Oh sure, you are pointing to your notebook/desktop/iPad/ Smartphone and laughing derisively at the title. But how did we get from pens to that Smartphone? And don’t you ever print out the manuscript for an in-person critique group? You have to have red pens and stuff to mark it up. Really, if your battery dies and you don’t have a charger and the electricity goes out, how would you finish the story? Continue reading “Writers Need Pens”
Have I mentioned lately how much I love my terrier mix rescued dog, Tilda? She’s goofy, loyal, stubborn, always shedding, slobbers when she gets excited, wants to kill two particular dogs in our neighborhood, and loves to give me The Look when someone else is petting her. As a low-self-esteem person about my writing, having this loyal and warm and loving dog who misses me if I am gone for more than 5 minutes keeps me grounded and happy. Continue reading “Obsession with Dogs”
I’ll bet you didn’t know that along with Scrivner and critique partners, a dog is a very important part of your equipment as a writer. Unless you’re Hemingway, in which case, you have cats. Elizabeth Barret had a dog. Byron had a dog to whom he built a monument. Dorothy Parker had a series of dogs. Here, go look for yourself.
I don’t expect to talk about the concept of an innate ability to select the best styles and decorations, but I did want to briefly explore how that got to be. Have you tasted the latest shoes? Well, so far I have no input on that, so maybe there is no documentation on it. I’ll have to borrow someone’s Oxford English Dictionary. Continue reading “Senses and History, Part Four: Taste”
Today I will look at what was considered attractive in men and women from the 1980s through the current rages. I understand that in the course of the decades, different looks were popular year by year, and that different cultures, West Coast vs. East Coast, etc., made a difference. Continue reading “Trends in Eye Candy, Part Two”
One of the many amazing speakers I have listened to in my years with Romance Writers of America reminded us that our characters step onto the stage of our story fully formed. Like Venus on the Half-shell, any history they have must be revealed slowly and only as much as each scene requires. Continue reading “Settling Your Ghosts”
I’ll bet you didn’t know that along with Scrivner and critique partners, a dog is a very important part of your equipment as a writer. Unless you’re Hemingway, in which case, you have cats. Elizabeth Barret had a dog. Byron had a dog to whom he built a monument. Dorothy Parker had a series of dogs. Here, go look for yourself.
