Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
Be forewarned. I’m on a tear. Again, or maybe it’s the same one. I never considered myself one who believes in, or expects, the proverbial happy ending, at least not all of the time. (Although I do love one.) Admittedly, as a child, The Lucy Show frustrated me because it always ended with Lucy, Ethel frequently at her side, …
Continue reading “Dark and Cynical Stories? Not a Fan”
Now that I’ve written several manuscripts and restored a number of classic cars, I can tell you the emotional stages of each process are nearly identical. I know that may sound hard to believe, so for those lacking the car restoration experience allow me to elaborate. Passion: No one would begin a project that sucks …
Continue reading “The 11 Emotional Stages of Writing A Novel: It’s Just Like Restoring a Car”
Working in TV again has reminded me that I write well under the pressure of a deadline. Deadlines force me to stop procrastinating. Deadlines make me write faster. Deadlines keep me off the internet! But what if you have no real deadlines? When story editors, producers and broadcasters are all expecting a script from me …
Continue reading “4 Tricks to Make & Meet Deadlines”
I love fairy tales, which is a sad confession for a 1970s feminist and a woman of reasonably advanced age. But once upon a time, my favorite babysitter gave me what soon became a treasured Christmas gift: SHIRLEY TEMPLE’S FAVORITE FAIRY TALES, or something like that. She knew I adored Shirley Temple after having seen …
Continue reading “The Anatomy of a Fairy Tale: True Confession”
For most people, holidays mean spending time with friends and family, and not going to work. It’s pretty simple if you commute – when you’re not at your place of employment, you’re not working. But for writers, the workplace is anywhere we have a pen and paper or a laptop or a functioning brain. In …
Continue reading “How Writers Do Holidays”
As a former teacher of biology and chemistry, I’m reasonably learned in the sciences and had been a teacher for several years when one day my Assistant Superintendent paid me a visit. “Wayne’s taking a leave next year and I’m assigning the AP Bio course to you,” he announced. “Sure,” I said, “be glad to…” …
Continue reading “Surviving the Biology of Negative Feedback”
Every family has some honored traditions at this time of year, and for many, pulling out dusty copies of a favorite holiday film numbers among them. In my house, we watch that movie snuggled up under blankets, with big bowls of popcorn and mugs of frothy hot chocolate. My kids will likely choose It’s a …
Continue reading “It IS a Wonderful Life!”
My last post explained how I became an author. I had the inspiration, the enthusiasm, the passion to write; imagination and story-telling my forte. I’m reasonably well-educated so I figured I didn’t have far to go to master the finite skills to get published, right? Well, no. One of my first lessons came from my …
Continue reading “The School of Hard Knocks: Learning the Craft”
The old adage, ‘Writers are born, not made,’ is something I believed, well…until I didn’t. And I’m taking this statement literally as in that newborn baby snuggled in an isolate could write something amazing if he could get to a laptop. I’m sure there are people who are born to write, but I think it’s …
Continue reading “Writers are made, not born. Girl on Fire!”
A little backstory on me… I have not worked a regular, paying job this past year. I used my savings to quit everything and just write a novel. I’ve had many friends ask me how I stay motivated without the threat of deadlines or reward of money. This is how I do it… 1) Schedule. …
Continue reading “How To Stay Motivated Without Deadlines or Money”