Category: On Writing
Speaking Up for Those Who Can’t Answer Back
Some of my most prominent memories of grammar school days relate to my sister, Lou, even though she attended the special school across the other side of town. After a swimming lesson in the early nineties, for example, an older boy referred to Lou as a ‘spaz’. I still remember the sudden strength I acquired when […]
Women In Crime Fiction
Women in early crime fiction are often placed in the role of helpless ‘damsel in distress’. This is not inevitably the case. Apart from his nemesis Moriarty, the one person who succeeds in outwitting Sherlock Holmes through sheer strength of character and intelligence is a woman, Irene Adler. But she is perceived as outside the […]
The New Thirst For Words
The rise of ‘text speak’ and ‘twitter talk’ appears to have triggered a desire for more challenging and imaginative vocabularies – something writers should welcome and embrace. In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, a depleted language (Newspeak) is used by a totalitarian government as the ultimate means of control and repression. Each year the government reduces the […]
Why We Write About Paris
What is it about Paris that makes it such a glorious setting for a book? From novels to memoir to cookbooks, Paris has been the setting for countless literary creations over the years. In every genre and style, the City of Light has made an appearance. I’ve contributed to that, writing novel Paris, Rue des […]
Writing My Way to Self-Care
“This book grew out of a desperate plea to myself to figure out a way to take care of me, as I felt I was literally gasping for breath while being swallowed up in the sea of motherhood.” –The Self-Care Solution Most authors embark on their writing journey with a similar mission—to create something that […]
Q&A with Karma Brown
As if being a National Magazine Award winning freelance journalist, foodie columnist (check out these recipes. Yum! Blueberry clafoutis anyone? Sesame-ginger noodle salad?), all-around cool runner/sister/wife/mother, and cancer survivor weren’t enough, Karma Brown became an international bestselling author with her debut novel. COME AWAY WITH ME is a heartbreaking and emotional story of one woman’s […]
Paintings in Novels
Everyone knows the image of The Girl with a Pearl Earring. The woman’s face turned half towards the viewer, the blue and yellow turban over her hair, the golden robe, and, at the centre of the image, the outsized earring itself. The original hangs in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague. But that original is […]
The Real Thing: A Conversation with Tina Ann Forkner
In The Real Thing by Tina Ann Forkner, we meet Manda as she learns to be a cowgirl through the ups and downs of her new marriage to a rodeo star, Keith and the specter of his missing ex-wife, Violet. While the ride isn’t always smooth, readers can enjoy how Manda learns to take the […]
Historical Elements of Writing
I can see a cohesive thread appearing in my work, a pattern, if you will. Locations, upon which I wrote a recent post for Women Writers, was always clear, but the historical element is a part of my writing that crept up. A surprise even to me, the author. I can at least pinpoint where […]
I Used to be a Writer
“How about I meet you up at the…ah…the…office at the front? You know, the place with the desk?” My husband responds quickly and kindly. “The lobby?” “Well, sure,” I respond, “but there’s another word I’m thinking of here.” We’ve danced this dance before and he knows I’m not going to drop it until the word […]
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