Tag: storytelling

The Trans-G Kid, a New Short Play

NEW in my collection of ten minute plays for the classroom or drama department.

Trans.G.BookCoverPreview.doThe Trans-G Kid

I was inspired recently, watching celebrity transgender headlines, to add to my collection of ten minute plays for the classroom. The media has put a ‘better late than never’ and much needed spotlight on the teenagers who are seeking their ‘true selves’. In the process, these teens have been living in fear, confusion and depression, having to hide their feelings. Alone, with a huge secret, many of them look to suicide as a permanent solution to end their pain and uncertainty. The suicide statistics in the teen transgender community is staggering.

The Trans-G Kid was born. My short plays for the classroom cover teen issues in real time. Bullying, cutting, running away, teen dating violence, suicide, drugs, and broken families. If my play opens a single dialogue between student and teacher or child and parent I will consider myself a success! Continue reading “The Trans-G Kid, a New Short Play”

Chuck Dixon Interview (part 3)

a.comicbookstore.BBTWhen I achieved doing this interview, I won’t lie.  I wanted to run into Stuart’s comic book store and yell, ‘I’m interviewing Chuck Dixon!’ For those of you who have no idea who Stuart is…well you are not living to your full capacity if you’re not watching, The Big Bang Theory’.
Chuck was so generous with his answers so let’s sit back and enjoy the final part.
Q. What makes a writer great?

CD. If a writer’s work can survive a few generations past his initial readership. History is filled with writers who were considered white hot in their era and forgotten only a few years past their death and never re-discovered.

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

CD. Everyone works differently. No writer’s approach is the same as another….. Continue reading “Chuck Dixon Interview (part 3)”

More With Chuck Dixon, Comic Book Icon (part 2)

a.Dixon.comic.book-dixonDixon:  ‘I’m strictly a writer. I write the scripts that the artist works from. It’s a format much like a screenplay, broken down panel-by-panel with descriptions of what should appear in each panel. And all the dialogue and captions in place. I wrote quite a few Simpsons comic book stories over a ten year period.’

Q. Was that a challenge to switch to a novel format and ‘point-of-view’?

CD. Mostly it was the intimidation factor. In comics, my chosen medium, the bench for writing talent is pretty thin. But in prose fiction I’m up against thousands of years of awesome writing. I mean, who the hell do I think I am going to work in the same shop as Alexander Dumas or Jane Austen?

And now I have to actually write descriptive text that evokes images in the minds of casual readers. In comics my descriptions are utilitarian. I simply tell the artist what needs to be in the panel. It’s not artful in any way. In prose fiction I need to be more subtle; more circumspect. More of a wordsmith which is something I have never considered myself to be. But pacing, plotting, characterization and all the rest are the same for comics as they are for prose. Continue reading “More With Chuck Dixon, Comic Book Icon (part 2)”

A Day In The Life Of A Writer

anxnst.mouseIt’s time once again to share with other writers, my hopes, my fears, my successes, my setbacks. My days as a writer look very much like a pizza loaded with toppings.

My time at my keyboard, has been filled feverishly working with an editor on The Art of Murder because a publisher is sniffing around my campfire.  That is to say, the senior editor for a publishing co. said my mystery series had ‘tremendous potential‘ but wasn’t quite there yet.  Now we wait and see if my editor and I were able to do what they needed in order to offer me a contract.

Yes, even though I am moderately successful as an indie author, I am still chasing a traditional publisher when I stumble across one.  Continue reading “A Day In The Life Of A Writer”

Successor to Tom Clancy, an Interview with Grant Blackwood (part 2)

Part Two of my Interview with best selling author, Grant Blackwood, successor to Tom Clancy

blackwood-portrait-253x300Q. Who or what is your “Muse” at the moment ?

A. I don’t have a muse, per se. If anything, my muse is the drive to write stories that entertain readers. That’s the little voice that sits on my shoulder. Too often writers fall into the muse trap — believing that they’re creativity and productivity is at the whim of something “out there”, something fleeting. Start writing. The muse will be there.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

A. July of 1987, two months after I got out of the Navy. I’d been thinking about writing a book since I was eight or nine. That morning in July I caught myself on a good day. Instead of saying, “maybe tomorrow”, Continue reading “Successor to Tom Clancy, an Interview with Grant Blackwood (part 2)”

Interview with Grant Blackwood, writing for Tom Clancy

While I was reading and reviewing Under Fire by Grant Blackwood (Tom Clancy) my burning question was:  ‘how do you write so well that we believe the iconic Tom Clancy is really the one putting pen to paper?’  These authors who write after the death of a beloved writer, like Ludlum, Parker, Fleming or Clancy, are really talented.  To be able to put their own unique ‘voice’ on the shelf and write so successfully for another author?  It boggles this writer’s mind!

Grant at work on his latest vampire/romance/thriller joined by his two consultants.”
Grant at work on his latest vampire/romance/thriller joined by his two consultants.”

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? (please provide a photo/s of your shed, room, closet, barn….) Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

A. I have an office in our house. As we’ve recently moved, I’m still in the process of getting things decorated. That said, here’s the view I have when I work in the morning…The wall behind my computer is intentionally barren; when I’m writing Continue reading “Interview with Grant Blackwood, writing for Tom Clancy”

Entry Island by Peter May ** A Review

reviews, authors, writing  reviews, authors, writing 5 out of 5 quills  A Reviewreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing         Peter May has done it again and we should hold a parade because Entry Island is being released in the USA September 15th.
A bustling murder mystery to be sure…but as Sime Mackenzie is called to the crime scene he experiences an almost debilitating deja’ vu.

