I’m writing a novella and suddenly I feel the muse telling me the story’s disenchanted circumstances are begging me to add a monster. Why? I ask. Comes the answer: Because these scenes are a bit mysterious, but not dark enough—or they’re a little spooky, but not scary enough. This story needs some tension. Hmmm. She’s…
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Tough Decisions
At our last virtual get-together, one of my writer friends announced she was getting back the rights for a book she’d recently sold to a small press. The company had published several books for her already, and she’d been happy with those books and the publisher’s support. But the publisher wanted her to take this…
Twitter Recs
Is Twitter: A flippant smarmy cesspool? Source of endless inspiration? Giant time suck? All of the above? I would never recommend doing anything that doesn’t suit your style or float your boat, but I need my daily (um, er, hourly) Twitter fix. There are 1.5 zillion writing and writing-related accounts on Twitter, but I’m here…
Santa’s gift to me—and to you!
A friend sent me this photo, and I laughed out loud. Then a sensation overcame me. You know the feeling, a little tingling in your psyche as the miracle of creativity takes hold, transporting you to a place of bliss and visions and words. A backstory of Santa’s predicament came to mind in gentle bursts…
The Importance of Being Happy
I know a lot of people are having a hard time finding their “happy” these days. This has been a year of anger and sadness and fear, and it’s worn us all down. Now that the elections are over (probably) and there is the light of a vaccine at the end of the tunnel, I…