My treat to myself is sitting down with my book. #amreading Click To Tweet The utmost luxury is to have a few hours alone with my book, my cat, and maybe a cup of tea or coffee. Once I’ve accomplished all my work goals, all my home goals ,and all my other self-imposed goals, I […]
Archives for August 2016
Rainy Days and Sundays–Learning the Discipline of Writing
On beautiful crisp days when the sun is shining, it’s often hard to pull out the computer and plug away at that masterpiece. Our friends are going out biking or hiking up a magnificent mountain. Rainy days are a much better alternative. But, if you only write when it rains, it’s going to take you […]
What Hooks You?
I’ve often wondered what might hook my readers #amreading Click To Tweet Is it the characters? The plot? Unanswered questions? What kinds of things hook you and keep you reading? For me the characters are what keep me turning the pages. Some of the books I read have little plot, not much action, but I […]
Writers Helping Writers
Before I published my first novel, I contacted two previously published authors. One told me he never read another writer’s work. The other refused to help me in any way. I found these responses both disheartening and sad. Why is it writers refuse to help newbies? How are newbies ever going to break through without […]
My Favorite Reading Quote
This is one of my favorite reading quotes. I’m sure there are a zillion more. Why not share yours?
Tips for Coming Up with the Perfect Title
My recent WIP has me scratching my head for a title #amwriting #title Click To Tweet For some reason it’s not jumping off the page. But then again, now that I think about it, I’ve never had a book title jump off the page. I usually agonize over various versions before I settle on that […]
Mediocre at best. My Review of And After the Fire
Lauren Belfer’s book, And After the Fire, gets three stars mainly for what I learned about music history #amreading Click To Tweet The story and the construction of the book left a lot to be desired. This is the story about a lost Bach cantata, stolen during World War II #review Click To Tweet The […]
Tips to Deal with the Let-Down When Your Novel is Finished
How do you feel once you’ve finished a novel? #amwriting Click To Tweet Okay, so you might say, “I’m never finished.” I feel that way as well. It seems there’s always tweaking. But, once the novel is sent off, gone, out of your reach, how do you feel? Good? At a loss? Jumping up and […]
What about Product Placement?
Writers are told to make their fiction specific. Instead of writing a general statement like, he ate a hamburger, be more specific–he at a BigMac. But, what are the rules for product placement? #amwriting Click To Tweet Readers do want to envision the place and what the characters are doing. If we are too general, […]
The Woes of Writing that First Chapter
Don’t you wish you had more time to capture readers than the first chapter? #amwriting Click To Tweet In the old days, that was the case. Back when Trollop and Jane Austen were writing, they had at least two chapters before readers gave up on them. Many of today’s literary writers have the luxury of […]
