Category: A Writer’s Take……

Do You have Strange Rituals when Writing?

Strange habits of very successful writers.  Courtesy:  Kelton Reid, Copyblogger Media writer.

1.Try writing horizontally.

George Orwell, Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, famous quotes, famous writers, history, poetry, Bukowski, ChurchillWinston Churchill, and Marcel Proustproust were all famous for churning out pages while lying in bed. Novelist Truman Capote also wrote everything in longhand in the horizontal position. Don’t forget, proper rest is crucial to creativity, so if you’re already there, why not grab the laptop and give it a try?

2.Take a walk or bike ride without a destination in mind.

Charles Dickens and Henry Miller both used to wander around Europe trying to get lost, a technique that psychologists say can foster creativity. Continue reading “Do You have Strange Rituals when Writing?”

‘My momma always said, ‘Life is Like a Box of Chocolates’….or words (part 6)

In case you haven’t noticed…I’m a word junkie!  I’ve been collecting more words ……… these are obscure and have no relation to any message I am sending out….I was just fascinated by how they sound...and not like anything in their meaning.

IM'ingAsynchronous: sending data in one direction. Relating to or using an electronic communication method that sends data in one direction.
We know this as IM or instant messaging.

Continue reading “‘My momma always said, ‘Life is Like a Box of Chocolates’….or words (part 6)”

Haiku Poetry and How to Write it! (part 2)

Willow
Pen & Ink by Trisha Sugarek

 

In Japan the Samurai/poets would frequently write Haiku before battle. Death poems were considered a necessity, graceful, natural, and emotionally neutral, in accordance with the teachings of Buddha.

Like a rotten log
half buried in the ground
my life, which has not flowered,
comes to this sad end. 
Minamoto Yorimasa  1104-1180

Samurai Song  ©  T.Sugarek

delicate blossom
rests in the still gnarled hand
bruised petals weep tears

weary eyes open
tiny cuts, the body bleeds
peace still years away

sun rise breaks the hill
heralds another battle
draw your sword and charge

   ( Three sets, three lines each.     First line = 5 syllable, second line = 7 syllables, third line = 5 syllables) Traditionally, some reference to nature should be included. Continue reading “Haiku Poetry and How to Write it! (part 2)”

Writers Must be Multi-Taskers!

Like so many other prolific writers (that I’ve interviewed) we are multi-taskers. And if we aren’t naturally, we learn pretty quick that we Cover.Angel - Copyshould be. As I finished writing the last few pages of ‘The Angel of Murder’, the story line for the next book was rattling around in my head. I edited book 4 one last time and published it. I then immediately sent it to my narrator/producer to begin the audio-book. This also requires my time as I listen to and edit each chapter.

‘Sugarek had barely released her newest book in the World of Murder series entitled ‘The Angel of Murder’ when she was already deeply into the plot of her next one. A famous chef-judge on a successful cooking show has been murdered. Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia have a cold case dumped on them in spite of O’Roarke’s vehement insistence, “We don’t do cold cases!”

Follow the two murder cops behind the scenes and onto the TV set of a wildly popular cooking competition where the suspects are plentiful and the case is three years cold.’
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!

In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!   

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  On the home page, enter your email address.  Thanks!

“No Problem”, I Cringe Every Time I Hear It!

Good manners are either disappearing altogether or are being bastardized by pop culture.  What’s with the response, ‘No problem’ when I thank someone?

As long as I’ve been alive courtesy dictated that when you/they said …..    thank Then you/they would reply, ‘You’re welcome’. 

In the past few years ‘you’re welcome’ has been replaced with ‘no problem’. (cringe)
‘You’re welcome’ says ‘I was glad to do it’,  ‘you are welcome to the (whatever) I did for you’, ‘I was happy to be of service’. 

‘No problem‘ (cringe) implies to me that maybe it was a problem but ‘I’ve been hired to say, no problem‘.  That it was a little problem but manners dictate that I tell you it was no problem. You are a problem and I’m just too polite to say so.  I ask you… Is it just me?
Continue reading ““No Problem”, I Cringe Every Time I Hear It!”

