“Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home.” ~ Anna Quindlen
Thought for the Day: “Character is destiny. Change, growing from within and forced from without, is the mainspring of character development.”~ Rita Mae Brown ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: When I read wish lists from editors and agents looking for middle-grade books, the word "adventure" is almost always there. HERE is a good article… Continue reading THE FRINDLE FILES — Review
Thought for the Day: "Keep working on a plan. Make no little plans. Make the biggest you can think of, and spend the rest of your life carrying it out."~ Harry S. Truman ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: We all know how important the openings of our stories are. HERE is a good article… Continue reading IN THE SHADOW OF SUNRISE — Review
Thought for the Day: "If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and mystery and magic." ~ Toni Morrison ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Voice, voice, voice—that elusive characteristic of writing comes up so often. HERE is an excellent post from Lydia Netzer with… Continue reading ELSETIME — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: “Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed.” ~ G.K. Chesterton ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: We all have bad habits, including crutch words we sprinkle freely throughout our manuscripts. HERE is a good… Continue reading SAFE HARBOR — Review
Thought for the Day: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”~ Louis L’Amour ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I never tire of reading good articles about creating villains. HERE Sarah Allen from Sarah’s Smorgasbord has a great article about Writing a Satisfying Self-Destructive Villain. Her… Continue reading MYSTERY AT THE BILTMORE: THE VANDERHOFF HEIST — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: "Mostly it's lies, writing novels. You set out to tell an untrue story and you try to make it believable, even to yourself. Which calls for details; any good lie does." ~ Anne Tyler ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Our characters have to have relationships with other characters. HERE is… Continue reading THE GIRL WHO FOUGHT BACK: VLADKA MEED AND THE WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING — Review
Thought for the Day: A writer needs three things: experience, observation, and imagination, any two of which, at times any one of which, can supply the lack of the others.~ William Faulkner ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: It never hurts to have a little refresher on punctuation. I know I find them useful. HERE… Continue reading THE WITCHING WIND — Review
Thought for the Day: “Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself. It’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless.”~ Harper Lee ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Sometimes we just feel like throwing in the towel, but there are good reasons not to. HERE is a good kick-in-the-pants post on Writer Unboxed by Rachel… Continue reading OFF THE MAP — Review
Thought for the Day: "You write in order to change the world … if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it." ~ James Baldwin ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Getting the new year off to a good writing start can be tricky. HERE Randy… Continue reading ONE BIG OPEN SKY — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: "The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart." ~ Maya Angelou ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Sarah Allen on Sarah’s Smorgasbord has such an entertaining and useful post HERE on Writing a Satisfying Self-Destructive Villain.… Continue reading THE THINGS WE MISS — Review
Rosi Hollinbeck 