Part two of this writer’s world will appear on my blog on Tuesday, Dec. 10th and the final installment on Thurs. Dec. 12th
DON’T MISS IT!
Click here if you missed Part I
Heidi is a beautiful, thoughtful writer. Her characters jump off the page and remind us that we are all so…so human. 
Continue reading “Don’t Miss Part 2 of my Interview with Heidi Jon Schmidt”
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.
Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer? Etc.) Continue reading “How Do those oysters get to your Dinner Table? Interview with Heidi Jon Schmidt (1of3)”
Peter Armstrong, co-founder of LeanPub, recently lectured on UTube about writing a book (in progress) on line….in a blog or on UTube or on your web site. This is called ‘progress writing’ or ‘progress publishing’. He claims you will get great reader feedback and gain traction for your final, finished book.
And this might be right for you. It may give you the stimulus, the poke in the rump that you need to either start writing or to continue writing.
Here’s how I feel about it:
‘Progress writing’ makes it too easy for someone to steal your idea/story. Even if you have covered yourself with a ‘poor man’s copyright’ like I’ve told you how to do or even if you’ve sent it partially written to the Library of Congress, your idea can be plagiarized and you may never know it. And what if the person who took your idea for a story gets it finished before you do. They are published and now you look like you ‘borrowed’ their idea. Continue reading “A Rebuttal….Wiz Kid encourages ‘Progress writing’. This author Doesn’t!”
NOW AVAILABLE in AUDIO BOOKS!!! “Wild Violets”
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)”
This author is a guest blogger on FreshFiction.com TODAY! Telling the story behind “The Art of Murder” and how it went from an idea to a book to a series. Trish is currently working on book 2, “The Dance of Murder” in the series The World of Murder.
Click here: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=5447
Win a chance to receive, FREE, one of Trisha’s latest novels.
In a special ‘give away’ 10 visitors to FreshFiction.com will win a book, “Wild Violets” or “The Art of Murder”.
“Wild Violets” is also available in Audio Books!
I looked up this quote to be certain I quoted it with accuracy and low and behold! Today is the day that Winston Churchill (you all know how much I love him) and Charles Bukowski (you know I am obsessed with him) meet. Considering it’s my blog I guess it was inevitable.
Winston Churchill was one of the greatest ‘coiner of phrases’ that the world has ever seen. He said, ‘those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it’ back in the early 1900’s. Not much has changed and it seems that we are, indeed, doomed to repeat and repeat.
Ironically, Bukowski wrote this prose back in the early 1950’s. It could have been written yesterday; we’re still at war, the politicians still suffer from the malady of greed and power. Government still disregards the weak, the old, the impoverished, the helpless……..
putrefaction © (Bukowski)
of late
I’ve had this thought
that this country
has gone backwards
4 or 5 decades
and that all the
social advancement
the good feeling of
person toward
person
has been washed
away
and replaced by the same
old
bigotries.
we have
more than ever
the selfish wants of power
the disregard for the
weak
the old
the impoverished
the
helpless.
we are replacing want with
war
salvation with
slavery.
we have wasted the
gains
we have become
rapidly
less.
we have our Bomb
it is our fear
our damnation
and our
shame.
now
something so sad
has hold of us
that
the breath
leaves
and we can’t even
cry.
‘Oh no!’ you cry, ‘Trish is going all political on us’. Not at all. It’s still about the writing and the wordsmiths of our time.
I just found it so poignant that these two great men, so very different in their calling and their craft would come to the same philosophical place decades apart. One man was a great statesman, a world leader and a wordmaster at the highest level. The other man, a dissolute, drunken, promiscuous, wild genius of a writer. One pronounced wisdom in a pedantic, clear statement, leaving nothing to interpretation or misunderstanding. The other’s rantings makes you see it, breath it, taste it, feel it.
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Start your month off right!! DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS. INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! “The Writer’s Corner”
In addition to my twice weekly blog I will also feature an interview with another author once a month. These authors have already responded and you can read their interviews by clicking on their name: Ann Purser, Susan Elia MacNeal, Karen Robards, Mark Childress, Rhys Bowen, Dean Koontz, Tasha Alexander, Patrick Taylor, Sheryl Woods, Jo-Ann Mapson, Jeffrey Deaver, Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Gilbert, Amber Winckler, Raymond Benson, Andrew Grant, Heidi Jon Schmidt, Robert McCammon, Sue Grafton, Walter Mosley, and many others.
So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create! Jeffrey Deaver was October’s author and Patrick Taylor will join us in November. Slick mystery writer, Andrew Grant will join us this winter. Loretta Chase will be featured later this year. Raymond Benson is my January author.
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Patrick Taylor’s characters, Fingal O’Reilly, M.D. and his young protege, Dr. Barry Laverty play word games over a pint. Trying to out do each other with trivia. And my readers all know, by now, how much I love words.
Over a couple of whiskeys, at the end of a long day, Barry toasts Dr. O’Reilly, “Slainte”.
O’Reilly responds, “Prost!” and then continues, “Did you know ‘prosit‘ is the third-person singular present active subjunctive of the Latin verb Prosum or the Maltese prosit, meaning ‘bravo'”
“I did not know that.” Barry replied. “How do you?” O’Reilly chuckled, “I learnt the Latin grammar in school, and a good thing too, because when I was a student at Trinity some lectures were delivered in Latin.”
My Interview with Patrick Taylor
Q. and the all important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like?
A. You start with a blank screen. I have been writing a series for what seems like forever so I know my characters and the setting. Then I ask myself a question. What if characters A and B were faced with ??? and that is the beginning of the plot. Then I let the characters loose and see what happens Continue reading “‘Slainte, Prost, Cheers!’ Whatever the toast…..Part 2 An Interview with author, Patrick Taylor”
This blogger was in her home place of Ireland for a month….and each time I read another ‘Country Doctor’ book by this author, I revisit the home of my heart. Patrick has given me this opportunity to interview one of my top favorite authors!
AN INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR, PATRICK TAYLOR
Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing?
A. In my study when at home. In rented accommodation when we winter in California.
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. No. I usually sort out the admin stuff like e-mail then edit what I wrote yesterday and then get on with the new stuff.
Q. What is your mode of writing? (long hand? Pencil? Computer? Etc.)
A. Computer. I used to be a doctor. Nobody can read my handwriting—including me.
Q. Do you have a set time each day to write or do you write only when you are feeling creative? Continue reading “Sure’n It’s Off to an Irish Village, You’ll be goin’…an Interview with author, Patrick Taylor (1 of 2)”
