Category: Creative Writing

Edit Thyself, Writers!

char.analysisI just finished reviewing a poorly written book and it demonstrated the fact that writing a book is not all glory and self satisfaction at seeing your name on a book, as its author.

Far from it!  It’s grueling, damn hard work. Any one of you out there can write, the trick is writing well. It’s being willing to rewrite and rewrite some more. And then edit: does this word, sentence, chapter move my story forward?  Would my character say this? Sound like this? Behave like this?

Then there’s the delete anxnst.mousekey. Horrors!  Delete some of my brilliant writing?  Yes.  You better be willing to give up some of those self-proclaimed brilliant words and be happy about it.  Because when it’s said and done your book will be better for it.

How do you get from writing that first sentence to a finished book?  In my opinion, there is no right and wrong way to prepare.  I write my first draft from the seat of my pants; with just an idea that’s been rattling around in my head for days. No plot line, no story line, and in the case of my true crime series, I often don’t know who my killer is until later.  I will let my characters take me on their journey and the killer will always revel themselves to me.
I marinate, speculate and hibernate. Continue reading “Edit Thyself, Writers!”

Runaway by Peter May * A Review

writing, creating, reviews,fiction, children's books, fiction for adults, women's fictionwriting, creating, reviews,fiction, children's books, fiction for adults, women's fiction  writing, creating, reviews,fiction, children's books, fiction for adults, women's fiction writing, creating, reviews,fiction, children's books, fiction for adults, women's fiction  writing, creating, reviews,fiction, children's books, fiction for adults, women's fiction5 out of 5 quills      Runaway by Peter May ** A Reviewrunaway

I loved this new offering by Peter May.  It’s the story of young boys’ dreams and old men’s memories.  Set in 1965 and 2015 the story is unique as four old men retrace their boyhood travels, to London, seeking fame and fortune.

Jack, Maurie, Dave and Jeff have been friends for over fifty years.  As youths they were an obscure boy band from Glasgow, Scotland. They run away from home, certain that they are the next rock and roll phenomenon.  Maybe not the Beatles but certainly as good as The Replacements.  And from that moment on there is never a dull moment….that’s too bland a description…events on this journey change their lives forever. Muggings, free wheeling mental institutions, LSD, and Rock and Roll.

Old, sick, defeated the human spirit carries on. Now fifty years later the same quartet, now men in their seventies and eighties, repeat their harrowing adventure.

PeterMaySpainPort1Peter May never disappoints with his slightly off center view of the world.  I am a huge fan!!!  This is a ‘must read’ book.

Available now! Did you miss my Interview with this internationally acclaimed author? Click here.
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DON’T MISS BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London, MJ Moores,  and actor/narrator Tavia Gilbert.  March’s featured author is Susie Drougas and a long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) in April.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

Curiosity Killed the Cat? The real Story!

Curosity.BookCoverPreview.do      Oddly, (I think) many searches/views on my web site contain  the phrase, ‘curiosity killed the cat’.  I thought it would be fun to tell my visitors where this story actually came from. (Part of my collection of 10 minute plays for the classroom)

By now you  know that I write frequently based on family stories….true ones.

This (short play) comedy is true which just goes to show, once again, that ‘truth is stranger than fiction’.

My auntie Ivah had been grubbing all day in the garden of her brick mansion in the Laurelhurst district in Seattle.  While she could afford a gardener or two, she was an avid gardener herself and could be found there, bare foot, in shorts and a sun hat every fair day.  Ivah wore shorts whenever she could because she had ‘Betty Grable legs’  (An actress circa 1940’s-1950’s whose legs were insured for a million dollars) and Ivah was quite vain about hers. She was eager to show them off at every opportunity…even if it was just to her flowers abounding in her gardens.

Around dinner time her husband, Arthur (an attorney) arrived home and announced that he had a client stopping by to sign some documents on his way to the airport.  Ivah, dirty and smelly from the garden said she’d hide in the kitchen, putting final touches on dinner, until the client was gone.  Continue reading “Curiosity Killed the Cat? The real Story!”

