a story. A devoted father takes his four children out for a pontoon boat cruise on one of Florida’s wild and scenic rivers. The oldest son is nearly twelve. The youngest is only 18 months. The trip is lovely, but somewhat uneventful, so he lets the oldest pilot the boat. Then…

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The Write Way: When Drama Becomes Melodrama.

I am an unabashed fan of Les Miserables, the show and the movie. I suspect I would like the book, as well, although having picked it up at Books-A-Million yesterday, I realized I would need a camel caravan to carry it home. But Les Mis (and The Christmas Carol) are productions I never miss in…

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The Write Way: Out With the Old, but When?

Unless you’re new here, you already know my husband and I just moved to Happiness Key. . . okay, not “really” but close enough to suit me. We bought a House with a View in Florida, and will never regret it. We look over a narrow marshy waterway alive with birds and, I’m told, occasional…

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