Category: musings

January 5, 2016

Book List for 2015

Since I live in Snohomish County in WA state, I’m part of the Sno-Isle Library System, a regional library serving Snohomish and Island counties. Below are their top picks for 2015 based on their books in circulation. (as posted in the December 17th Edmonds Beacon). Fiction: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee Gray Mountain by John Grisham Memory Man by David Balducci A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult The Liar...

Challenge / musings

December 15, 2015

Word Challenge

Word play is one of my favorite pasttimes. Here’s a word challenge to keep you busy thinking. Begin with the word startling “S -T-A- R -T- L- I- N- G”. Drop 1 letter at a time. End with the word “I” Send me your results IF you can do it.

editing / Letters to Follow / musings / When the Music Stops

December 1, 2015

December? Already?

Where did the year disappear to so quickly? Last week was summer wasn’t it? Or maybe September? But December…so soon? My writing goals took a hit earlier this year when we had problems with the covers on When the Music Stops- Dance On. That slowed my event planning which in turn pushed back my writing time on the last book in the trilogy, Letters to Follow. Talk about the domino effect!! Now, as 2015 ends, I’m hoping I’ve found the ending to book three. I have a clear resolution to most all the issues left unfinished in the first two...

details in writing / musings / writer reminders / writing process

November 17, 2015

INspiration

Where do you go to get inspired? the beach, a park, a movie? Or, are you the type that of person to find your inspiration in talking with people, joining a club or maybe the solitude of a day alone with a good book. Does sampling a variety of wines or berries or vegetables inspires you? How about the touch of a luscious fabric? Regardless of where you find inspiration, a writer often uses what they see, smell, hear, taste and touch to make a story sparkle. They take the inspiration IN, mush it around a bit and voila! It...

musings

November 3, 2015

Wanted: Your Opinion

Which statement is most true? Why do you believe that??? “That is the job of fiction: to put down on paper, a chain of words that anyone could find in an ordinary dictionary, which will bring to life real human beings in a real setting.” James Michener in The Novel p. 212 OR… “(The) words had too much power. They had to be handled with fireproof gloves or they’d burn you to the bone.” Kristin Hannah in Distant Shore, p. 5 Do the words have power or is it the author’s ideas that create the power in a book?

musings

October 27, 2015

A Look into my Typical Writing Day

Authors are often asked when they write, what rituals they follow and so on. We all vary in our approach. The following is my general attack on daily writing. 4:45 Get dressed, turn on the computer, get a large cup of hot tea and check my emails. 5:30 Open my current project and start where I left off yesterday. 7:00 Fix a quick breakfast and return to the computer. 11:00 Take a break (file materials, decide what’s for dinner, make phone calls) 11:30 Back to the computer! 12:30 Eat lunch and prepare to work in classrooms, do laundry, work around...

musings

October 20, 2015

8 Reasons to Read

The other day I had a drop-in book event at the Edmonds Bookshop. During quiet moments, I looked around, watching people browse the array of books this gem of a bookshop stocks. It made me wonder why they browse/select/buy/read certain genres. I made a quick list and came up with this random collection of generic ideas: 1. It’s fun, informative or both. 2. It takes you to worlds you’ might never visit otherwise. 3. You are led to see images in new ways. 4. It’s often relaxing. 5. It opens you to new perspectives. 6. You meet interesting story characters...

character development / details in writing / Letters to Follow / musings / writer reminders

October 6, 2015

Write on the Sound Conference

Writers never stop looking for ways to improve their writing. One such way is conferences. Our local conference, Write on the Sound, is a perfect place to gain ideas and techniques while meeting with fellow writers. And, as good fortune would have it, we had a perfect weekend of weather, classes, and vistas from the Plaza Room at Edmond’s Francis Anderson Center (formerly the place where I began my teaching career half a century ago). Ouch. that sounds ancient; maybe it is! The conference strictly showcases writers as presenters with no agents or publishers making presentations. Listening to fellow writers...

musings / poetry

September 22, 2015

Found Poetry – Fun for Everyone

I want to share this notion with you because it only take a few minutes and it creates amazing results. O.K. so what is ‘found poetry’? A friend who loves words, writing and reading brought this to my attention. As I understand it, you need a book of your choosing, paper and a pen or pencil. Now comes the fun: open the book to any page and touch a sentence at random. Write it down. Now repeat this action two more times. You will end up with a strangely clever poem. Consider taking more lines from various sections of...

musings / quotes

September 15, 2015

Quotes to Ponder

Small ideas often make stories more memorable and often give us pause: If I cannot accept the real as real, how can I accept a dream as a dream? Night Gardening by E.L. Swann comment attributed to the 12th century priest/monk Saigyo The grooves of his life were deep and rigid. Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston It turns out impatience is the thief of serenity. Chicken Chronicles by Alice Walker (talking about life events) … the kind that looks like nothing except through time’s rear view mirror. The Walk by Richard Paul Evans ...