Rustler’s Moon by Jodi Thomas ~~A Review

reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing          Rating: 5 out 5 quills        A Review  Rustler’s Moon by Jodi ThomasEElf.2Rustler.Moon..Scan

It was great to return to Crossroads, Texas once again.  Thomas introduced a couple of quirky new characters to spice things up and blend with returning characters that we’ve all come to enjoy and even…yes I’ll say it…love.

The book has a great beginning when Angela receives a cryptic message: Run. Disappear. Vanish.  And she does. Grabbing just a few things, she flees Florida and ends up in Crossroads.  But is it far enough to hide in plain sight? I found myself wanting more story from Vern and Carter.  They enchanted me with their eccentric outlook and actions.  The love story within the tale is tender and sweet. This reviewer always appreciates an author’s restraint leaving much to the reader’s imagination, instead of laying it all out….as it were.

Rustler’s Moon was an excellent sequel to Ransom Canyon and I can’t wait to read book three, Winter’s Camp.

Did you miss my Interview with Jodi Thomas?  Click here

Excerpt from Rustler’s Moon

Crossroads, Texas
October
Angela

Dried weeds scratched against Angela Harold’s bare legs as she walked the neglected grounds behind the Ransom Canyon Museum near Crossroads, Texas. Rumbling gray clouds spotted the sky above. Wind raged as though trying to push her back to the East Coast. She decided any rain might blow all the way to Oklahoma before it could land on Texas soil. But the weather didn’t matter. She had made it here. She’d done exactly what her father told her. She’d vanished.

Angela had meant to stop long enough to clean up before she took her first look at the museum, but she could not wait. So, in sandals, shorts and a tank top, she explored the land behind the boarded-up building on the edge of Ransom Canyon.When she’d talked to the board president, Staten Kirkland, five days ago, he’d sounded excited. They’d had to close the museum when the last curator left and in six months she’d been the only one to call about the job opening. Before the phone call ended Kirkland offered her a three-month trial if she could answer one question.Angela thought it would be about her experience or her education, but it was pure Texas folk history. Continue reading “Rustler’s Moon by Jodi Thomas ~~A Review”

Dreams Do Come True!

It took me two years of gentle prodding to finally get my foot (in this case, scripts) in the door of a Manhattan (NYC) book store. This drama book store has been around forever and is the only exclusive script store in the City.  To use the buyer’s expression, “we just have so much real estate” so I am doubly grateful that my books are included in their limited shelf space.

Cyber.Hate.BookCoverImageJust today I filled another order for my scripts and Journals.  Theatre people and writers are BUYING my books and using them.  I couldn’t be more thrilled.  And I’m always surprised by what is selling.

And just recently a  publishing house contracted with me to publish Book 1, The Art of Murder, in my true crime series. Not for a second will I discontinue my self-publishing of my other books.  It is a highly efficient and successful way to get your books out to the reading public with very little cost to you, the writer.

Ten.Minutes.Curtain.Vol.ICover3,200_

 

 

Possession.BookCoverImageWRITERS!  Never give up!  Sometimes it will take you years of perseverance to achieve your goals. The three top tips that I can give you is:

  1. Never stop writing!  You will only become more skilled in your craft.
    2. Keep knocking on doors, whether it is a brick & mortar book store, a publisher, or a literary agent.
    3. Self publish.  It’s free on some sites to build your book.  Your only cost will be the royalty when a book is sold.

    CW.Cover.Scan
    Best Seller!

 

 

 

 

 

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DON’T MISS BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London, Matt Jorgenson, MJ Moores,  and actor/narrator Tavia Gilbert.  March’s featured author is Susie Drougas and long awaited interview with Kathleen Grissom (The Kitchen House) in April.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

 

10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer

image of 10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer PosterCompliments of Brian Clark, CEO of Copyblogger

This is so true!  I bang out stuff that never sees the light of day.   I vent on a new post that I never publish.  I keep post-it note pads everywhere in the house so that if I get an idea (some good, some not so much) I can jot it down.  My most valuable post-it note pad is by my bedside because frequently I write in my head in a dream-like state and too lazy to turn on the light, grab paper and pen, I say to myself, ‘oh, I’ll remember this when I wake up’ I never do and IT IS GONE FOREVER!

