A couple nights ago, I took a rare moment and watched a movie. Not something I have an opportunity to do very often because I’m juggling so many different things, but it had been a rough week and I needed to decompress a bit. I chose Little Boy, which is set in World War II times, and is primarily about … Read More
Warning Deadline Approaches
Along with juggling quite a few things I can’t talk about, I have been working diligently on my latest WIP, a dark upper YA novel, Speak No Evil. I am excited about how this book is shaping up and how close I am to the finish line with it. Then I happened to have a conversation with my literary manager … Read More
Omniscient Point of View
Last week I talked about head hopping and why we shouldn’t and I mentioned the omniscient POV (Point of View) as not being a part of the discussion. Head hopping means jumping from character to character and changing viewpoint. Omniscient is an unseen/unknown narrator who knows what everyone is thinking or feeling. I had the following question asked of me, … Read More
Why Not Head Hop?
In addition to working on getting my current WIP, Speak No Evil polished up and ready for submission, I have been working with several authors and guiding them through the same process, and reviewing other manuscripts and providing assessments. While assessing the manuscripts, I’m looking at voicing, structure, flow, the strength of the work, including active vs. passive writing. One … Read More
Make the Future and What IF?
Writers tend to deal in the realm of “what if” … What if a baby wizard was orphaned and survived being killed by the darkest wizard of them all? What if that baby had to grow up and ultimately kill the dark wizard in order to save the wizarding world from destruction? A couple what ifs like that and an … Read More
The Journey: Writing and Weight Loss
In my day job, I do work that involves logic and things following a path. 1+2 always = 3 and never 5. So there is a part of me that wants other aspects of my life to follow the same logical path. And they never do. I have two primary focuses at the moment: Getting healthy and finishing my current … Read More
This Precious Life
A little over a week ago I had an experience I wanted to blog about, but somehow, as usual, the frenetic activity of life took over and I haven’t had the clear brain space I needed to process the event and formulate what I wanted to say. It is probably a good thing because life threw me another unexpected, yet … Read More
Bullying vs Self-Esteem – The Forgotten Lesson of Dumbo
I’ve been so focused on writing my current novel, time has flown by. That’s what happens when you character yanks you into her world … you get a little lost and forget the real world exists. 😉 I originally wrote this post when a teen had been bullied to the point of seeking out plastic surgery erupted in the media. … Read More
YWS: Writing as a Life Skill
Writing is a life skill; something we all need to get through life. The better your writing skills are, the better able you are to improve your standarad of life. Writing is not something you learn for school assignments and never use again once you graduate — it is something you will use for the rest of your life. I’m … Read More
Bullying vs Self-Esteem – The Voice of the People
I’ve been so focused on writing my current novel, time has flown by. That’s what happens when you character yanks you into her world … you get a little lost and forget the real world exists. 😉 I originally wrote this post when a teen had been bullied to the point of seeking out plastic surgery erupted in the media. … Read More
Put Me In Coach
Being a professional in any field takes hard work, dedication, and more patience than most of us want to admit is required. As a writer, I have always approached my work from a professional aspect, and realize nothing in the publishing industry is overnight. I am, and have been, in it for the long haul, which means I have been … Read More
Bullying vs Self-Esteem – The Inconsistencies
I originally wrote this post when a teen had been bullied to the point of seeking out plastic surgery erupted in the media. I went into full rant mode, which usually produces an epic-length post, and this one was no exception. It posted in full on Rebecca Hamilton’s blog as a part of the Books Against Bullies campaign, but as … Read More