When a viral question asked which Dolly Parton song best captures you, I didn’t expect the answer to feel this true. Two songs, one steady on the outside and one wildflower-wild within — and then, flowers arrived “from Dolly.”
Setting: From the Mountains to the City Streets
Could your story happen anywhere else? If the honest answer is yes, your setting isn’t working hard enough. Here’s how to fix that — with examples from 7th Grade Revolution and Secret of the Red Key.
Setting — Not Just a Pretty Place
Aunt Polly’s fence. McDougal’s Cave. A small town in Florida baking in summer heat. These aren’t just places. Here’s why setting is one of the most powerful tools in a writer’s kit — and how two beloved authors prove it.
Unveiling the Mystery of Bats and their Myths
Explore bats in mythology and their symbolism, uncovering their role as guides, symbols of transformation, and creatures of mystery.
Bat Appreciation Day
Bats over the years have gained an undeserved unsavory reputation, but they have a lot of good in them.
Beyond Normal Revisited
Four years ago today, while going through chemotherapy for Leukemia and Lymphoma, I was having a pretty rough day, so I blogged about it on my cancer site. The post was titled, Life Beyond Normal, because at that point, my normal had been stripped away, turned completely upside down, shaken, and forever changed. I had to learn what my limits … Read More
Belief
As I am working on the first book in my Homeless Myths series, The Star Warriors and the Secret of the Red Key, the topic of belief systems is present all the time. With Myths in the series name, those things are running through my head. Why do we believe the things we do. What do these kids believe? How … Read More
YWS: The Big Bad Block
You’re all set … you’ve got the right notebook and right pen, or your computer screen is ready and the cursor is blinking at you from the page. You settle in take a deep breath — and you’ve got nothing. Not a single thought of where the story is going. Not a single word to scribble or type. Nada. Bubkis. … Read More
Did the Search for Nessie Help Save Sergio?
On the face of it, Cryptozoologists* and wildlife conservation scientists** don’t have much in common. Cryptozoology is widely considered a pseudoscience because its enthusiasts don’t follow conventional scientific methods while searching for monsters and mythological creatures, like Nessie and Bigfoot, which are also known as cryptids. Most conservation scientists don’t want to be associated with monsters and monster-hunting, but are … Read More
Chocolate and the Endangered Species
I have been a chocolate lover my entire life. Unfortunately, I was tortured as a child because I was not allowed to have chocolate because I was allergic to it. Turns out I never was allergic to chocolate itself, but chocolate when paired with other things. Good thing I’m a purist and love plain chocolate the best. 🙂 By the … Read More
And So It Begins … Again
When I saw the oncologist last week we didn’t have the results from the CT Scan. I saw my regular physician this week and he had the results. And I’ll be candid … they aren’t good. The scan revealed what I already knew — that the nodule on my neck was not the only lymphoma mass that would be found. … Read More
What Makes a Book Middle Grade?
Recently, I was discussing the arc for the Middle Grade (MG) series I am currently researching with an author friend who asked, “Are you sure this isn’t YA (Young Adult)?” My response was an immediate and unequivocal, “Yes.” The question was valid as what we had been discussing could potentially be morphing into the YA realm. But I am firm … Read More