When people come over and see my Romance shelf, thirty linear feet of books, they ooh and ah over how many I have accumulated. I’m more impressed by the effort that the authors put into writing them and then getting them to market. Why Read Romance? For me, Romance novels provide a pleasant escape from…
Every journey starts with a plan. Whether you’re going to the supermarket or off on a well-deserved vacation, you have some sort of plan. It may not be a formal plan – a collection of ideas, a shopping list or just a destination. Your plan might also be quiet elaborate, including a detailed itinerary with…
On Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, the Central Labor Union held their first demonstration and picnic. The third year, the date was set for the first Monday in September. As labor organizations spread, so did the idea. By 1894, 23 states had adopted holidays to celebrate the working man and Congress passed…
What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “Scenic Structures”? It might be a quaint old building in a romanticized setting. You may also picture a well-known landmark like the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, the Alhambra or even the pyramids. Unfortunately, these aren’t the types of structures crowding my brain this…
I picked up a variety of books at Borders yesterday. They had a small in the writer’s reference section, but I found a couple that were on my list to check out. 20 Master Plots and how to build them by Ronald B. Tobias. I read this one yesterday. “Plot is a process, not an…
John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction is rough going – for me, the language isn’t friendly or immediately accessible. Lots of good points in there, if I can just untangle it all. DH pointed me to the Turkey City Lexicon this morning. Ah, earthy and practical. Phew! Much easier to read. I will finish the…
Saving my journal entry this morning, I realized this week marked two solid months. I’ve only missed 4 days since the end of June. This is impressive for me. Usually, I have the attention span of a gnat and projects are fun to start, but never seem to be finished. My early journal entries are…
Yesterday, I completed a very rough first draft of a short story. I was intrigued by the “Dream by the Fire: Winter Magic” anthology submission call announced by Freya’s Bower. I made the mistake of plotting the story late Sunday night before bed. I was kept up most of the night and ended up getting…
I’ve played around with the idea of writing romance novels for a while. In college, I decided I could do better than the ones I’d devoured that summer. I think I got about 8k words into the story and then gave up because I couldn’t decide what would happen next. Last year or so, I…