“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: “Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.”~ Mark Twain ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: My journey to reading or re-reading all of Gary D. Schmidt's books was kicked off by my curiosity about names he used over and over in… Continue reading TROUBLE — Review
Thought for the Day: “Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life.”~ Barbara Kingsolver ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Kristen Lamb has one of my favorite writing blogs, although I get her posts rather irregularly. I don't know… Continue reading MARA’S STORIES: GLIMMERS IN THE DARKNESS — Review
Thought for the Day: “Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called ‘mad’ and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called ‘writers,’ and they do pretty much the same thing.”~ Ray Bradbury ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Tension on… Continue reading THE WEDNESDAY WARS — Review
Thought for the Day: "It is no sign of weakness or defeat that your manuscript ends upin need of major surgery. This is common in all writing and amongthe best of writers.”~ E.B. White ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I know some of my readers write picture books. I do. HERE is a great… Continue reading FIRST BOY — Review
Thought for the Day: "I write so much because my cat sits on my lap. She purrs so I don't want to get up." ~ Joyce Carol Oates ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Sarah L. Kaufman has a terrific article from Writer’s Digest HERE that will help you jazz up your writing by zhuzhing… Continue reading LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY — Review
Thought for the Day: “Read, read, read. Read everything— trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it, just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”~ William Faulkner… Continue reading ANSON’S WAY — Review
Thought for the Day: "The one thing I've learned is that you have to steer a project in the direction of the maximum fun for you." ~ George Saunders ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Parker Peevyhouse writing for The Writer’s Attic has a great post HERE called "My spine pressed into my throat." Please… Continue reading Gary D. Schmidt for Younger Readers — Reviews
Thought for the Day: “I try to leave out the parts people skip.”~ Elmore Leonard ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Is your plot looking like Swiss cheese? Plot holes will trip your readers up and ruin the experience for them. HERE is an excellent post from K. M. Weiland with Four Questions to Prevent… Continue reading THE SIN EATER — Review
Thought for the Day: “When I’m writing the first draft, I’m constantly reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box, so that later I can go back and build castles.”~ Jordan Peele ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Queries can't be avoided if you want to be published, but writing them can be… Continue reading THE SUMMER SCRAPBOOK — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: There is not an idea that cannot be expressed in 200 words. But the writer must know precisely what he wants to say. If you have nothing to say and want badly to say it, then all the words in all the dictionaries will not suffice.” ~ Eric Hoffer ~ Gifts for… Continue reading A DAY AT THE BEACH — Review
