Whenever I have company coming, I notice things that have been invisible to me for weeks. Dust on the end table, a pair of socks in the corner that I’ve walked past 100 times, writing paraphernalia stacked on the table. When I look at my house through the eyes of a guest, I see all
Today, I’m thinking about food. Well, I’m pretty much always thinking about food (especially cheese). But, in particular, I’m wondering about using food in my stories. Do your characters eat? If so, do you tell the reader what they ate, even if it’s not integral to the story line? For some reason my folks always
Today’s blog is also posted at: http://romancemagicians.blogspot.com/2010/01/refrigerated-writing.html. Is your writing fresh and new? How can you tell? I was recently catching up on Janet Reid’s great agent blog, and she addressed this very issue. After discussing how she handled the 122 of 124 writers she chose not to represent in 2009 (!), she gave some advice for
I could care less about people misusing this statement, but unfortunately, I don’t. Using “could care less” instead of “couldn’t care less” has become one of my pet peeves, probably because I’m all about logic, and the first statement isn’t logical the way most people use it. If you could care less, then there’s still
Did you know that Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have built sophisticated tunnels running under the border between Mexico and the US? The tunnels are reinforced or bored into rock, and often have electricity, phone service, and fresh air ventilation systems! An article about a tunnel discovered in 2006 sparked the idea for the opening
I don’t have vampires in my books, but I do interview my characters these days. I haven’t been consistent about it, and I sometimes go back and change the answers when I get a better idea, bit I’m starting to really like the outcome. I recently reviewed an old interview with Steve Reyes (from my
Before I launch into a grammar diatribe, I have to announce that I passed the halfway point in my current WIP! [Insert happy dance here! :-D] Okay, back to the blog… The confusion over passive voice, the use of “was” and -“ing”, and the definition of showing versus telling has been bothering me for a