“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: “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.”~ J. K. Rowling ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Siblings are often a big part of middle-grade fiction, so… Continue reading MERCY WATSON IS MISSING — Review
Thought for the Day: “Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.”~ William Faulkner ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: It’s time to query. HERE is a great post from Rebecca Moody posting on Writer’s Rumpus with Evergreen Advice for Entering the Query Trenches.… Continue reading ALL THE SMALL WONDERFUL THINGS — Review
Thought for the Day: "There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”~ Colin Powell ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Ever heard the term “implied dialogue?” I don’t think I had, so when I saw the post HERE from Louise Harnby, I was intrigued. This… Continue reading UP FOR GRABS — Review
Thought for the Day: “The key to all story endings is to give the audience what it wants, but not in the way it expects.”~ William Goldman ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Pacing is something, as writers, we need to think about. If we manage pacing well, it can make a world of difference… Continue reading THE RED PENCIL — Review
Thought for the Day: “You have to hold your audience in writing to the very end -- much more than in talking, when people have to be polite and listen to you.”~ Brenda Ueland, writer ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: We all want our characters to be truly well-rounded. HERE Deborah-Zehna Adams has the… Continue reading SOUTHPAW SULLY — Review
Thought for the Day: You think your pains and heartbreaks are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who have ever been alive.~ James… Continue reading CALL THE PUFFINS! — Review
Thought for the Day: "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." ~ Pablo Picasso ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Characters just cannot be boring if you intend to keep readers engaged. HERE Amy Wilson has a really good (and fun!) post on Boring Characters at Good Story Company.… Continue reading WHEN SEA BECOMES SKY — Review
Thought for the Day: “When it comes to people - don’t write about who you know, but what you know of human nature.”~ Candace Bushnell ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: In my early days of writing, I formed a critique group. One of the writers insisted that all writing had to be in a… Continue reading ARTEMIS SPARKE AND THE SOUND SEEKERS BRIGADE — Review
Thought for the Day: “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper."~ E.B. White ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: It would be nice if we all had an unlimited travel budget, but most of us don’t. So how can we write about places… Continue reading THE INFINITE QUESTIONS OF DOTTIE BING — Review
Thought for the Day: "If you're going to write a good book, you have to make mistakes and you have to not be so cautious all the time." ~ Zadie Smith ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: HERE is another good grammar lesson from Writer’s Rumpus. We all want our action scenes to be sharp and… Continue reading RARE BIRDS — Review
Rosi Hollinbeck 