Posts Tagged ‘writing’
Do you need time to ‘refill’ after completing a writing project?
The long list for the annual Bailey’s Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly the Orange Prize) is out, and one of the novels on the list is Anne Tyler’s A Spool of Blue Thread. Tyler, a prolific writer, is the author of twenty novels. I read an interesting interview with her in The Guardian, in which…
Read MoreWhere does your writing take you?
I went to film school, so I have a pretty strong background in dramatic structure. I do a whole outline, and as I work I get progressively more detailed. But if something happens in those sponatenous moments of writing that’s different than my outline, I go with the spontaneity, and change the outline to suit it. -Author…
Read MoreWant four steps to better (and happier) writing productivity?
Over at the fabulous Writers in the Storm blog – an essential destination for any writer – women’s fiction author Jamie Raintree offers us her advice on Four steps to happy writing productivity. What writer doesn’t want to boost productivity, while also increasing his or her happiness index? At least my experience with high writing productivity…
Read MoreAre you monogamous (to your writing projects)?
I was as surprised as anyone to learn that I struggle to stay monogamous … to my writing projects. In the first blush of romance, I set off with abandon, writing, plotting in my mind (I’m a pantser, so my plot lines never make it to paper/computer). I only have eyes for my new WIP,…
Read MoreHow do you feel when you wrap up a writing project?
This week, I’m wrapping up a writing project I should have concluded long ago. This is a contemporary story I’ve loved writing about three very different expat women living in Rome, Italy. Their lives cross when they meet up at a 1950s movie night at an Italian seaside resort off-season. Although my contemporary characters are…
Read MoreWriting inspiration in the mountains
Although I live in Rome, I love to escape when I can to the nearby mountains of Abruzzo. I have a small place in a little town up in the Apennine mountains, and I enjoy going out there to escape the chaos of Rome – to hike and mountain bike and ski. I was out…
Read MoreWhat are your 2015 writing goals?
Happy New Year! 2015 is already upon us, we’ve slept off all the food and champagne, and it seems a good time for those of us to love to write to set our writing goals/resolutions for the new year. Last year I posted my writing goals for 2014. I’ve – ahem! – somewhat achieved them.…
Read More300 posts!
I started my blog almost three years ago, writing about two subjects I’m passionate about: writing and travelling. Blogging has been a lot of fun. I love the discipline of preparing and scheduling my posts, and I love that blogging keeps me looking at topics in an entirely different way. But what I’ve found most…
Read MoreShouldn’t women authors write whatever they want?
Back in September, I was attending the Matera Women’s Fiction Festival and I was at a lecture on self-publishing by romance writers Bella Andre and Tina Folsom. The talk was informative and inspiring, and the writers shared their experiences controlling their writing careers and their passion for their writing. When the question and answer session…
Read MoreHappy National Short Story Week 2014!
There’s a week each year in November when I happily become British. That’s because the UK has a great tradition called National Short Story Week. As a reader and writer of short stories, I think we should all adopt this excellent effort and make it International Short Story Week. This year’s celebration falls next week,…
Read More