As writers of historical fiction, there’s a lot of things I can’t just make up. I mean, there’s the big research: What happened in this historical event? Who was there? What were the consequences? But then there’s the intermediate stuff: How would someone insult someone else in this period? What was popular in art &…
Category: Blog
Comanding the Muse
For the last six years I’ve had this on again, off again relationship with my Muse. For the most part I’d plod on with my droll life until inspiration struck. Out of nowhere a story arc or unforgettable character would flood my mind and I’d drop whatever I was doing and write up a storm….
Meet Our New Blog Contributors!
Please welcome our new Blog contributors, Ann Gordon and Maggie Smith. We’re looking forward to some great articles from them! Ann Gordon is a former English and Computer Science teacher, a technical writer, copy editor and instructional designer. She has a B.A. in English and a Masters in Computer Science. She’s currently semi-retired and trying…
Finnegan Begin Again
Back in the 80s, Mary Tyler Moore and Robert Preston starred in an HBO rom-com that has mostly faded into history. In it the main character – a writer named Mike Finnegan – has to begin again. He’s assigned to write the advice column for his newspaper (remember them?) and learns that people have to…
NaNoWriMo
This month is NaNoWriMo, For those of you scratching your head, that’s National Novel Writing Month (https://www.NaNoWriMo.org) a non-profit with only one goal – to goad you, encourage you, and praise you into kick-starting your next book. How? It’s a simple premise – commit to writing 50,000 words, starting November 1st and writing at least…