In the middle of the night I ‘dreamed’ a single line for a poem I was working on…..“an overachiever  dips into the nectar….” and yes, I turned on the light and wrote it down.  When I awoke in the morning the only thing I remembered was that I had a terrific line for my poetry but had no idea what it was.  Fortunately there it was by my bedside.

“Write When You Don’t”….I tend to marinate.  Continue reading “10 Steps to Becoming a Better Writer”

Jodi Thomas’ Can’t Stop Believing * A Review

Jodi.Thomas203,200_reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingFive out of 5 Quills  Can’t Stop Believing  **
A Review

Jodi Thomas creates interesting and believable characters that have full back stories (before the time-line of the book).  Jodi never fails to deliver with an intriguing story-line and a happy ending.

Can’t Stop Believing  —  We go back to Harmony, Texas and meet up with many characters in the small town that we’ve seen before in previous books.  It’s like coming back home after an extended time away.

As you know I don’t write spoilers in my reviews.  But I will say Cord is an appealing hero who could park his shackles under my kitchen table any time.  And while I thought Neveda was slightly neurotic, she remained interesting. Harmony is full of quirky folks that entertain and delight.  I highly recommend this great read!!

Did you read my interview with Jodi Thomas a while back?  No?  Click here  And upcoming: My Review of Jodi’s newest offering, Rustler’s Moon
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!       Julia London, Matt Jorgenson, MJ Moores, , and actor/narrator Tavia Gilbert.

To receive  my  blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  sign up on the home page and enter your email address.  I love comments!  Take the time to write one at the bottom of the post.

A Chat with Author, MJ Moores (conclusion)

Q. How long after that were you published?MJ.Drama Queen

MJ. Nine years. I spent a lot of time working on my career and improving my craft. By 2009 I was a part of a great writers’ critique group and I started reworking my novel with them. Over the course of two years I remained with that group until it disbanded and then started my own group with a few of the interested members of the original group. That lasted another year and then I joined two larger regional writers’ groups and began attending not only workshops but writing conferences. Come 2012 I was trying to get a fledgling freelance writing and editing business started (that was a year after my son was born and I was in desperate need of some “me” time). Continue reading “A Chat with Author, MJ Moores (conclusion)”

A Dog’s Life…..(short story)

Rocky, Fiona, Gus (left to right)
Rocky, Fiona, Gus (left to right)

How did God know that we would need a companion who would unfailingly soften the hard edges of life that is a human’s path? Unlike any other animal, or for that matter, person, a dog just knows…and comforts its humans when sad, in poor health or just needing a good laugh.  We talk about their devotion and unconditional love because that’s what we experience when we have a dog as a friend.  We reach out and there’s always a silky head to stroke.  We come home and they act like we’ve been gone for years.  In the lonely night they snuggle against us because that’s what we need in the dark hours.

Rocky…..A golden retriever picked up wandering the mean streets of Aransas Pass, Texas. Estimated age, 18 months…a pup really.  A rescue volunteer group called me to see if I could adopt him.  Of course I could; at the time I had 5 acres, stock fenced.  He was a hellion with little manners but house broken and so willing to please me.
At the time, my property had a barn and out under a shade tree, an oval shaped, tin, watering trough about 3 feet deep.  One of Rocky’s favorite pass times was to crawl over the lip of the trough Continue reading “A Dog’s Life…..(short story)”

More with Author, MJ Moores (part 2)

MJ.Melissa5 portraitQ. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

MJ. Know your tendencies, identify why you gravitate toward those things, be fully aware of what you are doing and when you are doing it, let yourself do these things for a set amount of time, and then push all that crap aside and simply let yourself write.
Personally, I need to procrastinate. It’s during those times when I’m scrubbing the toilet or baking a bunch of muffins that my mind does its best work regarding plotting and discovering things about my characters, their problems and the world they live in. If I don’t let myself get distracted by the mundane, I’m not productive 😉

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

MJ. My characters are born from plot ideas. I say to myself, “Who might this happen to?” or “Who does the conflict revolve around?” and then my imagination takes flight. Unintentionally, each of my main characters is a reflection of some aspect of my life. It might be something I always wished I could be/do or it might be some unresolved aspect of my past (or present!) that seeps its way into the story to inform the core nature of these characters. Continue reading “More with Author, MJ Moores (part 2)”