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Raised eyebrow. Snarling lip. Clenched jaw. Trembling chin. Wide eyes. Flushed cheeks. … A lot can be said with a shift in expression. A change in mood, a sudden thought, a devious plan. As writers we know what our characters are feeling, but showing those emotions is often easier said than done. It’s easy to …
Get ready. This post might be a bit of a stretch. Last weekend I bought something I’ve coveted for nearly ten years: It’s an elliptical machine! Good for the heart, good for the knees, and no annoying aerobics instructor telling you to give her eight more! And, um… it’s in a box. Yes, I bought …
Ahh… technological devices designed to make our lives easier. When will I ever learn? One of the comments from my first beta reader pointed out that I had a lot of extra spaces in the document, as well as some wonky apostrophes. (I blame the PC, as usual.) I hit Control F, plugged in the …
Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t do spandex. That said, I’ve been wearing a lot of rather… clingy clothes as of late. As you may be aware, I live in Michigan, it’s the middle of winter, and we’re buried under two feet of snow. There’s an inverse relationship between the number of layers one …
I got my first comments back from my first beta reader and I’m so relieved someone likes my story! Since this was my very first reader there were lots of silly things to fix, but by later today my very first TEENAGER will be reading it. Eek! Another benefit of my wonderful network of writing …
When I moved to Mexico FOUR years ago, I packed up the majority of our belongings and shoved them in a storage room in my parents’ garage. Over the past year I’ve worked my way through the boxes, slowly incorporating things from my former life into this new existence. Four years isn’t that long, but …
A few days ago, friend of the blog Adam posted about his writing style and how he’s okay with the fact that it’s different than some of the so-called “experts”. (That’s me totally paraphrasing.) His points got me thinking. I’m a clean writer. I write chronologically and cannot wrap my head around those who write …
Maybe it’s not the end of an era, but Owen is retiring from blogging. He has a lot more fun on Facebook where he has twice as many fans and people can post any time they want. He wants to thank everyone for following along as he’s adapted from Mexico to Michigan, and hopes that …
Saturday morning I rolled out of bed, fired up the laptop, and edited the last 27 pages of my manuscript. My friends on Facebook congratulated me, I danced a little jig, then I went through the document to check that my chapter numbers were in order. And that, apparently, was the straw that broke the …
A string of recent political snafus have got me thinking: who’s responsible for checking facts? As writers, it’s considered part of our job to do research. Sure, we’re allowed to stretch the truth or bend things to fit our stories, but basic things need to be true. (I’m excusing fantasy & sci-fi from this.) As …