Detective Mackenzie is haunted by the certainty that he knows the widow of the murdered man, Entry Island by Peter Mayeven though rationally he knows he’s never seen her before, in this lifetime. His dreams are filled with a time long ago when he, as a young man, witnessed and then fled the ‘clearances’ in the Highlands of  far off Scotland.

Being a historian buff at heart, I adore any story that tells me a tale about a time that I was not so aware of…. Continue reading “Entry Island by Peter May ** A Review”

The Medicine Bag – Poetrysoup.com Featured Poem

Dear Trisha,
Congratulations, this is just a quick notice to let you know that your poem
The Medicine Bag is one of the poems being featured on the PoetrySoup home page this week. 
Thanks again and congratulations. 
Sincerely, 
PoetrySoup 

The Medicine Bag © thJX3QXAPB

March the centuries on, 
the talisman wraps and 
clings to the collar bone. 

The medicine bag cups holy 
bones that speak of the 
future, flint and stone to
 make magic fire 

strong medicine in the 
feather of the eagle
a tooth of the wolf when the 
spirit guide is he
 
Should the moon's cycle be
the guide. an agate stone 

Antler bone, its spirit 
sacrificed, meat and juices 
hiss into the fire on a wintry 
night 

Amulets forever worn 'round 
the neck touched by hands 
to reassure 

Fear, pain and loss subside 
Joy celebrated stroked in 
thanksgiving, always there, 
a comfort 

To lose it was to lose one's 
self 
 
The medicine bag still adorns 
the educated, the modern 
the agnostic 

Turquoise of a native people
rosary beads for a strict and 
vengeful God
a locket filled with a 
beloved's hair 

hippy beads from the time of 
peace signs and Haight-Ashbury 

a gold chain dangling stones 
ripped from the earth 

David's star shining over
centuries of darkness
 
A shark's tooth from the icy, 
indifferent depths 

silver charms jingle and talk of 
life's landmarks 

the gold cross celebrating a 
vicious torture 

worry beads from a 
mysterious and ancient cult 

a modest grain of sand 
coated with oyster spit 

the ashes of one that can.t 
be let go, lest it diminish the 
life that remains 

Medicine bags…all
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!      Grant Blackwood (Tom Clancy) in Sept. and Julia London in October.
Don’t Miss it!  A bonus Interview with iconic comic book writer, Chuck Dixon, in September.
To receive a free audio book and 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.

 

REVIEW…Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas

reviews, authors, writing reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing5 out of 5 quills  reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing   A Review  ** Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas

Jodi.book.coverCrossroads, Texas.  A 4-way intersection with one signal light.  Turn south to Abilene, north to Amarillo…you get the idea. Just a stop in the road to where you need to go.  As you sit at the light do you ever wonder about the people that populate this little one-horse-town?  Of course you don’t…your thoughts are about how big this state is and ‘will I ever get out of Texas?’ Come on, you know we’ve all thought it!

Thomas tells you all about the folks in the little village of Crossroads in a new series entitled Ransom Canyon Romance. And it’s great reading.  In my mind it’s not just about Staten and Quinn, two star-crossed lovers.  There were several main characters that stole this reader’s heart.  Yancy, a new parolee, Grandma Kirkland, and Lucas.  But that’s all I’m going to say as this reviewer does not write spoilers and give you the whole story, chapter and verse.

This is a charming and entertaining read and I highly recommend it as I do with all of Jodi Thomas’ books.

Jodi wrote in an e-mail: “Like most writers I get the same question again and again. “Where do your ideas come from? Sometimes I have no idea where the seed of an idea started to grow in my mind. But, then I get out Grandma Kirkland’s button box….
When I was little, her big box of buttons always fascinated me. I played with it for hours. Now, in an upstairs room off my office, I gather the grand-kids (6,5,4,2) around the old sewing machine. They all get excited as I open the box and let each one pick a button. Old rusty ones, bright diamond bling, tiny pearl ones, some still have tiny pieces of fabric connected from worn out clothes. Continue reading “REVIEW…Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas”

Review…Her Lucky Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan

Cover.J.Ryan..ScanA Review  reviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writingreviews, authors, writing5 out of 5 quills

Delicious!!  A flawed, compassionate heroine and a hunky, injured  bull rider!  Jennifer Ryan really delivered with this one!  I was fully engaged on page one! These two lovers meet in the middle of a rodeo arena with a maddened bull as a chaperon.

Champion rodeo rider Dane Bowden is eight seconds from winning under the Vegas lights, one last hurrah before reluctantly returning to his family’s Montana ranch. But his bull has other plans. When Dane wakes up, he’s sure he’s died and gone to heaven . . . because the doctor who comes to his aid is the same girl who saved his life years ago and then disappeared. Bell would do anything for Dane. He’s the fantasy that always kept her going. A child genius hidden away by her family, Bell was the secret no one talked about, the girl no one wanted.

Ryan weaves story after story.  This is an exceptional tale.  I loved it and you will too!!

Release date: August 25th.  Did you miss my Interview with Jennifer Ryan. Click here.Ryan.photo..32.58 (Small)
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DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!     Jennifer Ryan,(Aug.), Grant Blackwood (Tom Clancy) Sept. and Julia London.
Don’t Miss it!  A bonus Interview with Iconic comic book writer, Chuck Dixon, in September.
Coming Soon! Review of Entry Island by Peter May and Ransom Canyon by Jodi Thomas.
To receive a free audio book and 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.