The Writing Process
Somewhere Between Luck and Trust: Georgia Ferguson
For an author, part of the fun of a series is choosing which characters to feature in upcoming books. With the Goddesses Anonymous series (debuting in 2012 with One Mountain Away) a handful of women are introduced in book one, each to theoretically have her own story as time passes. Almost immediately after One Mountain…
Read MoreThe Write Way: Writing Under Difficult Conditions. Can It Be Done?
“A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” E. B. White Right now I’m sitting in my study listening to a generator in the house about 10 yards behind me. The generator is for the benefit of the roofers who are pounding away outside…
Read MoreCreating Characters Over Thai Chicken Salad
Today was a “Ready, Set, Go” day. You know the kind. You jump out of bed and you start to run. As the day progresses, you run faster and farther, until by day’s end, you’re too tired to do anything except fall back into that same bed you jumped out of hours before. Tonight even…
Read MoreBake Me a Novel: Homemade Bread and the Writing Process
It’s not unusual to find me in the kitchen baking something or other. There I was again yesterday, preparing to make bread while I considered what to write about for my next blog. Bread baking is a weekly ritual in my house, and I often use the time to think about my next writing project.…
Read MoreWhat, Me Worry? An Author’s Nightmares.
I have a cushy job, right? I set my own hours, spend a huge percentage of them living in a fantasy world, stare unblinking into space for days without anyone calling the little men with the butterfly nets. I’m a writer. So with so many pluses, what do writers worry about? In the interests of…
Read MoreBrainstorming, Branding and Buckeye Book Fair
Election Day! I hope you’ve already been out to vote. I did not, but only because I am between residences and have been disenfranchised accordingly. Not voting in a presidential election feels very wrong, although giving a false address would have been worse, right? I’m writing this a week in advance since I’m about to…
Read MoreSurfing Through A Manuscript
Sandy has come and gone, and while she visited Vero Beach she rearranged sand and assisted in a few home renovations. Today’s prize as we walked on the beach was an intact set of steps. To where? Who knows? We were more or less hoping for some pieces of eight from one of the Spanish…
Read MoreWeird Writing Rituals: Wandering, Reclining and Drinking Your Way to a Better Novel
This week Copyblogger featured an article guaranteed to catch my eye: 8 Strange Rituals of Very Productive Writers. Seventy novels later I guess I think of myself as productive and possibly quite strange. So, of course, I had to find out what odd and amazing things my fellow writers do, just in case I want to add…
Read MoreWhat Does A Writer Do All Day?
After years as the wife of a minister it still always amazed me when people asked what my husband did all day. I mean, the ministry is a cushy job, right? Write a sermon, preach it and shake hands after church. Do the occasional wedding and hospital visit and spend the rest of the week…
Read MoreThe 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…
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