Writing Blog
Book Review: Along the Infinite Sea
I’ve already reviewed A Hundred Summers, a book I enjoyed by author Beatriz Williams, in an earlier post. You can see my earlier review here. After having enjoyed Williams’ debut novel, I was happy to (bad pun alert) dive back…
Read MoreThe links between authors and painters
“I learn as much from painters about how to write as from writers.” -Ernest Hemingway An interesting question raised by an author I have to admit (stereotypically? unfairly?) I would never have imagined to have pondered such a question. But I have always loved art for many of the same reasons I’ve always loved literature…
Read MoreWriting as a second life
“Writing is neither a happy nor an unhappy occupation—it is something between. It is a second life.” —Ismail Kadare Thought-provoking words from the talented Albanian author Ismail Kadare. Writing is a type of second life for authors who have an imaginary word in their heads, with their characters speaking to one another, acting out possible…
Read MoreBook review: The Storm Sister
I’m usually not a fan of book series. I know they’re all the rage, and authors and readers swear by them, but personally, I tend to avoid them. I picked up, The Seven Sisters, the first book of this series by Lucinda Riley last year without knowing it was part of a developing series. I…
Read MoreDo you ever need incentives to edit?
Your novel is all completed and now it’s just down to the easy peasy task of editing, right? Well, err, I doubt many would describe it that way. I find the initial writing to be the easier task, and the editing process to be much slower going. That’s why I like to look at photos…
Read MoreBook review: A Hundred Summers
Plot in a nutshell: Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Years later, boy returns into girl’s life, now married to girl’s best friend. Classic story, but it’s what the author does with it. This wonderful debut novel by Beatriz Williams is told in alternating story lines. The first unrolls in 1931 as smart, ambitious Smith…
Read MoreWant a workout for your brain? Read a novel.
As (obsessive) readers, we all know how a novel can amuse us and transport us. But did you know novel reading also provides a workout for your brain? There’s a short, interesting article in the LA Times about brain research showing how our mind reacts to novel reading. College students were all provided with a…
Read MoreRereading Little House on the Prairie
I read Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was a little girl, and, like most kids my age, I loved it. I devoured the whole series, and also enjoyed the television series of the time. Years later, my own son saw it in a bookstore back on a visit to New…
Read MoreBook review: The Good Girl
This psychological thriller by Mary Kubica is being promoted for fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train. This isn’t my normal genre, but I was curious to read this book after reading about it and finding the plot intriguing. I’d read both Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train. Despite being…
Read MoreElena Ferrante on bending writing rules
“I use plots, yes, but, I have to say, I can’t respect the rules of genres.” —Elena Ferrante Successful, anonymous author Elena Ferrante certainly has the right to devise books any way she chooses. The Italian novelist (male or female, we don’t know, but my money’s on female) became an international bestseller with her ‘Neapolitan…
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