I remember my mother telling me when I was about seven, “You can read any book in this house.” The books in our house were my dad’s history and science related books from Book of the Month Club, and my mom’s books about having and raising children and lives of saints and other holy people.Continue reading “My Life as a Reader”
Category Archives: readers
Reading about the Hard Things When You are Young
I just finished reading Ashes to AshevilleAshes to Asheville by Sarah Dooley. It is a Young Adult novel dealing with the “hard things.” It is told from the point of view of Fella, a twelve year old girl whose mother has recently died of cancer. That is, one of her mothers. Mama Lacy andContinue reading “Reading about the Hard Things When You are Young”
Blog Hopping for The Writer’s Process
I’m doing a question and answer session today for The Writer’s Process blog. It is a little introduction to my writing, and those of you who know me may learn something about me you didn’t know before. I would love to read your comments! What am I working on/writing? I am currently working on aContinue reading “Blog Hopping for The Writer’s Process”
Who Loves Lady MacBeth?
Writers often create characters who are not likeable, to serve as foils or antagonists for the main characters. These antagonists exhibit qualities in opposition to the main characters in order to create conflict. Readers love an evil character. Think of the wicked witch in The Wizard of Oz. We love to have someone toContinue reading “Who Loves Lady MacBeth?”
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”
Forward to the Past
Writers never throw anything away, or at least they shouldn’t. This week I pulled out an old “almost novel” that I wrote before my first one, The Gate House, was published. This one, tentatively titled Nara of the Islands, is really the original story of my protagonist who appears in both The Gate House andContinue reading “Forward to the Past”
Reading Outside the Box
I read mostly mysteries and suspense novels, because that is what I write and because I review books for Suspense Magazine. But occasionally I read something outside of those genres. I find that a different type of book and writing style can spark my own writing and stretch my creativity. Last night I downloaded TheContinue reading “Reading Outside the Box”
Writing Honest Book Reviews
There is a lot of criticism these days about biased book reviews and writers reviewing each others books in order to post glowing reviews. I write reviews for Suspense Magazine, and I also occasionally read a book by a fellow writer and post the review on Amazon and GoodReads. I never write a negative review.Continue reading “Writing Honest Book Reviews”
Where do characters come from?
My characters are frequently based on real people, but as the story develops, they take on a life of their own and bear little more than a superficial resemblance to the person on whom it is based. In the case of Nara, the main character in The Gate House, she is based on the daughter-in-lawContinue reading “Where do characters come from?”
Journal Writing Tuesday
Who writes letters anymore? A quick email, a text or a phone call is more the way to go these days. There are two things going on in my life right now that have caused me to think about the slower pace of life in years that have passed not so long ago. The firstContinue reading “Journal Writing Tuesday”