Category: fiction writing techniques
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New Novel! October 2023 Newsletter
I am very pleased to announce that I’ve now completed the novel Death in Shining Armor, an academic murder mystery. It’s a new version of a novel that I’ve been writing in assorted versions off and on for thirty years. And I’m really pleased with the way it has turned out this. Synopsis of this…
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A New Beginning: Fall 2022 Newsletter
A New Beginning: Fall 2022 Newsletter A New Beginning to Die by the Sword aka To Die by the Sword aka Death in Shining Armor Night . . . Saturday, September 10, 1988 The Medieval Fair Site . . . I didn’t want much that night, just to go out to the shop on…
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May 2022 Newsletter: for love or money?
May 2022 Newsletter: For Love or Money? Do I write for love or money or something else entirely? A couple of months ago, I had an encounter with a person who made me think about my motives for writing fiction. Here’s what happened. A few days before the incident, we’d had our house sprayed for…
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January 2022 Newsletter
Starting a New Year . . . Somehow, I’ve managed to start the new year by catching a cold. Apparently, this happened when I went to my doctor for a well woman check-up about a week ago. Of course, I went fully masked and observed the distancing protocol for the most part except when my…
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August 2021 Newsletter
My Once and Future Novel (Part 2, I think) Hi, All! A few nights ago, I thought about retiring on my birthday coming up really soon on 9/11/2021. I’ll be eighty, and maybe it’s time to stop. I told myself that maybe I’d be happy and fulfilled reading and reviewing other people’s books and taking…
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April 2021 WiP Report
I hoped to report that I’ve finished my current Work-in-Progress, Apart in April, Book 5 of my Calendar Mystery series. But it’s not happening, partly because my characters keep talking to me as I write. One of them will say, “How about I do this?” Another might say, “I wouldn’t do that! Take it out!”…
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Spring Things
You know what? Life isn’t too bad at our house right now. After all it’s spring. Plus I’ve had both my shots and Jess has had the first. Having them has lowered our stress and helps us sleep better. On the slightly down side, my WiP is going slower than I’d hoped.…
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Been a rough month but . . .
Hi, Everybody! Here’s the cover for the fourth novel, fifth book in my calendar mystery series featuring the former business girl, Minty Wilcox, now Price, and her dashing detective husband Daniel, in Kansas City, MO, a place that could get downright deadly a hundred years or so ago. I had lots of trouble making this…
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WiP Report January 2021
Last Friday, I finished what I hope will be the next-to-the-last draft of Book 5 of my Calendar Mystery series, set in Kansas City, a place that could get downright deadly a hundred years or so ago for a business girl named Minty Wilcox and a dashing detective named Daniel Price. (Just practicing my blurb…
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Novel Basics Card # 20
Novel Basics Card # 20 The Cover Card The Cover Card asks the question, “What’s my novel’s name?” The wise organizers of NaNoWriMo say that those who have covers for their projects before they start drafting them are 60% more likely to write it that those who don’t. I think possibly that simply giving your…