Articles

Jul 20, 2011 Uncategorized

To be…or Not to be

I’ve been figuratively tugging my hair out trying to write a synopsis for THE NOVEL. I need to condense a four-hundred page novel into two pages. How in the heck do you do such a thing? I spent hours Googling and studying resources from various sources. (BTW - RWA University has a really thorough transcript from a workshop on synopsis.) Then I started writing. I wrote and rewrote and rewrote again. I shipped it off to a friend to review because it sounded flat. And she said, “You’re using too

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Jun 28, 2011 Writing Teen Romance

The Great Beta Read - continued

I’m headed to NYC for RWA Nationals. This will be my first conference and I am excited to learn tons from the workshops and get to meet some fabulous like-minded writerly types. I’m also looking forward to putting a face with a lot of folks I’ve met virtually in classes and through various online writing communities. To send me off in a great frame of mind, at 8:26 last night I received the following text message from my second teen beta reader: Omg! I’m LOOOOOVING YOUR BOOK! But I have a

Jun 21, 2011 Writing Teen Romance

Flavoring Dialogue with Authenticity

This is our second week hosting a soccer coach for the Challenger Sports British Soccer Camp. It is one of the most rewarding experiences and tons of fun getting to know someone from another country and sharing a week of our American life with them. Last week we hosted an Irish lad named Cian (pronounced Kee-an). This week, a Brit named Lawrence. I’ve been observing our guests and really listening to how they speak so I can flavor my dialogue with authentic bits of dialect and word usage.

Jun 8, 2011 Writing Teen Romance

The Great Beta Read

I’ve been MIA trying to finish another round of edits and it was well worth it, as my MS is finally in the hands of my teen betas. I picked three teens that I’m not super close to, hoping they’d feel more comfortable looking at my work with a critical eye. My first reader is 15, reads widely in the YA genre and is an aspiring author herself. My second reader is 17, enjoys the YA genre, but of late has mostly read non-fiction. My third reader is 15, another avid reader who’s favorite HS class is

Apr 11, 2011 My DrEaMwOrLd

Spring Break

I just realized last week flew by and I failed to write a post for the blog. Time just flies when it’s Spring Break and the weather is absolutely gorgeous. I’ll be honest, the last place I wanted to be was inside on my computer. Over break, the kids lived outside. They rode bikes and scooters. Played baseball and just had an enjoyable time not being in school. In my attempts to not be an absentee parent, I took my laptop outside so I could work and watch. Aside from having to dust the pollen off

Mar 31, 2011 Writing Teen Romance

Why the BIC method of writing is bad for me

I was pondering what to write for this blog post. Some advice I’d heard when you are unsure what to write -- just put your butt in the chair and write. There’s a cute acronym that goes along with that mantra – BIC. But the BIC method is not for me and probably not you either… Eckhemmm… A few months ago my husband told me about a study that claims spending a lot of time sitting throughout the day at a desk job will kill you. At first, I pshaw’d that study -- I exercise. Although not as fit as I

Mar 24, 2011 Writing Teen Romance

Fortune Cookies and Writing

fortune cookie n. A cookie made from a thin layer of dough folded and baked around a slip of paper bearing a prediction of fortune or a maxim. Definition courtesy of The Free Dictionary and The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company . What do fortune cookies have to do with writing one might ask? Hang with me a moment and you’ll see the connection. It’s all about

Mar 15, 2011 Uncategorized

Word Clouding

I loved creating collages as a kid. Going through magazines or catalogs to find pictures and words. Picking out the right color of construction paper, so my treasured finds would be visible. Glueing the little pieces of paper. Then hoping my masterpiece didn't curl up too much on the ends when it was dry. Oh - the smell of rubber cement or trying to peel off dried Elmer's School glue from your fingertip in one piece so you'd have a cast of your fingerprint. Me-mor-ies... I still enjoy creating

Mar 10, 2011 Writing Teen Romance

Writing is an Art

Every month, I take at least one writing workshop so I can add more tools to my Writer’s Toolbox. After all, one can’t just sit down, write a book and then voila, it’s a publishable piece of work. In actuality – it’s almost certainly a piece of crap. And then after writing and rewriting and revising and re-visioning it still might not be good enough for publication. Sobering isn’t it? That’s why we have to keep learning the art of the craft. It takes time and practice. A whole lot of practice.