Thought for the Day: “Imagine tension like holding a reader’s feet under water; you don’t want to pull them down until they drown. You have to let them come up for air.”~ Lauren Magaziner ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Sarah (Sally) Hamer has a wonderful post HERE on Writers in the Storm about How… Continue reading THE BLOSSOMING SUMMER — Review & Giveaway
Tag: Middle-Grade Historical Fiction
THE ACCIDENTAL STOWAWAY — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: “The business of the poet and the novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things.” ~Thomas Hardy ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Every once in a while, I struggle through reading a book that has an unlikeable character at the center… Continue reading THE ACCIDENTAL STOWAWAY — Review & Giveaway
ONE WRONG STEP — Review
Thought for the Day: “The difference between the ‘almost right’ word and the ‘right’ word is really a large matter … ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”~ Mark Twain ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I'm always interested when I see a post about villains. HERE Natalie Hart, writing for Writer… Continue reading ONE WRONG STEP — Review
THE ABILENE KID: DEAD MAN’S HAND — Review
Thought for the Day: "Try to get your characters into interesting trouble. Allow your characters to misbehave. Let them stay out after 11." ~ Charles Baxter ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Humor in kids’ stories is always a great element to add. HERE is a terrific post by John Bladek on Adding Humor to… Continue reading THE ABILENE KID: DEAD MAN’S HAND — Review
HALF-TRUTHS — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: “There are no first drafts in the library.”~ Marsha Diane Arnold ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I'm always on the lookout for articles on character, but the article HERE on Writers in the Storm by Sarah "Sally" Hamer is a very different take. How To Use Traits to Create Character… Continue reading HALF-TRUTHS — Review & Giveaway
IN THE SHADOW OF SUNRISE — 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
ELSETIME — Review & Giveaway
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
NOT NOTHING — Review
Thought for the Day: "I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live."~ Francoise Sagan ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Backstory is something we all need to deal with, but how? Too much and we bury our story in it. Too little and we… Continue reading NOT NOTHING — Review
ONE BIG OPEN SKY — Review & Giveaway
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
PLAGUE THIEVES — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: "Writing is a job, a talent, but it’s also the place to go in your head. It is the imaginary friend you drink your tea with in the afternoon." ~ Ann Patchett ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Livia Blackburn wrote a good post HERE on A Brain Scientist’s Take on… Continue reading PLAGUE THIEVES — Review & Giveaway