I am so pleased when FreshFiction.com invites me to blog on their site. Here is the latest and I hope you will enjoy it.
Excerpt: ‘It was only while I was researching for my novel, Wild Violets that I learned that my mother “farmed out” my sister and brother to strangers. The term usually referred to children who were sent to a relative back in the day. In my siblings’ case it was a true indenture. My brother and sister had to work for their keep, ages six and 11….’
Okay…here’s some tough love! Get your butt in that chair and write something………..or finish something !!! You’ve read my interviews with famous, best selling authors for about a year now. And the recurring theme is DISCIPLINE!!
Forget what others might think of your scribbles…they’re yours and they’re PERFECT! And what if they aren’t perfect? So What!!?? If I thought I was going to get perfection when I first began writing, I would never have written a word. All I hoped for was to grow as a writer and keep growing with every new project. Still not perfect………….
Write a short story. Write a poem in prose. Write a play. Finish your novel. WRITE SOMETHING!!
Now, here’s the tough part. You have to be selfish to be a writer. You have to tell your spouse, or kids or friends that you aren’t going to be available for a couple of hours. And mean it!! Then go lock yourself in a room and WRITE!! Then tomorrow (or this weekend) do it again. Continue reading “New Year’s Resolution for Writers!”
I don’t really know why I’m writing about this topic…could it be because the writing for “Brave” was so exceptional?...filled with double entendre like the Mama Bear fighting to protect her ‘cubs‘. Once in awhile I enjoy a good Disney animated film. And I hadn’t seen the advances of animation in a long time, so I rented ‘Brave’.
We all know the timeless, underlying theme, the girl is looking for her Prince Charming. Her Prince finds her, usually rescues her and they live happily ever after. Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Robin Hood, The Little Mermaid, the list goes on and on.
God knows that’s how I was raised; that my Prince Charming would come someday and I too would live happily ever after. After all, when all was said and done, every movie (in my days of growing up) had an underlying story with this result and girls of my decade pretty much sat back and waited for HIM. Now, fifty years later and three husbands ago, I finally achieved some wisdom and the fact is there are NO Prince Charmings and all three men that I married were just as human as I was. What a huge expectation I put on them! Continue reading “‘Brave’…Brilliantly Written…an Overdue, Alternate Ending to Prince Charming”
I have a little section of my brain that resembles a hound dog. Nose to the ground, tail at half mast, she is relentless seeking a hot trail. Until she sniffs out an idea. Then the moon can hear her baying, the tail going like a pinwheel, the nose making a furrow in the soft dirt, it smells so good.
A friend shared a post with me on Google+ and it inspired me to write.
Inspiration: As some of you may know I have written 28 short plays for teenagers in the classroom.
Subjects that challenge them every day: bullying, cyber-bullying, cutting, drug use, texting and driving, date violence, breaking up, running away, etc. But I haven’t written one about the damage that an indiscriminate photo or posting can do…..forever!
When I first saw this photo, I chuckled and wondered if the teacher realized that there was a fire extinguisher behind her. Photos and gossip spreads like ‘wild fire’ on the Internet because of one supposedly innocent posting. And no fire extinguisher, fire hose, or fire truck would be big enough to put it out once it’s out there. Do our young people realize that a posting on a social network could follow them forever? College applications, job interviews, credit reports.
Stop!! Don’t Do It !! This photo will follow YOU forever!
Young people don’t think much of sending each other (sometimes) inappropriate photos. Or they say things about others (often not true) and think it’s funny, not to be taken seriously. A prank in the moment. They don’t realize that they may be harming themselves (or others) for a long time to come. THINK! Before you Post!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!
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The final segment of my Interview with this fascinating author!
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?
A. I guess references to the Jonestown Massacre would be inappropriate? For some people it’s a pretty orderly process. I envy them and I try to be more orderly with every book. But I also think it’s important for the writer to be on a quest of his own, to be trying to understand the story in a million ways, and learning new things through the whole process of writing. When the writer figures something out, about the characters or the story– that generates real excitement for the reader. I’ve generally needed an editor at the end, the way one needs an obstetrician at the end of a pregnancy. And sometimes the editor has needed forceps.
My Interview with best selling author, Heidi Jon Schmidt
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. I write in bed. It started during a chaotic childhood when my bed was pushed into the quietest corner of the house, a safe place to withdraw to and think, imagine, write. And now that I have my own house, family, garden, life….it’s still the place where I feel most connected to my imagination.
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.)
A. The minute my daughter walks out the door for school, I take a cup of coffee up the stairs. And I don’t do anything else until I’ve gotten a day’s work done.
From the author: It was great fun writing this book about a young woman so ahead of her time. Basketball star, speakeasy owner, flapper who literally worked all day and danced all night. The story about her red evening gown is true and her friends would make her change into it before going out on the town. The story about playing poker with a Catholic Bishop is true. She ultimately had five husbands, but always said the first one didn’t count as they never consummated the marriage. She went on to be the champion women’s bowler in California. She had three kids which she didn’t take very good care of. She was human with many flaws, she was selfish and generous in turns, she was wild and ladylike……she was my mother. Sometimes I ask myself: ‘did the apple fall very far from the tree?’
Writing it was fun but hearing her ‘voice’ and that of the other characters was amazing. When you hire an audio professional the author remains in control (quality) and can ‘proof’ ever word. It’s crucial that you hire the right narrator as your book sounds different from the written page. It’s important that the narrator is willing to work with you on edits, add on’s, and you can ask this upfront before you choose from the audition pieces that you receive.
If you’re an American, this Thursday, you will sit down with family and friends to some rendition of a Thanksgiving dinner. Or you might decide to give Mom/Dad (whoever the cook is) a break and go out to eat this year. If you are carnivores you will consume great quantities of turkey, ham, giblet dressing, oyster dressing, stuffed deviled eggs, and football. If you are vegetarian you will consume delicate, beautiful, tasty dishes made with all the food groups except those that had faces. Football optional.
A bit of trivia: Historical records strongly suggest that shellfish, geese, ducks, swans, and venison were the meats of the first Thanksgivings....then referred to as the Fall Harvest Celebration which traditional lasted 3 days. Here’s how Edward Winslow described the first Thanksgiving feast in a letter to a friend: Continue reading “What this Blogger is Thankful For…”
My Random House Dictionary weighs at least seven pounds and it takes both my arms to lug it around. Its copyright date is 1966 and I think I bought mine in about 1970. Forty three+ years ago. Its pages are ‘paper-thin’ (pun intended) and very fragile. It is my reference book when I write this series: Words being my box of chocolates. Continue reading “My momma always said, Life is Like a Box of Chocolates’….or words (part 6)”
I am so pleased when FreshFiction.com invites me to blog on their site. Here is the latest and I hope you will enjoy it.
