This purely decorative picture demonstrates the opposite of an active opening. Next in our series of posts expanding on my Writing Tips list, we have: Open active: Start scene changes underway and then explain how you got there…unless change significant. First: what do I mean by openings? In this case, I mean…
Orville returned from his first overnight camping trip with the Boy Scouts. He was gone Friday and Saturday and it was a great successs. Not as much rain as feared. I suffered a mother’s quandry in regard to this trip. My boys sleep with "friends" on their bed, favorite stuffed animals. When packing, I kept wrestling…
Last night, we were reading Dr. Seuss’s If I Ran The Circus. We had just reached the part where the knights ‘noble apes without fear’ and the following conversation ensued: Juss: "The things in this book are impossible. Whoever heard of boxing glove spears." Mommy: "Er…actually, that’s the only thing in this book tha is possible." Juss: "Oh."…
Yesterday, I went on a field trip with Orville. It was to be something Medieval. I thought it was going to be a Renaissance Faire type thing. So, you can imagine my surprise when we arrived at a mall….a mall. Driving around the mall in the school bus, we came to a castle. (Don’t believe me,…
Instead of an essay, this week, we have a photo: How cool is that? This is a picture from the Manassas, Virginia Barnes and Nobles Science Fiction/Fantasy. Look closelky at the books across the top shelf. All these books are the output of two authors. ;-)
I joined a writing group with seven other fantasy/sf writers, one of whom was a friend. Imagine my surprise when some of these ladies read Chapter One of my latest work and don’t seem to understand what is magic and what is not, think a magician asking for a sample of a solicitor’s wares is propositioning…
When I was young, there was nothing I loved more than to disappear into the world of books. I would bike down to this magical place called the library and come back with a backpack of books. Then I would curl up in my room and disappear into Wonderland. I loved all books,…
due to things at home. God willing, we’ll be back next week.
Persie is the shaggy dark tiger on the left. I don’t recall the first time I saw him very clearly. He must have been a black-backed ball of fur. But I remember the second time. We had gone to our friends, the Carvers, to pick two kittens — this was because we had finally hit step two…
Guest Blog this week: the charming Charles Grey weighs in for the Heming Way: The best new piece of advice on writing I know of comes from William Goldman via David Morrell’s book Lessons From a Lifetime of Writing. The whole book is invaluable – it’s the only one I’ve read all the way through and then immediately…