Category: Writing – Fiction
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Organizing My Life: Writing, Publishing, and Personal Resolutions
We are on the eve of New Year’s Eve. So, perhaps it’s not too early to be looking ahead. On New Year’s Day, I will kick off the year right, with black-eyed peas, cabbage, and a few friends. And lots of wine. Having retired for the second time, I am looking forward to focusing on…
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Cindy Crawford and Christabel
My cats wake me up at 5:30 every morning. I suppose that’s partly my fault, but I don’t know how. They became my alarm clock some years ago. Unfortunately, I can’t turn them off on weekends or use their noses as a snooze button. It starts with Cindy Crawford, my white and black calico…
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SCBWI-Houston Conference 2017
Well, another great conference has come and gone. I splurged this year, as my schedule has been very hectic and promises to get worse. I took advantage of the special offer and booked myself into the Marriott Hotel where the conference was being held on the night before and stayed till Sunday. Very nice accommodations…
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The Family You Choose
Last November, in 2016, I took the NaNoWriMo challenge and wrote over 50,000 on a novel. It was an exercise. I wanted to see if I could discipline myself to putting out a certain number of words every day. I also wanted to write a story with more action and complications than I normally write…
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News of the World, by Paulette Jiles
In a year of historic political division and growing national misogyny, on November 16th the National Book Award failed to honor a single nominated woman, but instead focused on divisions along racial lines. So, let me talk about this beguiling and poetic novel written by a woman that deals with race and the position of…
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SCBWI Houston Conference – 2016
Another great SCBWI (Houston) conference for the record books on October 22, 2016.
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Lou Berney’s Award-Winning Novel
Berney has a hauntingly human and almost casual style, centered around a premise that hooks you from the beginning.
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Cultural References as Shorthand
By cultural references, I mean quotes or plot devices from movies, books, TV shows; popular actors or fictional characters; and popular slang.
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Reading Louise Penney’s ‘A Great Reckoning’
As you know, when not writing you need to be reading. I try to read the spectrum of mystery fiction. But I have my favorites. This weekend I got to read the much anticipated twelfth book in Louise Penney’s series about former Chief Inspector Gamache. It did not disappoint. On back-order for several months, it arrived as I…
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Cue the Murder
I looked into grey-blue eyes and the concerned face of a blondish man in his late thirties or early forties. “Are you OK? Do you need a lift?”
Claire Hart-Palumbo 