Writing Blog
Building up a writing resumé
Suddenly, I’m feeling like a teenager again. Alas, not physically, but mentally. At least when it comes to building up a writing resumé. Remember back when you applied to colleges and you had to fill out a whole application explaining why you were such an outstanding 18–year-old and why the college should select you over thousands…
Read MoreA sense of place
Maybe it’s all the fault of my travel addiction, but a sense of place is so important to me as an author. Also as a reader. As I wrote in a previous post, Context reading , when I travel, I make an effort to take along novels set in my destination. It helps the destination…
Read MoreKreativ Blogger Award
I’m honored! I’ve been nominated for the Kreativ Blogger Award by another aspiring author, Amy, blogging over at Amy author blog. Thanks so much, Amy! I’m glad you’ve enjoyed my blog as much as I’ve been enjoying yours. According to the rules for those nominated, I have to: Thank the blogger who nominated me for the…
Read MoreMy story won the 2012 SnoValley Writes! contest
I was very happy to receive the good news that my short story, Caves, won the 2012 SnoValley Writes! writing contest . This week, the peer writing group located in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington held their annual writing and jazz event and I was invited to attend to read my story to participants. If I weren’t…
Read MoreOn writing and procrastination…
As all writers worth their salt surely know, distraction lurks around every corner. That novel is simply begging to be finished, but everything seems to slow down its completion. It’s not just the demands of daily life, either. Many writers – myself included, I’m afraid – tend to favor the part of the writing process…
Read MoreGetting critiqued
At some stage, every aspiring writer has to take the plunge and find readers to critique his or her work. While your mom or best friend may be willing participants, they may not come back with the honest criticism that you really need. Sooner or later, it’s time to find a critique group. The idea…
Read MoreWhere do you write?
When I read articles or interviews about famous authors, I’m always interested to read about their writing routines. It seems that many have special places where they write for a set amount of hours. Most seem to crave quiet and an absence of distraction. I envy this. When I look at my own writing habits,…
Read MoreReason #5,355 to love Rome – Cemetery of Artists and Poets
It might make one in love with death, to be buried in so sweet a place. These words, written by the English poet John Keats, refer to his final resting place, officially known as the Non-Catholic Cemetery for Foreigners in Testaccio, Rome. The cemetery, rarely referred to by its official name, is more commonly called…
Read MoreThe joy of women behaving badly…in literature
Because I get so much great feedback from my writing critique groups, I’ve started looking at character development in a different way. It feels as if there’s a lot of pressure on authors to make our characters ‘likeable’ and to ensure that readers can relate to the protagonists we create. While I agree a reader…
Read MoreFollowing in Jane Austen’s footsteps in Bath
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that all Jane Austen fans will eventually find their way to Bath Yes, embarrassingly enough, I am one of the “Janeites”: a lover of all things Jane Austen who has read and re-read her six novels and watched countless adaptations of her works by the BBC and others.…
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