There’s a vast difference between a failure to be able to communicate what is in your heart, and having writer’s block. Writer’s block seems to be the result of not really having your heart in Read more
I don’t have to tell you that 2020 has been a poop sandwich.
The world wide pandemic, a political and social disintegration for our neighbours to the south thanks to Trumpism, a record year for hurricanes and devastating wildfires. It’s a long and unforgettable list in a long and unforgettable year.
If you’re a fiction writer, it’s a dream year in terms of material. I mean, EVERYTHING is happening. Peoples’ lives have changed dramatically. Our daily life is perhaps forever altered in some very meaningful ways. Read more
When I was raising my kids, they had a lot of tantrums. “The books” said to look for triggers, such as transitions. Does your child have trouble with transitions? Not only did my child have trouble with transitions, I realized I too had trouble with transitions. Certainly, not to the same extent, but “changing gears” for me took an extra push, an extra effort. And this showed up in my writing routine.
When I’m writing a first draft, there is a perpetual motion forward, of keeping the fire burning and just going. But now I’m editing and fine-tuning what is to be my final draft–except for some copy editing. I’m working on getting the rhythm and pacing of my plot, sub-plots and character arc, perfected. It’s an exciting time as I’m closer than I’ve ever thought to getting the story right, getting the rhythm right. I can go back and fix the prose, but getting the structure nailed down is vital.
Read moreI’m not sure if I’ve spoken much about my “writing break” in this space, but like we hear with Covid-19 jargon, I think I flattened the curve of writers block-itis and am on the downside of the peak.
When I finished writing my last novel in the summer of 2019 (“Thursday Afternoons” by Bella Books), I hung up my keyboard for an indeterminate amount of time. The old “TBA” as to when I would start writing fiction again. I just…lost it. The drive, the inspiration, the energy. I felt like I still knew how to write; it was more a matter of feeling I had nothing to say. Read more
My head is a jumble. One would think threatening confinement to your home for an extended period of time in order to be socially responsible and slow the spread of COVID-19 would be a positive thing for a writer… but I’ll be sharing my confinement space with two directionless, out-of-school teenagers and an over achiever, restless husband. Read more
Do you roll your eyes when someone says they read or write romance novels? Do you find yourself thinking or saying that romance novels are second rate? That they’re nothing but fantasy, that they have nothing to do with the “real world”, that writers who write them are second rate and readers who read them have boring, unimaginative lives?
Unfortunately, those thoughts/judgments are all too common. And they’re rife with ignorance.
As a writer of lesbian romance novels, it bugs me when people don’t take my genre seriously. Insults me, to be specific. Because you know what? I’m not a second rate writer. I can and do write fiction other than lesbian romance. Nor do I have a boring, unimaginative life. And hey, why would a romance novel be any more unrealistic or predictable than a mystery or suspense novel, never mind fantasy or sci-fi? Read more
2020 will be the year that I write 300 words a day on the MEMOIRE!!! How’s that for a commitment? Finally, after 25 years of what can only be described as dabbling I am going to do this.
The only reason I am able to make such a bold statement is that I have finally identified how I must support any goals that I set for myself.
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Confession: For many years, I didn’t like short stories. The concept conjured memories of high school English classes where we were required to create short stories, filling lines with sweet teenage angst like a Boston cream pie donut. I used to like those donuts when I was nine. I also adored the pink and blue bubble gum ice cream at that age. There are some things you grow out of and I had put short stories into that category.
Then I started taking my writing more seriously and I’ve come around to admiring the short story format. I especially like very short stories; those under 3000 words. And I discovered there’s a reason why many short stories don’t work well for me. It’s very hard to write a good short story. You have to pack everything you could put into a novel of 70,000 words and break it down to the essential and still write beautifully. And make sense so you don’t lose your reader for lack of words.
When you find a good short story, it is like the scotch of writing. There’s depth and multi layered flavours from the first sniff to the last lingering taste on your mouth. Like a good scotch, you don’t need a lot to appreciate its beauty.
Here’s my list for why every writer should strive to write a short story:
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