Category: Creative Writing

Interview with Author, Dorothea Benton Frank (part 2)

Dotty.head.shot

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

A. Procrastination is unprofessional and a heinous habit…. A good strong reliable work ethic is what will make your publisher think of you as a worthy partner. If you are not a self starter or you cannot find it in yourself to show up for work on your own and deliver on time you should not pursue a writing career.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing and for how long?

A. Yes. Unfortunately it never lasts long enough.

Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ?

A. Always the Lowcountry of South Carolina.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. When my mother died. I was forty-three.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. Six years later in 2000.

Q. What makes a writer great? Continue reading “Interview with Author, Dorothea Benton Frank (part 2)”

Interview with Dorothea Benton Frank * Blockbuster best Selling author

Long before I moved to Savannah which is just a hop and skip down the road from Dorothea’s ‘low country’ I was reading her extraordinary stories of women in the south.   This author draws you in, seduces you with her heroines’ triumphs and challenges that any woman can relate to.  That’s why I was particularly pleased and honored when she granted me this interview. 

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?  Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

A. I write in my office in my home in NJ or in my office in my home in SC. My dream work space would be to occupy my little office in SC full time. This cruelty of this past winter’s plummeting temps, deep snow and black ice has cured me of any desire I may have had to remain in NJ. It’s not that I have anything against NJ. I have had many wonderful years here. It’s that I’m trapped indoors for months. But check back with me in a few years when I finally do reside in SC and hurricanes have me Continue reading “Interview with Dorothea Benton Frank * Blockbuster best Selling author”

“The Taste of Murder” is Now Available in Audio-Books

Frnt.COVER.tasteofmurder_11OCT  Now Available!  in audio-books at www.audible.com, www.amazon.com and iTunes.com

In Book 5 in the series The World of Murder, Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia have a cold case dumped on their desk. Despite their objections that they ‘don’t work cold cases’ their Commander tells them that they do now since the new Mayor has asked for them. Three years earlier a relative of the mayor’s was murdered and the case was never solved. The cold case plunged the murder cops into the world of television and competition cooking shows.

Audio.Sample  Hear a taste of murder!

All five books are available in paperback and e-books here or on amazon.com

 

murder mysteries

 

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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!    Barbara Taylor Bradford was my May author.  Coming Soon! Dorothea Benton Frank and the writing duo, Tamara Thorne and Allistair Cross.
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When Characters Come A’Knockin’…Are You Home?

writing, process, writers, styleI’m certain that there are writers out there that do a thorough story plot, get all their characters in a neat little row, know how their story is going to end.  And that’s all before they write a word of their tale.

I, as a writer, would probably frighten some.  I just sit down and start  typing.  Yes, the story has been bubbling, in my head, for days.  There comes a point where I have to empty it before smoke seeps out of my ears.  Many of my chapters are not numbered because I don’t know yet exactly where they will fit.
And much to my eternal delight (and gratitude) characters just keep showing up.  Many of them I never planned.  When they made their appearance, I had to shape the story around them….because once they show up, they are NOT leaving!  Let me give you some examples. Continue reading “When Characters Come A’Knockin’…Are You Home?”

Nostalgia…and Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski, drunk, reprobate, genius
‘Hank’ with his beloved Remington typewriter

It’s a well known fact that I have an on-going love affair with Charles Bukowski, poet, drunk, homeless bum, reprobate, genius.  We haven’t been back to visit with him lately and it’s way past time.  If you search my posts you can enjoy my other thoughts about his writings and poetry.  My favorite is an interview I conducted with him…posthumously.  Yes, nineteen years after his death.  If that seems crazy to you…then let me be insane.  But, read it before you judge.

 

magic machine ©  by Charles Bukowski

I liked the old records that
scratched
as the needle slid across
grooves well
worn
you heard the voice
coming through
the speaker Continue reading “Nostalgia…and Charles Bukowski”

Beneath the Surface of a Writer’s Life

Writer Iceberg
I stumbled across this wonderful graphic (by Sudio Sudarsan) of a ‘writer’s ice berg’.    Not many people, aside from we who write, know this world.  It’s lonely, scary, humiliating, and painful.  It’s also uplifting, soul filling, mind stretching and wonderful.

I count myself the luckiest of women that I developed my craft and didn’t give up when people said, ‘no’.  I am the most fortunate of writers to have realized that the process has to be planted in good soil, watered, and given lots of sunshine. Even when I am writing from a dark place.

We writers should never sit back and say, ‘I have arrived. I don’t need to grow anymore.  I am at the top of my game.’   If you’ve read any of my interviews with really famous authors, they aren’t smug….far from it…they are striving to be better just like you and I are.  Continue reading “Beneath the Surface of a Writer’s Life”

My Kids Play Opens in Cape Charles

greed, ecology, elves, warlords, love, friendshipThe Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf  opens tomorrow at the Historic Palace Theatre in Cape Charles, VA.  That’s three openings for me this month; Chicago, Connecticut and now Cape Charles!
See?  Dreams Do Come True!  I am just thrilled!

Synopsis: In this stand alone sequel to “Emma and the Lost Unicorn”, Emma is held captive in Patsy, the Banana Spider’s web. No one can see her except the irrepressible elf, Cheets. Everyone in the forest has been searching for Emma to no avail and given his reputation, no one believes Cheets… Continue reading “My Kids Play Opens in Cape Charles”

Interview (part 2) with best selling Author, Barbara Taylor-Bradford

A Young Barbara
A Young Barbara

TS:  More than a treat, it’s a honor to interview this illustrious author with such a body of work! 

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. When I was ten years old, I was encouraged by my Mum to enter a short story contest with a magazine in England. It was about a young girl who desperately wanted a pony. Amazingly, long after I’d forgotten about it, I received a postal order with a small amount of money and a note that I was one of the winners in the competition. Seven years later, I joined the Yorkshire Evening Post as a typist. Within a year, I had become a reporter for them. I’ve been a journalist ever since.

Q. How long after that were you published?

A. My first novel, A Woman of Substance was published in 1979. I had tried to write four earlier novels that weren’t working for one reason or another. But all along, I was still a published journalist. I had a syndicated decorating column in the US throughout the 1970s. I also wrote and had published several decorating books in the 70s. Prior to that, I was a Women’s Page editor on Fleet Street with a handful of newspapers and magazines in England. Continue reading “Interview (part 2) with best selling Author, Barbara Taylor-Bradford”

Letters to Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon

Catie708979_n
Catie on the right

fairy tales, fables, elves, fairies, running away, audio booksRecently The Eastford Elementary School in Eastford, CT began rehearsals for my children’ play, Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon, directed by Catie Protonson.  The kids have really been working hard and I have enjoyed every minute of watching them through FB.

I suggested to the young actors that they write each other a letter, in character.  Here are some of the letters….and photos from rehearsals. Continue reading “Letters to Stanley, the Stalwart Dragon”

Chick-Lit At Its Finest! A Review

reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing   Rating: 5 out of 5 quills!    ‘The Cavendon Women‘  by Barbara Taylor Bradford
A Reviewgreat fiction

In preparation for writing this review, I first read Cavendon Hall (a real pleasure) so that I would understand the full dynamic of this family.   This story is Downton Abbey on steroids.  So if you are a fan of this historic era (WWI & the early 1900’s) you will love both books!

Set in the countryside of Yorkshire, this old, aristocratic family must move with the times or be destroyed.  The ‘downstairs’ Swann family has sworn allegiance to the Earl of Mowbray’s family for close to two hundred years and their families have intertwined for centuries. Continue reading “Chick-Lit At Its Finest! A Review”