Category Archives: books on writing

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 →

ARCHETYPES-THE HERO/HEROINE

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 WHY ARCHETYPES? WHY HEROES/HEROINES? Archetypes are important because they bring into our, well, psyches. Robert Jones and a guest post on Larry Brooks’ Storyfix.com says, “all fiction is an archetype that displays life on a symbolic level.” Archetypes are universally recognized essentials to literature. Chris Vogler in The Writers’ Journey agrees. He says, “All stories consist of a few common structural elements found universally in this, fairy tales, dreams, and movies.” Heroes can make or break.  When I read the Tarzan series, I realized how impossible and unrealistic the… 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 →

READING HISTORICAL FICTION AND/OR JUST PLAIN READING

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  While this is not exactly the position I used to be in, if any of you had caught me as a young girl, but this is what I would be doing. Reading. I am one of those who used the flashlight under the blanket before we had Nooks and Kindles and iPads  … with backlighting.     I am an unabashed and total bibliophile and proud of it. A friend came into my office and kept looking behind me. Finally he said, “you sure… 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 →

#4 Historical Fiction — Character, Character, Character

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Tomoe Gozen by Yoshitoshi 1880

If you’re a  reader or a writer, unforgettable characters are what we look for and strive for. Since late Heian Japan (12th century), people have been drawn to the extraordinary Tomoe Gozen, female samurai and wife of  Minamoto no Yoshinaka.(above) These past couple of days I have been validated on this  CHARACTER point several times: 1. Sunday, December 1, 2013 the New York Times Magazine has an article called, “The Big Picture Strikes Back.” I won’t sum it up for you, I think it’s better… Continue reading →

#3 in Historical Fiction—SIMPLICITY in the history, COMPLICATIONS in the story!

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XIR3675

#3 in Historical Fiction—SIMPLICITY in the history, COMPLICATIONS in the story! I usually detest genealogies and long family trees with lots of names I cannot keep track of. I placed the genealogies of the Taira, Minamoto and the Imperial families in the back of my book, because some people need, want, and perhaps like these things. (I’m not one of them, usually. Except when I am trying to learn them to write my story.) I understand about different learning and reading styles, with my graduate… Continue reading →

#1 In Historical Fiction—ACCURACY!

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ancient traditional lacquered pillow

There are four characteristics I value in historical fiction. I’ll be talking about each one in the next few posts. 1. Most important for me is ACCURACY.  I truly like the facts to be correct. For example, I noticed that Harlequin Romances was advertising for historical romance. Great. I know a little (okay, a lot) about the late Heian period. BUT. But, I am familiar with their standards. The way the romances are supposed to go—is nowhere near the path the romances of the Heian… Continue reading →

On the road — on the road again — and again

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While I haven’t been everywhere, I have been on the road.  I personally want to thank all the people with whom I spoke. I had a marvelous time! And if you did happen to purchase  Pillow Book of the Flower Samurai and have a comment, question or concern, please write me.   Special kudos to my husband who took the pictures and followed me around carrying lots of stuff. He is a great playmate and I am grateful for him every day.      … Continue reading →

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