Category: On Writing
A Day In The Writing Life Of Carol Drinkwater
I think every writer and would-be writer knows that many of the literary giants had or have their own method of getting into the day’s work. Ernest Hemingway sharpening pencils, we all know that story. He wrote by hand. Today, we are more computer-bound. There are no rules. It is what works for you. I […]
Writing and Determination
My girlfriend, along with a very large glass of wine, had convinced me that the story of the friendship uniting our two mismatched cats needed to be told. Like I said, it was a massive glass of wine. However, with or without the wine, the story of our two cats was pretty incredible. Despite being […]
Why my Attitude To Writing Changed
I’ve always enjoyed writing and harboured dreams of being ‘a writer’ from an early age. However, becoming ‘a writer’ is easier said than done and the dream had to take second place to the real world. When my children were young I would make stories up for them and that was about as far as […]
An Author’s Search for Place from Mali to Italy
‘You crawl over. You are in Hong Kong. Outside, everything is fumy with light.’ From an early age I knew I would leave my country. Like many authors, I was bookish and removed, and a childhood tragedy made me determined to leave pain behind and head to Europe. At 21 I was a skinny shoplifter […]
My Book Club Made Me An Author
My book group formed seven years ago. A dozen busy, smart, book-obsessed women in Portland, Oregon, we’re probably not that different from most neighborhood book clubs. We struggle to make time for reading, there’s always someone who confesses that she hasn’t had time to finish the book, and there’s usually another who clearly didn’t finish, […]
Optical Research
“Of course it wasn’t a romantic getaway,” I said in 2015, after spending Valentine’s Weekend in Paris. “It was optical research!” And after tramping the Paris streets searching for wartime locations for my second book, The English Agent, I had the blisters on my feet and scribbles in my notebook to prove it (although I’ll […]
Women Inspired My Novel
All authors get asked, “What was your inspiration for writing your novel?” For me, it wasn’t so much “what,” but “who” is my inspiration. Without a doubt my answer is women. I have had the greatest honor of raising four daughters—a dream come true that mirrored a treasured Louisa May Alcott story, Little Women. Each […]
Discovering Fiction Readers Preferences, Habits and Attitudes ~~ by M.K. Tod
Readers and writers – a symbiotic relationship. Ideas spark writers to create stories and build worlds and characters for readers’ consumption. Readers add imagination and thought to interpret those stories, deriving meaning and enjoyment in the process. A story is incomplete without both reader and writer. What then do readers want? What constitutes a compelling […]
According to a Source author Abby Stern Gives Us A VIP Tour of the Red Carpet
I’ve been drawn to creative writing since early childhood. When a creative writing class was an option as an elective in middle school, I knew it would be my elective. I was on the staff of my school’s literary magazine throughout high school and then switched my focus to screenplays. I’d never set out to […]
One Life Changing Invitation
With one invitation, my life was changed in the most miraculous of ways. I can barely remember my life before Samantha Stroh Bailey, Josie Brown, Eileen Goudge, Francine LaSala, Jen Tucker, and Julie Valerie became a part of it. We were brought together as a group in May, 2013 during the annual Book Expo America […]
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