How To Pick A Setting For Your Book

How To Pick A Setting For Your Book by @barbaradelinsky #book #place #setting

Here I am again, having just finished writing one opus and now contemplating the next. Where to place it? Where would you set your book, if you were to write one? I’ve been writing about New England pretty much since the start of my career. There were a few exceptions years ago when I set…

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I love Pub Day—I Hate Pub Day Photos

I love Pub Day—I Hate Pub Day Photos by @BarbaraDelinsky #Books #photo

Pub day is like a birthday. It comes every year at the same time, so readers know to expect it. You make lists of what you want and lists of what you hope. You wait for it … wait for it … wait for it. Then, finally, it’s here. You’re a year older. But you…

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Four Reasons Why I Listen to Classical Music

Four Reasons Why I Listen to Classical Music by @barbaradelinsky

I never used to. Well, I did occasionally, but it wasn’t my go-to station when I was in the car.  I mean, I’ve always appreciated classical music. I just never before needed it as much as I do now. What changed? Donald Trump came to power. That single happening has been so loud, so ugly, so divisive, that…

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Is listening to audiobooks cheating?

I didn’t always listen to audiobooks.  I’m very much a visual person, who needs a map in my hand.  When it comes to books, I like to hold them.  I like being able to skip back and forth when I’m confused.  I even like being able to read the ending before I reach it, so…

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I’m incubating …

Incubating.  What does that mean, someone recently asked.  This person had first asked if I was taking a break, now that my new book is finished and in production.  Lord, no, I said.  Writing is what I do.  It’s what I think about when I’m up the creek without a paddle – e.g., in the…

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Give me back my Internet!

An awful thing happened yesterday.  At two in the afternoon, I lost my Internet connection.  Oh, my Wifi still had full signal, but Comcast was not reaching it. This wasn’t a total surprise.  I’d been hearing trucks outside my window during the few hours preceding that and figured work was being done in the neighborhood. …

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The art of the apology

“I’m sorry,” she said in horror. Embarrassed, she said, “I’m really sorry.” “I am so, so sorry,” she said with heartfelt regret. I write these words in my books all the time.  In fact, I’m about to write a pivotal scene in Making Up in which apologies are key.  It’s between mother and daughter, Margaret…

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Daring to dream

A dear friend recently celebrated a milestone birthday.  After the food was eaten, wine drunk, toasts offered and dessert served, my friend rapped her glass for attention. She had a toast of her own to make, and, in the process, offered a word of wisdom.  Follow your dream, she said, and told of something she…

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How to pick the right title for a book?

If I knew the answer to that, I’d save myself a lot of angst.  Picking a title is easy.  Picking the right one, not necessarily so. Who picks the title?  Sometimes it’s me.  From my initial conception, Flirting with Pete was Flirting with Pete.  Same with Lake News, Heart of the Night, Not My Daughter, and…

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Why I included what I did in BLUEPRINTS

With Blueprints going on sale in paperback this week, I just reread it to refresh my memory.  Does it surprise you that I would need to do that?  But consider this.  I’ve written and published more than 80 books.  No human mind can keep straight all the details of 80 books.  Moreover, it’s been two…

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