Author Tips

Helps and ideas for writers. Struggling writers, new writers, any writers.
live-your-dream
Progress!

So the first book is done, it’s out there in print and e-book versions and I took a big breath once it got  posted to Amazon. But I forgot to let it out. I’ve been known to hold my breath at critical moments. Just ask my one-time horseback riding instructor, Liz. Did it over the jumps every time. Well, I…

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Listening, Watching, Learning

    What do you see in this photo? Look closely. If you could touch it, what would it feel like? If you could hear it, what would it sound like? If you could watch it move, what would it look like? Last week one day I decided to try hard to hear, feel and watch my world–closely. It was…

Writing
Visitors

I like visitors. I am a writer. I get visitors all the time–doctors, lawyers, murderers and criminals of all kinds, animals, wolf-demon creatures, crazy people, even dead bodies drop by frequently. Then there are the tutengas, lalabengas and even, sometimes, walawalalendas.

artist boy palette
On creativity

 Great exercise and the best advice I ever got:  “Just write what’s in your head!” I’ve discovered if I want to get to what’s in my heart, I have to start with what’s in my head. Just start writing. Creativity works like gravity, it starts at the top and travels downward.

Setting for a Book
The Writing Experience Continues

The book title is most likely going to stay, “In the Shadow of Porter’s Hollow.” It conveys the idea of the protagonist (the main character) being a woman whose family past has overshadowed who she has become. I like the way the picture above hints at shadows and old things hiding in them. The writing is going well. Over 50,000…

Writing Competition
Living My Characters’ Lives

I don’t think I ever realized how daunting it would be to write an entire book. I’ve written so many short pieces, poetry, stories, articles, without a thought for how long a book length story goes on. I feel like I’m living the characters’ lives. It plays on in my head like a movie. I picture the scenes, dread what…

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Journaling the Writing Adventure

   This place is inspirational. It’s the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. Out there under those mists is a deep valley of trees with Pine Creek running through the middle. Nature at its heavenly best. I love to breathe deep the fresh, piney air, the wet musky scents of the woods, hear the twitter of birds, the rustling in the underbrush…

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The Truth, Honestly, Really, in Writing

In the movie “A Few Good Men”, Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessop yells back at Tom Cruise’s Lt. Kaffe, “You can’t handle the truth!” Maybe he’s right. I know I’m not about to tackle the age-old philosophical question, “what is truth” here. Not in a short blog on a writer’s website. Alas, I am no Bertrand Russell. But for argument’s…

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WRITER’S/READERS BOOK EXPO

So today was the day of the York Book Expo I have been posting, tweeting, and Facebook-ing about. And it did not disappoint! Thoroughly enjoyed the day from the keynote speaker, David Rosenfelt, http://www.davidrosenfelt.com/ to the 62 “vendor” tables, to the informative, insightful conversations with authors and publishers and the representatives–both human and K9–of the local ASPCA that were featured at…

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BOOK EXPO–YORK, PA

This is exciting stuff for writer’s–and readers–in this area. Maybe I’ve been in the dark about this, but now that I know, I will be a regular. Can’t wait. It is Saturday, October 17, 2015. Doors open at 11:00am. Check out the link for more details: http://www.yorkbookexpo.org/ I plan to post more about it after I go and find out what…

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