Wicked Autumn debuts in a typical English village with the first sentence grabbing my attention: Wanda Batton-Smythe, head of the women’s Institute of Nether Monkslip, liked to say she was not one to mince words.” Captivated by this sentence, I kept reading. The author paints a very nice picture of the English village full of […]
Can You Guess it?
An important component for any fiction writer is the ability to tap into his or her creativity. I ran across an interesting item in my kitchen. See the photos below. Imagine you’re a young woman who received this item as a wedding gift. How might you respond in a thank you note: Dear. . […]
Tips for Getting Your Fiction Published
If you aspire to be a fiction writer and think all you have to do is sit down to your computer and create, you will be very disappointed. Most writers eventually want to publish their work. They want family, friends and others to read what they’ve created. Here are some tips for gaining attention in […]
Creativity in Fiction and Nonfiction
As both a fiction and a nonfiction writer, I’ve given the two kinds of writing much thought. For some writers who create memoirs there is a murky line between writing fiction and nonfiction. For me, the writer of mysteries (pure fiction) and business books (pure nonfiction), the line is clearer. Indeed, as a nonfiction writer, […]
Creativity Snobs
Recently I spent the weekend with a friend who is a very talented artist. We were talking about ways she could get her work out there in galleries. She told me that the art organizations in her community are very “closed.” In other words, she said, “When I tell them I majored in physics and […]
Punctuation, What About It?
We all know it’s important to use good punctuation in writing our fiction. When we overuse commas, it distracts the reader. Conversely, when we leave out a comma, the reader may not understand what we are trying to say. Punctuation has an important place in the writing. But, is it the-be-all-end all? Recently I read […]
Flash Fiction–A Challenging Way to Write
As a novel writer, I find writing flash fiction daunting. That’s why I’m determined to give it a go. When I looked up how to define flash fiction, I learned that it can be anything from 75 words to 1000 words. The purpose is to say what you want to say in as few words […]
What’s Bibliotherapy?
Okay, I admit it, I’m a reader and a writer and to make matters worse, I’m married to a psychiatrist, but I’d never heard of bibliotherapy until today. Listening to an episode of To the Best of My Knowledge while walking my dog on this glorious spring afternoon, I learned of the practice of using […]
Guests on Earth–A Review
Lee Smith is one of my favorite Southern authors. Her book Fair and Tender Ladies ranks up there with a book I’d read over and over. Recently she released her latest, Guests on Earth. I must say, I don’t like the title. I understand the reason for it, but that doesn’t make it any better. […]
Animals in Your Stories
I love to read about characters who have pets. Whenever there is a cat or a dog in a book, my interest peaks. I do not, however, like it when animals do things that are superhuman. I don’t like for the animals to talk nor do I like it when they solve crimes. The one […]
