Because you can’t read it too many times: I have been given my charge to keep–Well have I kept the same!Playing with strife for the most of my life,But this is a different game.I’ll not fight against swords unseen,Or spears that I cannot view–Hand him the keys of the place on your knees–‘Tis the…
Today, I am going to tackle another of Elmore Leonard’s Ten Rules For Writing: 10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. A rule that came to mind in 1983. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in…
Title: Bad-Ass Faeries 3: In All Their GloryPublisher: Mundania Press, www.mundania.comISBN(trade paper): 978-1-60659-208-3 ISBN (eBook): 978-1-60659-207-6 Scheduled Pub Date: 5/30/10 Contents (in order): War and Circuses by D.C.Wilson Uddereek by Hildy Silverman Brownies vs. Blondies by Chris Pisano & Brian Koscienski Last Gate to Faerie by Trisha Wooldridge & Christy Tohara Fae Fighters by…
I talked a friend into taking Margie Lawson’s online writing class on Empowering Character’s Emotions. Then, I thought, heck, why don’t I take it, too! So, I’m taking it again. Figure I can’t learn too much about this subject. Anyone else interested? Come join us? (Deadline to sign up is tomorrow, Saturday February 27th.) Margie Lawson is a trained psychotherapist who…
I have for some time now been a combatant in an undeclared war with a modern school of style that tries to push itself forward as “correct” writing—as if it were grammar—instead of as a style school. I knew this school got its start from Hemingway and that many authors follow it. But it is has recently become…
I want the boys to make a cake or cupcakes for the Cub Scout Derby. It has to be from scratch. Anyone have a good recipe?
First, we went to a Chinese New Year party for families with children adopted from China. In one of those weird serendipitous things, it was organized by the sister of our friend Trisha, whom we traveled with in China. (Trisha adopted a lovely daughter named Julia. Her sister had two daughters and has a referral…
I just had this sudden vision of the kind of melodramatic drivel I would have blogged about if I had had access to blogging when I was young. Judging by what I wrote in my journal at the time and the kind of thing I said to perfect strangers, I probably would have written a great deal personal feelign and emotional…
Interior Dialogue: Readers don’t trust dialogue. Have your characters think, and have what they think be juxtaposed to the dialogue, showing a new angle. This one I learned the hard way. When I first started writing novels, I was under the impression that the best writing was like a screen play, all dialogue. So, I set out…
Recently, charges were made against our adoption agency, CWA (Christian World Adoption.) Horrified, CWA sent their lawyer to investigate and discovered that none of the alligations were true. (One made no sense anyway, and the other they had paperwork showing it was not the case.) CWA’s lawyer then had an hour long interview with CBS…