Thursday, April 5, 2012
Bon Voyage!
My high school freshman daughter, Erica, boarded a plane last night for a group trip to Paris and Barcelona. The kids, about 25 of them, were jumping through their skin with excitement. Parents held a mixed bag of emotions, nerves and envy for their weeklong trip to see some of the world's amazing sights.
Book: Entre Nous, A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl" by Debra Ollivier
To get in the spirit francais, I pulled a book off Erica's shelf that I had found six months ago when she first signed up for the trip. Erica devoured Ollivier's take on French Women's savoir faire faster than a chocolate croissant. I can see why. Like a fine pastry, the book is layered delicately with quotations from famous in-the-know writers, personal anecdotes, movies with characters who personify these ideals, and fun lists of things like "What's in a French Girl's ideal closet?" French women feel comfortable with themselves in ways American women may never achieve.
So much fun to read while my budding teenager walks those cobblestones in search of herself.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
To Blog or Not to Blog . . .
. . . that is the question. I am scanning blogs and websites online, dissecting what makes them work. Or not. The blogs that have the most life are the ones that are purpose-driven, that give the reader a reason to stop by. A friendly neighbor popping in for a quick chat or to drop off a borrowed book. What's the curb appeal of your blog? Is it inviting and welcoming? Does it say, "I'm home, and would love your company? If you stop over, I can offer you coffee and cookies or whatever literary equivalent you're after?
With a second novel nearly completed and a lovely, inexpressibly fabulous contract-in-hand for my picture book story, Willard the Dragon: Sneeze-Fire with 4RV Publishing, I've set a goal to get a website up and running and to refresh the look and purpose of this blog.
The blog will focus each month on how to add more JOY to the daily journey. Have you noticed how putting more effort into something gives you more joy out of it? What kinds of little things do you do to add joy to your life and the lives of people around you?
Friday, March 16, 2012
Seeing Green
Seeing Green
See this blog article on my publisher's website!
http://4rvreading-writingnewsletter.blogspot.com
With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, are you seeing Irish green? How about spring green, avocado or jade? Kelly, chartreuse or lime? Acid, celery or pond? How many substitutes for the word “green” can you make? I've got a list of 72!
Readers like to second-guess what’s coming next. The best writers throw surprises,don't they? It is the secret to what keeps us turning pages. It is our job to learn how they accomplish this feat. The best way I’ve found is to push past the first, second and third idea that comes to mind. Instead of using the word "green" for example, is there another word that fit the setting more precisely? One that will more completely capture the tone of your scene? Pond green might convey a stillness, or gloominess, to a "green" scene, whereas jade implies mystery. Lime adds zest!
If a description, action, characteristic, or mystery-solving plot point shows up high on your mental list, chances are good it will occur to your readers in a heartbeat, too. As a writer, we don't want to be predictable. Push to see what creative idea lurks brilliantly further down your list. While I agree with writing "How-to" books that discourage using adjectives and adverbs, writers can evoke memorable descriptions with an occasional powerful choice, as in "After raining all day, the summer-sweet lawn beckoned to the golfer who jumped from his armchair without further argument."
Beyond the Thesaurus
Scour bookstores for unique "wordy" reference books. Beyond the common thesaurus, there are many books crammed-full with words and ideas perfect for expanding our creative diction. A book of police terms sets the scene for crime writers, while a cookbook of old country recipes offers authentic language to write a story set in a one-room cabin.
While munching Irish soda bread or hot cross buns this weekend, challenge yourself to create banquet-worthy words for your next language feast!
See this blog article on my publisher's website!
http://4rvreading-writingnewsletter.blogspot.com
With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, are you seeing Irish green? How about spring green, avocado or jade? Kelly, chartreuse or lime? Acid, celery or pond? How many substitutes for the word “green” can you make? I've got a list of 72!
Readers like to second-guess what’s coming next. The best writers throw surprises,don't they? It is the secret to what keeps us turning pages. It is our job to learn how they accomplish this feat. The best way I’ve found is to push past the first, second and third idea that comes to mind. Instead of using the word "green" for example, is there another word that fit the setting more precisely? One that will more completely capture the tone of your scene? Pond green might convey a stillness, or gloominess, to a "green" scene, whereas jade implies mystery. Lime adds zest!
