Tag: featured
The Fear and Joy of Writing on Proposal
Most new authors, whether searching for agent rep or a publishing contract, will need to complete a manuscript, polish it up, and then hope and pray the concept is one that will pique interest, that the writing and voice will connect, and that story will ultimately satisfy. It’s a leap of faith and a lot […]
Where have all the Mobile Libraries gone? By Olivia Rana
When I was a child I can vividly remember the mobile library coming to my rural school in County Fermanagh. It arrived once a fortnight, bringing great excitement for bookworms like myself, and a welcome break from the tedium of schoolwork. We would promptly line up outside the school gates and wait our turn as […]
Writing And Location: Jo Platt
Several years ago, having just written my first novel, Reading Upside Down, I was asked by a journalist how important setting was to the book, and to my writing in general. It was an interesting question, with location of course being integral to many novels, often taking centre stage alongside the characters: Cathy and Heathcliff […]
How Research Made me a Better Writer
When people find out that I have graduate degrees, they often expect me to tell them I studied English. The wrinkles of confusion on their faces deepen even more when I tell them that my field of research and study was Human Geography. I know what you’re thinking: What’s that?! Even I didn’t know until […]
Is It a Floor Wax or a Dessert Topping?
If you’re of a certain age, you will remember the classic Saturday Night Live “commercial” featuring Gilda Radner and Dan Aykroyd bickering over whether “New Shimmer” is a floor wax or a dessert topping. The argument is resolved when pitchman Chevy Chase steps in to demonstrate that it’s both! I was reminded of this comedy […]
Writing Through the Guilt by Alessandra Harris
At the beginning of the school year, my sixteen-year- old son and I did an exercise to foster conversation between parent and teen. The counselor would ask a question, and we would write our answer down and a guess as to the other person’s answer. After, we went over the questions and our answers, then […]
The Inspiration Behind Counterfeit!, Deception! and Corruption!
When I’m asked about the inspiration behind the Suzanne Jones series, my mind scurries off in a number of directions. The books are all thrillers set in the sometimes murky world of international pharmaceuticals. And hence my thirty plus years working as a manufacturing consultant and technical writer in that industry obviously played a part. […]
Stayin’ Alive: The Space-Time Continuum Applied to Writing a Novel
There are two kinds of people in this world, those who appreciate science fiction and those who do not. Or, in other words, those who are able to grasp the concept of the space-time continuum, the idea that space and time are one and the same, and those who can’t wrap their brains around it. […]
The Importance of Writing Nonsense
Not long before we were married, my husband and I found ourselves chaperoning a road trip with a group of high school students. My grandmother, now deceased, had been kind enough to send along some homemade goodies for the journey. Two rest stops into the trip, my husband lifted the lid on Grandma’s Tupperware to […]
Stop Writing, Start Listening
Ah, the joy of writing conferences. The anticipation is almost worth the registration fee. For weeks prior, I dream of leaving my basement office to the spiders, traveling to a shiny new city, and sleeping sideways in a hotel’s king-size bed. Recently, I registered for a conference with about a hundred other writers. All women. […]
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