In my first novel, The Gate House, Nara laments the lack of tropical fruit as she prepares a typical English breakfast at her aunt’s bed and breakfast. I lived in Costa Rica for seven years, where I, too, learned to appreciate the huge variety of exotic fruits available year round. Although Nara’s home, St. Clare,Continue reading “How About a Slice of Papaya Bread?”
Author Archives: headywriting19
A Good Book I’ve Read Lately
Every once in a while I like to post a review of a book I have enjoyed. Murder in Thrall by Anne Cleeland is in one of my favorite genres, a British detective novel, but with a twist. This is my review that was published in Suspense Magazine. I recommend it. Rookie detective Kathleen DoyleContinue reading “A Good Book I’ve Read Lately”
A Full English Breakfast with Variations
On the first page of my novel The Gate House, the main character, Nara, bemoans having to prepare a full English breakfast at her aunt’s bed and breakfast. If you have not had the opportunity tuck into one of these artery clogging delights, I will describe it for you. A full English breakfast consists ofContinue reading “A Full English Breakfast with Variations”
The “Nature” of Setting
I have always wondered how a person’s surrounding affect they way they live. How is it different to grow up on the flat land of Illinois in the midst of corn fields and soy beans, compared to a city overlooked by an ancient castle (Edinburgh, Scotland), or the lushness of tropical trees and flowers. DifferentContinue reading “The “Nature” of Setting”
One Strip of Lace, Ninety-six Years Old
I consider myself an organized person — make that very organized. I usually plan menus for the week and go to the grocery store with a list. I make daily to-do lists. I keep up on car maintenance (and don’t you dare leave trash in my car), go to the dentist twice a year, andContinue reading “One Strip of Lace, Ninety-six Years Old”
Keeping in Touch
However much we may complain about FaceBook and other social media, for someone who has moved around as much as I have, it has been a Godsend for keeping in touch, and reestablishing contact, with old friends, and especially former students. I have taught high school English and social studies in four states as wellContinue reading “Keeping in Touch”
I just came across this blog, and this quote, which I love, and thought I would share it.
Enjoy Lopsided
Could you live in a lopsided house? We are accustomed to straight lines, parallel sentences, and the value a sense of uniformity. But is this the best way to live, or to write? Some writers recommend using outlines, and have many valid reasons for doing so. I was always the kind of student who wroteContinue reading “Enjoy Lopsided”
Have you read this one? Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark
Besides writing my own books, I read constantly, both because I have had a life-long love affair with books, and because I like to see what other writers are saying. I review books for Suspense Magazine, which gives me an opportunity to dip into titles that I might not have picked up otherwise. InContinue reading “Have you read this one? Killer Ambition by Marcia Clark”
History Is Real
One of the challenges of studying or writing about historical figures, real or fiction, is imagining them to be as real as we are. Somehow people of the past lose their reality as flesh and blood, and seem to reside only on the printed page or in the flatness of a photograph. It takes aContinue reading “History Is Real”