“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: "Your eloquence should be the servant of the ideas in your head. Your rule might be this: If a sentence, no matter how excellent, does not illuminate your subject in some new and useful way, scratch it out." ~ Kurt Vonnegut ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: Fidgeting is a character… Continue reading RISK, RESILIENCE, and REDEMPTION — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: "I'm always aware of writing around things I can't do, and I've come to think that that's actually what 'style' is - an avoidance of your deficiencies." ~ George Saunders ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: More on comp titles, this time from Phoebe Morgan at the Honest Editor. HERE you can… Continue reading SECRETS OF THE DEAD — Review
Thought for the Day: “Think of your main characters as dinner guests. Would your friends want to spend ten hours with the characters you’ve created? Your characters can be lovable, or they can be evil, but they'd better be compelling.”~ Po Bronson ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I posted an article by Jan Fields… Continue reading QUEENIE IN SEVEN MOVES — 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
Thought for the Day: "The writer must have a good imagination to begin with, but the imagination has to be muscular, which means it must be exercised in a disciplined way, day in and day out, by writing, failing, succeeding and revising." ~ Stephen King ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I keep saying one… Continue reading SAM — Review & Giveaway
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
Thought for the Day: "Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of." ~ Kurt Vonnegut ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I think we all tend to focus on plot, but HERE… Continue reading CLARICE BEAN, SMILE — Review & Giveaway
Thought for the Day: "An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story. It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this." ~ Stephen King ~ Gifts for My Writer Friends: I will meet with my critique group next week. There is always a little trepidation for me when… Continue reading A DAY WITH MOUSSE — Review
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
Rosi Hollinbeck 