Posts Tagged ‘book’
My summer reading list
I ask you what you’re reading many a Tuesday in the SPEEDY BD SURVEY, and you have every right to ask me back. The answer? I can’t read much when I’m working on a book, but now that Sweet Salt Air is done and summer here, my to-read pile is growing. At the top is…
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 MoreWhat comes after THE END?
I’ve been absent. At the end of writing a book, when my creative energy is focused on climactic scenes and tying up loose ends, it’s hard to think about writing anything else. So my blog takes a hit. I apologize. But Sweet Salt Air is now done – at least, the heavy-duty, mind-drain part of…
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 MoreDo you talk to yourself?
Do you? I mean, out loud? I didn’t used to. Only deranged people talk aloud to themselves, right? But there are certain circumstances now when I find myself doing it. Like when I carry two super-heavy bags of groceries in from the car and heave them onto the kitchen counter. Okay, I grunt in relief…
Read MoreA shrug and a smile
Ahah! Bet you thought I haven’t been knitting, since I’ve been blogging about everything but that. You would be wrong. When writing days are the longest, I need my knitting the most. I’m shrugging – no, not doing the bobbing thing with the shoulders, but knitting a shrug. Remember, I mentioned it in my blog…
Read MoreThe pre-reqs of public speaking
What makes a good public speaker? A strong voice? Lotsa guts? The gift of gab? If you guessed any of these, you’d be right, but they’re the tip of the iceberg – literally, only the part you see. When I talk before a group, there’s much more involved, and since I’m flying across the country…
Read MoreWhat, me? Preorder?
Well, I don’t do it all the time, but here I am, asking you to preorder the paperback of Escape, which goes on sale Tuesday. So let’s take a minute to discuss the pros and cons of preordering. Pro. You don’t risk forgetting; the book is on your doorstep the day it goes on sale.…
Read MoreWhen characters are name-callers
Here’s another thought for those of you who are interested in the kinds of things a writer has to consider. In a single stretch of dialogue, how often should the characters call each other by name? I’ve been hypersensitive about this lately, because I just read another book that, IMHO, did it very wrong. Here’s…
Read MoreWhy I love FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
Surely by now you’ve heard friends talk of this book, and if you haven’t yet, you will. Consider me a friend. And here’s my talk. I love the characters. Ana may be sexually naïve at the start of the book, but she has spunk and wit. She takes on Christian as no other woman has;…
Read More