“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.” —Larry L. King, Writer’s Digest One of the questions I’m sometimes asked in interviews or when I do book talks is: “What is your writing day like?” People have a curiosity about the process of writing, especially if they have ever considered writing something themselves. I like to …
A Snowy January Week
We got some more snow Thursday and Friday and then the Big Chill came barreling down on us. Windchills in the minus zero range. This morning’s temperature was below zero, but it didn’t feel all that bad when I went out with the dogs. I didn’t stay all that long and by our afternoon walk, it was a balmy 25 …
3 Question Interview
I did this three question interview a few years ago. Not to post here on One Writer’s Journal, but as a guest on a different blog to see if I could tempt some new readers into giving my new book at the time, River to Redemption a try. The interview was a little different from most. Just three short questions …
A Character Study
I’m working on a new book. That means a whole new cast of characters. Last week I wanted to get to know the man who will be my main male character. The one thing I know about him is that he is an artist. Well, I know some other things too but not everything. For some reason, I started writing …
A Story Needs People
“I will go to my grave in a state of abject endless fascination that we all have the capacity to become emotionally involved with a personality that doesn’t exist.” (Berkeley Breathed) As a writer I have become emotionally involved with many characters that only came into existence because I imagined them and set them down on a story trail. As I …
Three Quick Questions
1. If you had a warning label, what would yours say? Warning: Don’t ask about my grandkids. If you do, I might start hunting pictures on my phone to show you. (I know you didn’t ask, but that’s still a grandkid picture.) 2. What could you give a 40-minute presentation on with absolutely no preparation? I could talk 40 minutes, …
Book Giveaway Chance from Suzanne Woods Fisher
If you’ve read much inspirational fiction, the name Suzanne Woods Fisher is sure to be one you know. Suzanne is a bestselling author of over 40 books. She’s written numerous Amish themed books, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, children’s stories, and nonfiction. If you don’t know Suzanne’s work already, you can check out more about her and her books on her …
My News! I Wrote “The End”
“The greatest challenges humans face throughout their lives are two: 1- the challenge of where to start 2- the challenge of when to stop.” –Sameh Elsayed This quote caught my eye when I was looking at ways to celebrate finding those two all important words THE END, because while it may be talking about things we do in life, it …
D.E.A.R. – Drop Everything and Read
Have you ever found out about something when it’s already over? Something that sounded perfect? That was me last week when two days late I saw that April 12th, the birthday of author Beverly Cleary (Ramona and many other books), was D.E.A.R. Day. That is, Drop Everything and Read Day. That is definitely my kind of day and I …
Wednesday? Thursday? Deadlines Have My Head Spinning
I think I was always a drama queen. I really, really, really loved playing pretend. ~Kathryn Hahn Did you like to play pretend when you were a kid? Maybe you still do sometimes, especially if your are a grandparent with the grandkids visiting. So maybe you can pretend Thursday is Wednesday. This deadline approaching for me to be finished with …