writer at play
Posted in news, short stories on Jul 31st, 2010
Two years ago, I made the following entry on this blog: Today, I started a short story. I wrote: My daughter stalks me through amber chambers shaped from the secretions of our ancestors. And promptly stalled out. Funny, that. It seemed like such a cool and well-put-together story while I was nursing the baby at [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 22nd, 2010
I shook the random number generator and the winner of a copy of Mistborn is…. Prue! Congratulations, Prue, and if you can email me your address via the contact form, I can have the book out to you soon. Thanks, everyone, for playing! It’s been a lot of fun to give away the books I [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 19th, 2010
The book for this week’s giveaway is Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, the first book of one of the best epic fantasy trilogies I’ve ever read. I love the world, the premise, the magic system, the characters, the action scenes…. but you don’t have to take just my word for how good it is. Leave a comment [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 17th, 2010
So, I shook the random number generator and the winner of Sunshine is… dkoren! Congratulations. I will mail out your copy on Monday. Stay tuned for my next giveaway, also being announced on Monday.
Posted in linktopia on Jul 14th, 2010
I love Rachelle Gardner’s list of 11 non-writing-related ideas to improve my writing. I’m always looking for ways to fill up my well of inspiration and give my muse some playtime; that’s why I do the Friday Fun feature and my ways-to-play lists. I found myself nodding enthusiastically at all of Rachelle’s suggestions, except for [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jul 12th, 2010
Beauty was the first Robin McKinley book I ever read. It became an instant favorite; I must’ve read it cover to cover a dozen times (or more–back then books were harder to come by), pressed it upon my friends and jealously watched for its return. Since then, I’ve read a number of McKinley’s books and [...]
40 out of 64 scenes. Yeah, I guess all my scenes-smushing was offset by extra scenes or something. Still, almost two-thirds of the way there is nothing to be sneezed at! The last 4 or 5 scenes have been hard. It’s not that they’re total rewrites (I’ve been doing that since scene 2 ); it’s [...]
Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson: A high-school English teacher ponders the seeming contradiction of homeschooling his own kids. Realistic and thoughtful about some of the arguments against homeschooling, but ultimately a feel-good book for homeschoolers. Incarceron by Catherine Fisher: Why, strangers on the Internet can find a perfect literary match for [...]
Posted in motivation, writing process on Jul 7th, 2010
It is HOT in here. Muggy hot. Stuffy hot from drawn shades and closed windows. Outside, it’s my-steering-wheel-is-going-to-burn-my-hands and the-pavement’s-going-to-melt and the-metal-is-going-to-take-off-my-skin HOT. Yes, folks, we’re having a heat wave of temps in the mid-90s up here in Vermont. I’ll wait while all you Florida and Arizona and other southern state people stop laughing. Remember, [...]
Posted in blogging on Jul 6th, 2010
Two years ago in July, two important things happened in my life. First, I set up this site and started this blog. And second, I had my third child. That baby boy is now a cute curly-headed fearless toddler, and this blog is now two years old. As always happens around this time, I’ve been [...]