In Case You Missed It
You know the drill;) President Obama’s State of the Union Address.
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Life Unemployed
It’s like submitting a short story to a magazine. You spend hours polishing your submission, reading and rereading the guidelines, checking your manuscript more times than necessary to confirm you followed all the rules and caught all grammatical errors. Then, you submit it. Several days or weeks…or months later, you get an email or snail mail saying, “we like it…
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The Business Side
I attended a workshop over the weekend on how to develop your 2-minute elevator pitch and confirmed two things I really wanted to avoid. I’ve developed my professional brand to help me get another job. Now, apparently, I need my “writer” brand. It took me a month to come up with my first brand statement, I am…
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I Should’ve Known Better
I don’t usually read my story notes. They simply help my mind iron out parts of my story- you know- the world, characters’ motivations and personalities. I remember best when I write things down so, I never felt any need to read these notes. Mistake. While rereading my work-in-progress, I realized I didn’t have a good handle…
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Possessed by the Story
Characters have been fleshed out, the world building is done, the story arch is set- now, my novel is writing itself. My characters are telling me what they would say or do in this situation. The world is showing me what would happen next. It’s telling me the powers don’t work that way, they work this…
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Pop Culture Reference in Fiction
I just finished reading The Guardian by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It was an interesting story. I might have to check out her other books. What bothered me about the story, though, were the pop culture references. I don’t like them in my fiction, especially not my fantasy. They pull me out of the story. They date the book….
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The New Year
I used to make New Years Resolutions, don’t anymore. I never keep them. I have goals for the year. Hmm, is there a different? To me, goals sound more…tangible. Since I’m finished with school, I have a lot of planning to do. You know the whole- what do I do now kind of thing. Fortunately, I’ve…
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World Building: The Little Details
It’s easy to get caught up in the big picture of your novel and forget your character is wearing a watch for no reason. I was so zoned in on figuring out things like power and back story, I didn’t realize that although I had gotten rid of most indoor plumbing in my village, a…
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Writer’s Block?
My mind can sometimes be my enemy. I’m looking at this blank blog post and nothing is coming to mind. This is odd. I always have a story to tell. I’m building scenes while trying to sleep or concentrate on something other than my stories. I grew up but my imagination didn’t. Something as simple as a dog dish…
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IMAO: Discovering Gems while Editing
On an unrelated note, I took my last class yesterday. I’m not officially done with school until I get my grades but, I know I’ll pass my classes so, I’m done. (Pause while I hyperventilate, weep, and do back flips.) Now, back to business. I’ve been editing my novel. This is the first time I’ve…