If a description, action, characteristic, or mystery-solving plot point shows up high on your mental list, chances are good it will occur to your readers in a heartbeat, too. As a writer, we don't want to be predictable. Push to see what creative idea lurks brilliantly further down your list. While I agree with writing "How-to" books that discourage using adjectives and adverbs, writers can evoke memorable descriptions with an occasional powerful choice, as in "After raining all day, the summer-sweet lawn beckoned to the golfer who jumped from his armchair without further argument."
Beyond the Thesaurus
Scour bookstores for unique "wordy" reference books. Beyond the common thesaurus, there are many books crammed-full with words and ideas perfect for expanding our creative diction. A book of police terms sets the scene for crime writers, while a cookbook of old country recipes offers authentic language to write a story set in a one-room cabin.
While munching Irish soda bread or hot cross buns this weekend, challenge yourself to create banquet-worthy words for your next language feast!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
The Writing Journey
The writing journey continues to have bumps, gaps in the road ahead, mucky places I'm getting stuck, and a few mountaintop joys. My sister has been offered a contract by OakTara to publish not one but both her Sophie book and its sequel! An SCBWI friend has also landed an agent this winter and got a picture book contract from 4RV. It is fabulous to see that the system works for good writers. Now...to speed up my pace to join their company is the job of the months ahead!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Smories contest is on!
I want S'more! That's a common phrase heard around campfires in the summer months. Now, kids can ask for more stories on www.smories.com website.
My story is filmed in a short video at the link below. It is titled "A Secret in My Ball of String" and will be online for the month of June. The story with the most views by the end of the month earns cash!
The little girl reading the story is priceless in her expression and British accent. Just adorable! She breathes life into the story.
http://www.smories.com/watch/the_secret_in_my_ball_of_string/
My story is filmed in a short video at the link below. It is titled "A Secret in My Ball of String" and will be online for the month of June. The story with the most views by the end of the month earns cash!
The little girl reading the story is priceless in her expression and British accent. Just adorable! She breathes life into the story.
http://www.smories.com/watch/the_secret_in_my_ball_of_string/
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Smories.com
If you had a magic kite that could fly you anywhere, where would it take you? My story, The Secret in My Ball of String, takes the reader on a magical journey and will be posted online at Smories.com beginning June first!
This UK-based website is sponsoring a contest for writers to submit work each month, and selected stories will be read by a child on video and voted on by visitors to the site. (Rights for the stories remain with the authors except for their right to put it on their site.) Cash prizes for the top five popular stories.
Still trying to figure out what the catch is. . . but at least it will get some work out there!
This UK-based website is sponsoring a contest for writers to submit work each month, and selected stories will be read by a child on video and voted on by visitors to the site. (Rights for the stories remain with the authors except for their right to put it on their site.) Cash prizes for the top five popular stories.
Still trying to figure out what the catch is. . . but at least it will get some work out there!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Spring Cleaning
Cleaning up house, manuscripts and blog, giving everything a fresh start.
Contest update: The "Why I Write" essay made it through the contest with a nice rating and a spot in the Smashwords e-book, whenever that decides to be made available on-line. No sign of it yet.
But moving on with the MG novel... After the Bloom mystery novel contest, a couple agents have "waffled" on it and a few others said they didn't "connect". So, the winter months have been spent back on the sunny Greek island of Delos (mentally, anyway) with my main characters. Major re-write of the beginning so hopefully more agents and editors will "waffle" in my favor with the next round of submissions.
Looking forward to the spring SCBWI contest next month!
Contest update: The "Why I Write" essay made it through the contest with a nice rating and a spot in the Smashwords e-book, whenever that decides to be made available on-line. No sign of it yet.
But moving on with the MG novel... After the Bloom mystery novel contest, a couple agents have "waffled" on it and a few others said they didn't "connect". So, the winter months have been spent back on the sunny Greek island of Delos (mentally, anyway) with my main characters. Major re-write of the beginning so hopefully more agents and editors will "waffle" in my favor with the next round of submissions.
Looking forward to the spring SCBWI contest next month!
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