Posts Tagged ‘plot’
My Valentine’s Day Trifecta
Valentine’s Day is my kind of day. I was a romantic before I ever wrote a single romance, and once I did that – and discovered that people loved reading what I wrote – there was no end to my hearts-and-flowers imagination. All told, I wrote fifty romances, sometimes eight a year, I was that…
Read MoreWhat’s coming for Barbara in 2014
Young chick, old boots. That’s my theme here. As 2013 fades to 2014, it’s only natural to think about ending the old and beginning the new. But is that what really happens? Not in my book. And I mean that both literally and figuratively. I don’t see that we end and begin. Life is a…
Read MoreHelp Barbara understand All Is Lost
Please note: This blog contains spoilers. If that doesn’t bother you, read on. I’m talking, of course, about the new Robert Redford movie, All Is Lost. Which I loved. But then, I’ve always loved Redford. I loved him with Jane Fonda in Barefoot In The Park and loved him with Barbra Streisand in The Way…
Read MoreI hear you!
The notes you send have a huge impact on me. The most obvious instance occurred in June, soon after Sweet Salt Air came out. One reader said she thought the book started too slowly. I promptly turned to my work-in-progress, reread the opening with a critical eye, then switched Chapters 1 and 2 so that…
Read MoreWhere SWEET SALT AIR came from
Most of my books are inspired by things I read about in the newspaper. The inspiration for Sweet Salt Air was much more personal. I have three sons, all of whom have recently had children, and when each of those babies was born, its umbilical cord blood was harvested, frozen, and stored. The premise is…
Read MoreDealing with the loss of my characters
Readers feel this. You’ve been engrossed in a book for however long it takes to read it and then, suddenly, the characters are gone. You write me asking what they’ll do now and whether they’ll ever be back. But if you miss them, think of what I’m feeling when I finish writing a book. Take Sweet…
Read MoreWorking through the books in my beach bag
Actually, it’s not a beach bag, simply what would be in a hypothetical beach bag if I was to read at the beach as opposed to the lake, where comfortable, non-sandy, tree-shaded chairs abound. I had read Home, by Toni Morrison, the weekend before, but last weekend was for Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. And mind…
Read MoreI believe! I believe!
I’m a fiction person, which isn’t to say I don’t read the newspaper or watch the evening news, but simply that my entertainment of choice involves pretend. Add to that magical elements that sometimes creep into my own work, like the coyotes in Escape, the wishes in Three Wishes, and the herbs in Sweet Salt…
Read MoreTHE HUNGER GAMES: a recommendation
I read a lot of popular fiction. As a writer, I need to know something about books that are extraordinarily successful – i.e., what it is about them that makes millions of readers clamor to buy. It was on that premise that I read “Twilight,” and loved it enough to read all four books more…
Read MoreMy book is a GO!
Good news. My editor called this morning to say that everyone at SMP loves my proposal. There are a few questions, basically things for me to keep in mind as I write, but now that I have a green light, I can start. I’m psyched! And suddenly nervous. Drafting a proposal is one thing. As…
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