Novel Basics: Card # 12 The Climax Card The Climax Scene Card asks the question, “What’s the high point of my novel’s plot?” Back when I taught Creative Writing at one of America’s top community colleges, often as I introduced the topic of the moment of the highest intensity of your plot, the part of […]
Novel Basics Cards # 12 & 13 Read More »
Novel Basics: Card # 10 The First Scene Card (aka the Hook) The First Scene Card asks the question, “How will my novel start?” Entire books have been written on the importance of the start of your novel. I won’t list any of these books here. But I will say that, above all else, the
Novel Basics: Cards # 10 and # 11 Read More »
Friends, do you find yourself missing popcorn now that movie theaters have gone dark? Pine no more. Using this very simple recipe from Mark Bittman’s Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, you can have this fragrant treat whenever you like. You’ll need a brown paper lunch bag (the kind you’re not sending your kids
As their wedding day fast approaches, Minty Wilcox has some questions about her fiancé Daniel Price. Did he really kill someone? Why has he never told her he’s rich? And for goodness’ sake, where will they go on their honeymoon? From Minty’s journal . . . But back to my story of naming the
Fun in Old K.C. only 99 Cents Read More »
“Stop! Thief!” a woman screamed. Across the lobby, outside the New England National Bank stood a stooped woman in black and a raggedy little boy. The woman pointed to a fellow running up the stairs and shouted, “Come back here with my purse.” Then, seeming to notice Minty and Daniel for the first time, she
Free Fun Short Story Read More »
Some of you have asked me about terminology I’ve used recently in my Tuesday #writingtips and #writetips. Or possibly you’ve wondered about my using an inverted check mark to represent plot, so today I’ll explain an excerpt from Novel Basics, my compact yet complete guide to writing a novel. Note: my illustrations may appear a
A Brief History of Plot Read More »
This is one of my personal favorite cards from my Novel Basics method of brainstorming a novel with 20 index cards. Tuesday #writingtip #writetip: If you have trouble choosing between first person (I alone remain to tell the tale) and third person (The only remaining survivor of the shipwreck, Ishmael . . .), TRY BOTH.
Tuesday Writing Tip 08/13/19 Read More »
A WiP Report I’ve reached midpoint of my current Work in Progress. (I think. I hope.) So I’m taking some time to reflect on the book I’ve worked on – or at least thought about – since the 1980’s when my daughter and I participated in activities of the Society for Creative Anachronism, “an international
The Once and Future Book Read More »
Even though Old Time Stories is Book 4 of my Calendar Mystery series, you can read it as a standalone since it fills in the gaps before, between, and after the novels in the series. Here’s an FYI from July 4, 2017, about “The Barn Door,” the first short story in this collection of fiction
Calendar Mysteries Book 4 only $0.99 Read More »
Feeding the Cats Our little panther Safa boy Bombay (on the left) isn’t a picky eater and chows down on dry food. But last March his sibling Honey girl (on the right) quit eating and became terribly thin. Thus began our attempts to keep her alive. (FYI: with our current budget, taking the cats to
WiP Report: Life Happens, Part 1 Read More »