Gena Showalter’s The Nymph King just made #32 on the NYT list!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously cool news, Gena!!!!!!! In Snark news, tomorrow, you are all in for a treat! This last month’s Scene from a Pic pulled in some great writing. I’ve worked hard on it today because of weird formatting problems but since it’s so…
Category: My Writing Life
A Knob in La La Land
I possess this extremely unfortunate personality trait. I make things harder than they need to be. My husband finds this trait an infinite source of amusement. I do not. I like to think of myself as intelligent—don’t we all?—and when I do these things, I feel like a real knob. What he might not…
For The Geek In Us
Thanks for the feedback on the Blog thing. I’m not moving–just curious. I don’t usually like to post twice in a day, but I thought it would be fun to share this video from the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas. There are some really cool gadgets coming out on the market and I have…
Life Flies
There’s this adult alternative music channel on our cable network. They play artists like Kt Tunstall, Ray LaMontagne, Corrinne Bailey Rae, Sufjan Stevens, The Colour, Regina Spektor… you get the idea. In addition to the contemporary pieces, they play a lot of music from the nineties and eighties. While I was typing madly away to make…
Today Is All About Goofing Off
I’m funny about posting pics of my kids. Meaning, I won’t. But this one is okay. My sweet little scary man. So, I have lots of work to do. I wasted an incredible amount of time yesterday and feel much shame over it. <g> So, because I need all my brain function for writing the monster word…
Odd Cooking Post and Short Fiction
Sometimes when I get really stuck, I take a break and experiment in the kitchen. There are times I love to cook. Been on an Italian kick this week. Tonight, I’m making Toscano soup– and yes, it’s the recipe from Olive Garden. Sausage, potatoes, kale and a creamy broth… yum. <g> Not all of my…
Exploring Your Inner Voice
Humorous. Dark. Vivid. Lively. Melancholic. It’s quite possible you have a touch of all these styles. Good. I certainly believe in being well-rounded when it comes to voice. However, sometimes nailing your “voice” is tough. I struggle with it a lot in my book length manuscripts–struggle to the point where there are days I convince…
Research Good. Research Bad.
Sorry for the silence. I have a plot line that is taking a little more research than I anticipated so I’ve been bogged down trying to get it all done and still get some sort of word count. Thank goodness I decided to give up my Lone Ranger JANO and extend my personal deadline to…
Attainable Magic
Last week, I talked about setting and typing up parts of a favorite book to better understand the flow of words. One of the Snarky readers, Word Doctor, agreed that it’s a great way to study mechanics. There is another plus to this practice. Have you ever picked up a book and been utterly enchanted…
Post Its, Pulling Teeth and Protective Daddies
For details about how this works, visit Rachel Vincent’s blog. I hit a plot bump around chapter nine on my WIP, so I decided to give Rachel’s plot board a try. It’s intense work, but strangely fun and satisfying as well. Okay, it freaking rocks! I’m visual. Out-of-sight, out-of-mind is how it works in the…