Ten Reasons Why Writing is Good for You

Happened to Stumbled Upon This Great List of why Writing and Creating is good for you!   As if we didn’t already know!write1

Creativity has been proven to have positive effects on health, self-esteem and vitality

Writing is good for your brain, creates a state similar to meditation

Writing hones your powers of observation, giving you a fuller experience of life

Writing hones your powers of concentration and attention, which is more fractured than ever thanks to technology and TV

Writing connects you with others through blogging, writing groups, live readings, and self-publishing outlets
Continue reading “Ten Reasons Why Writing is Good for You”

Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)

Lee with Janet Evanovich
Lee with Janet Evanovich

Lee Goldberg: ‘ I am an ex-Navy SEAL, freelance Sexual Surrogate and a professional Pierce Brosnan impersonator.  Okay, that’s not true. But I want this biography to be really exciting, so pay attention. If things bog down, I’ve been instructed to add a car chase or some explicit sex.Here’s the real story. I writes books and television shows. My mother wanted me to be a doctor, and my grandfather wanted me to go into the family furniture business. Instead, I put himself through UCLA as a freelance journalist.’

The Interview with Lee  (part 2)

Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?

A. That’s such a broad question, it would take a book to answer it. But in simple terms for me, it looks like a 400 page manuscript printed out on my desk…and lots of empty diet coke cans in my recycle bin. Continue reading “Interview with Lee Goldberg, best selling author (Part two)”

Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)

Goldberg.1photo-3     I first met Lee while publishing my interview with Janet Evanovich.  He recently co-wrote The Chase with Janet.  His two careers, novelist and TV writer, merged when he wrote the eight books in the Diagnosis Murder series of original novels, based on the hit CBS TV mystery that he also wrote and produced. He followed that up by writing fifteen bestselling novels based on Monk, another TV show that he worked on. So I was delighted when Lee agreed to be interviewed.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please upload a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….)

A. I have an office in my house where I write surrounded by books and James Bond posters (I alternate the posters every month or so). But I can, and do, write just about anywhere.

Q. Do you have any special rituals when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.) Continue reading “Interview with best selling Author, Lee Goldberg (part 1)”

‘The Angel of Murder’, Newest Book in the mystery series Available now!

Cover.Angel - CopyBook 4 in this chilling, surprising mystery series is now available on the author’s web site and at www.amazon.com.

Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series.  The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects.  To complicate their investigation,  a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls.  In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold.   Who is this monster and when will he strike again?

  REVIEW: ‘As with previous investigations in ‘The World of Murder’ titles, readers are also in the dark about the perp’s identity, and are given just as many clues as the detectives on who the murderer could be. This approach in “The Act of Murder” keeps readers interested, capturing attention first through probing the emotionally charged personality of an abusive director and then by offering a series of clues that embrace the essence of a murder mystery puzzle along with insights into motivations on all sides.

Of course crack detectives O’Rourke and Garcia would be chosen to oversee such a high-profile case. As chapters progress, murder mystery fans are drawn into an ever-complex, changing story that holds not just too many perps, but many twists and turns of plot. The story marches deftly to a gripping, unpredictable courtroom conclusion, involving murder mystery fans every step of the way and creating directions that change at a moment’s notice in a winning recommendation for even the most seasoned murder mystery fan.’ ~~ Midwest Book Review
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Don’t Miss my Interview with Lee Goldberg, Author/TV Producer

leestanding400Tuesday, April 8th I will post my interview with Author/TV Producer Lee Goldberg.  He is the author of the wildly popular television series “Monk” .  In addition he has written dozens of novels.

‘Goldberg broke into television with a freelance script sale to Spenser: For Hire. Since then, his TV writing & producing credits have covered a wide variety of genres, including sci-fi (seaQuest), cop shows (Hunter, The Glades), martial arts (Martial Law), whodunits (Diagnosis Murder, Nero Wolfe), the occult (She-Wolf of London), kid’s shows (R.L. Stine’s The Nightmare Room), T&A (Baywatch, She Spies), comedy (Monk) clip shows (The Best TV Shows That Never Were) and total crap (The Highwayman, The New Adventures of Flipper).’  (excerpt from his bio)

This is a funny and talented guy.  Don’t Miss this two part Interview!

Continue reading “Don’t Miss my Interview with Lee Goldberg, Author/TV Producer”