Category Archives: the writing life

ROMANCE FINANCE PISSANTS

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  Just to set the record straight—most of you probably know what romance is,  and if you don’t know anything about finance, you’re in trouble— but pissants sounds so terrible, that even my voice recognition software wants to call it, “puissance.” But it has nothing to do with ants, usually, unless you are at a picnic where they are attending. The word,  “pissants” is actually considered vulgar (but when did that ever stop anyone?). Pissants means a person place or thing that is insignificant or of no consequence or… Continue reading →

FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN IS… SO GOOD

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I’ve decided to fall in love with love. I’ve also decided to go back and revisit. . . THE ROMANCE  as a genre.. Fortunately I discovered a terrific series of romances that are keeping my nose glued to my Nook. (Literally falling asleep reading with my nose on you know what and I love it!) So what is this fabulous series? Noelle August’s Boomerang, Rebound, and Bounce. Sorry everyone, I received an advance copy, so you’ll have to wait until August 25 to get Bounce.… Continue reading →

THE PERSONALITY OF THE VILLAIN

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Gordian Knot

No matter what kind of fiction or nonfiction that we write or read, there must be CONFLICT. Without conflict there is little interest. So what creates that conflict? The villain, antagonist, shadow, giant/monster/ogre or whatever kind of “evil” figure can exist, needs to exist, for a STORY to exist. There can even be many different antagonists within a single story. Cinderella and her evil stepmother and stepsisters Yet there must be something that blocks the hero in some way. As a reader, you may not… Continue reading →

LIVING ON THE EDGE…

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  LIVING ON THE EDGE…   For the past several weeks I lived on the edge… The edge of the United States i.e. the California coast—from Los Angeles to beautiful downtown Placerville, California         I stayed with friends and relatives along the way. All of whom demonstrated superb hospitality to me and my husband.  At one point, Slinky, the cat above, visited and fell asleep on my computer  –to help me.   I was fortunate to do a reading at the Avid Reader… Continue reading →

HISTORICAL FICTION READING & WRITING: PART DEUX

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Miyagawa_Isshô-Spring_Pastimes-H

 Why Historical Fiction?  How to Write Historical Fiction? Why?  BECAUSE:   1. Love   2. Learn   3. Lore   4. Leap   5. Live 1.  Love For me, I came to love historical fiction when I was about 12. I introduced myself, I think by accident, to Mary Renault — The Bull the Sea — and their other classics. I fell in love with mythology, historical fiction and probably her and her writing.                     2.… Continue reading →

MORE NEW, MORE OLD

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A Young Girl Reading, c. 1776, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

I received an email from someone who said that  Pillow Book of the Flower Samurai had passed her husband’s “test.” That got me to thinking. In my critique group, we are equally diverse: psychological suspense, science fiction, cozy mysteries, and historical fiction. So how can we critique each other? I think we do it by looking at the pieces, of which you can pick up any book on writing and find a whole bunch, but also by keeping the pieces together as one whole. That… Continue reading →

The ABC’s of GRATITUDE — perfect for the season

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A friend of mine and I were talking about gratitude. Who doesn’t at this time of year? She’s been reading Dr. Rick Hanson’s books and she summarized what he said about exactly HOW we can be grateful with ABC: A     be mindful of your ASSETS B      be aware of the BEAUTIFUL C      take in how people CARE about you I love mnemonics and I really like this one. A—be mindful of your ASSETS Thanks to everyone who attended or shared… Continue reading →