Posts by Kimberly Sullivan
Holidays = writers’ daydreaming time
Ah, holidays. Even if it doesn’t necessarily afford the extra writing time one might have imagined, it almost always is an ideal time for the daydreaming so important for planning and plotting your next novel. It’s helpful to step out of daily routines, and to have a more fluid schedule someplace new. This always helps…
Read MoreAmongst the dinosaurs at the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences
A work conference brought me to Brussels, a city I’ve visited many times. But the location on the conference was somewhere I hadn’t yet been – the Brussels Museum of Natural Sciences. Since my kids weren’t in tow, I felt slightly guilty taking in the exhibition without them. In actuality, I didn’t have much time to…
Read MoreJane Smiley’s trilogy experimentation
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jane Smiley was interviewed for the September 2015 edition of Writer’s Digest. In the interview, she discussed numerous topics, including her new trilogy, The Last Hundred Years. The three novels will follow the Langdon family and their five children for a period of 100 years. The saga begins on a farm in…
Read MoreBasking in the sun and scenery on Lake Geneva
Last summer I spent a lot of time in Geneva ferrying my son to camp and back. It was great fun being there with my family for summer weekends, when Geneva is at its best. One of the things I enjoyed doing with my children was taking the scenic ferry boat on Lake Geneva. Geneva…
Read MoreAre you a flexible writer or a focused writer?
I read an interesting post over at Books and Such by literary agent Rachel Kent. It was entitled: Two Types of Writers, and it stressed the point that agents enjoy working with both types of authors. The Flexible writers might be someone an agent approaches with an idea for a book or collaboration, since he/she…
Read MoreMedieval and Renaissance Alpine splendor in Pescocostanzo, Abruzzo
I’m a big fan of the rugged mountainous region of Abruzzo, a region east of Rome. As an avid hiker/skier/mountain-biker, I bought a weekend home there over a decade ago, and have been doing my best to explore the region. I’ve heard often about the beautiful ‘citta’ d’arte’ of Pescostanzo, at the edge of the Maiella…
Read MoreThe importance of backstory in your fiction
Over at the excellent Writers in the Storm blog, author Kathryn Craft has an excellent post entitled Backstory matters. Backstory is one of those controversial issues today. While you certainly don’t want to dump all of a character’s backstory into the opening chapter (since it tends to slow down the pace), you do need to…
Read MoreSpectacular views from the Yellowstone Lake Overlook trail
Last week I wrote about beautiful Yellowstone Lake. My family and I enjoyed staying at a lodge on the edge of this lake on our visit to Yellowstone National Park last summer. This week, I wanted to point out the pleasant and easy Lake Overlook trail, which is a must-see if your travel plans take…
Read MoreEven more favorite summer reading so far … The Seven Sisters
Wow, I picked this up in the book store after falling in love with the cover (shallow, I know) and the sound of the story. I’m glad I did. I’d never heard of Irish author Lucinda Riley before reading this novel. I always have a soft spot for two separate yet linked narratives, one in…
Read MoreAlong the shores of Yellowstone Lake
We had a great time last summer on our trip to the US. As part of our vacation, we spent ten days out west in Great Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park. At Yellowstone, we stayed at a park lodge on the edge of Yellowstone Lake, and used this as a base for exploring…
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