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Showing posts from June, 2008

Anti-Heroes and Goodies

We're discussing the Redeemable Anti-Hero over at Swords & Stilettos today.

Tuesday, we'll be announcing a new book release for an author friend and there will be goodies given away...

Wednesday we have an interesting creative writing exercise crafted out of the discussions on this blog of what inspires our creativity.

Come see us each day, leave comments, join the discussion, play with your creativity, and grab your chance to win a prize!
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Monday's List

1. We made it home in one day - a trip of 14 hours, with stops. That's 14 hours, 3 boys, and 1 backseat. You do the math.

2. We spent yesterday doing pretty much nothing just to recover.

3. I dislike doing laundry that is full of sand.

4. This is going to be one of those weeks where my "to do" list far outweighs the hours in every day.

5. I tried oysters while in Florida and very nearly vomited.

6. How anyone can eat something that smells like three-day-old dead fish is beyond me.

7. As we drove out of town, I saw a street sign for "Mullet Dr."

8. In all honesty, I don't think I could live on a street called "Mullet" anything.

9. Though with the South's propensity for mispronouncing common words (a city near me is Santa Fe with the "fe" pronounced "fee" for reasons that still escape me), perhaps the residents call it "mull-ay".

10. That's French for "Criminy, what did you DO to your hair?!"

11. We saw alli…
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What Moves The Muse

I recently completed an interview for a fellow author's blog (I'll post a link when the interview goes up) where one of the questions asked me what inspires my writing - the context of her question was basically asking what I use to put myself in the mood for writing.

We all find inspiration in different ways. Where we find it isn't nearly as important as making sure we never stop looking for what unleashes our own creativity. That said, I thought I'd list what awakens my muse. I found that I have a pretty eclectic range of what inspires me to spill words onto a page.

MUSIC: I've always been inspired by music. I grew up with a classical musician for a father and I didn't even know pop music existed until I was in fifth grade. We listened to classical, classical, and more classical and in the absence of words, I learned to hear the voices of the instruments tell their story. I'm never far from my iPod and I have nearly 6000 songs on it at the moment, many of …
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Vacation Diary - Day Seven

We spent the vast majority of today at the beach and it was fun, despite the...um...interesting things that happened.

Highlights of the Day:

1. I forgot to record this yesterday: we saw a crab on the sand, scuttling around. My children and several others were delighted and crowded around him to get an up close and personal view. The crab did not take kindly to being studied and raced to safety. Inside someone's beach tent. Up the pant leg of a sleeping toddler.

Mayhem ensued. The mother snatched the toddler and began beating at his pants. The crab took exception to this treatment. So did the toddler. Much screaming emanated from the tent and then the mother snatched her child's pants down, yanked out the crab, and threw him from the tent.

I sympathized with all parties.

2. I got stung by a jelly fish. Twice. At least that's what we think happened. I didn't feel it at the time it happened but I ended up with welts across both ankles and those hurt. I declined the S…
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Vacation Diary - Days Four, Five, & Six

It's Thursday night and I haven't blogged in three days.

Why?

Disney World, that's why. My feet still have blisters (but we won't blame my hubby and the shoes he picked out for me because in all fairness, I wasn't there to try them on and he did his best).

That said, I have one pair of white women's athletic shoes, barely used, for sale if anyone's interested.

Disney World was Tuesday. And by Tuesday, I mean bright and early Tuesday morning into not-so-bright and waaaay-too-early Wednesday morning. We had to forcibly remove the kids from the park which is kind of the point of bringing them in the first place.

Highlights:

1. Pirates. Not just the ride, which has this cool hologram of Davy Jones you have to ride through to drop into the main ride and which has Jack Sparrow in all the right places, but the gift store the ride vomits every passenger into was totally my idea of Excellent Places To Blow Your Vacation Money.

2. The castle. Wow. The version in Ana…
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Vacation Diary - Day Three

We spent the bulk of the day in Sea World and I was pleasantly surprised at how much there was for the kids to do. Of course we watched Shamu's Believe show and it was incredible. We also saw polar bears, walruses, barracudas, sharks (several varieties whose names escape me), beluga whales and my personal favorite, dolphins. I'd like to swim with dolphins someday.

Maybe we'll take a cruise and I can do it then.

The Scientist won a killer whale stuffed animal at the arcade and named it Shamu. Daredevil and I went on a roller coast together but we couldn't ride the Kraken, which looked absolutely amazing in a hey-I-might-die-here sort of way. Poor Daredevil needs four more inches before he's allowed to ride on that.

We went on paddle boats that look like giant floating flamingos, which, if you stop to think about it too long, is sort of the stuff of nightmares.

It was fun but the real story of the day was the heat. Relentless, fry you to a crisp despite your paltry 60…
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Vacation Diary - Day One and Two

I'm blogging (with the intent to be somewhat regular this week while we vacation but it's anybody's guess how much reality will intrude on that idea) from the desk in our room at the Holiday Inn, while everyone else is asleep (or very nearly) using H.I.'s deplorably sloooow wireless connection.

Took me eons to upload that gorgeous Pirates poster but it was worth the wait.

We left yesterday at 5:15 p.m. which, since we'd planned to leave by 5 p.m., was a miracle of no small proportion. Usually, if we plan to leave by 5 p.m., we are out the door no earlier than 6.

We drove until 10 something that night and stopped somewhere south of Atlanta in a seen-better-days-but-fit-the-budget Super 8. Noteable items from our first day of travel:

1. All of the boys made it to the Super 8 alive, a feat which was doubtful at several points during the journey.

2. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel (hey! I get a 35% discount. Where else would we eat?) and Starshine and I were sitting tog…
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Week In Review

1. We leave today for Florida.

2. We'll be gone for a week - Sea World, Disney World, Epcot, and then two days at Cocoa Beach.

3. We're all excited about the vacation - we'll see how long the boys can stand being packed into the back of the Explorer before the game becomes Last Brother Breathing wins.

4. Earlier this week, we went bowling together.

5. I believe I've told you about my mad bowling skills - last time I had a score of 1 as in Uno, as in You Stink - by frame 7.

6. This time, my hubby took pity on me and let me have bumpers just like the kids.

7. I did much better.

8. The Scientist beat us all on the second game and was proudly trash-talking his Dad over it. My hubby responded with, "Well, I would have beat you if I'd had bumpers." To which the Scientist replied, "Yeah but then you would have looked like a total dork."

9. "Oh reeeeeaaaaally?" I said as my hubby choked on his laughter.

10. The Scientist hurried to recover his gaffe w…
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I'll Give You 10 Good Reasons

My fellow Golden Heart nominees had a plan - a good one! - to meet up after Friday's Conference activities and have dinner at a local restaurant. I was onboard with this idea for many reasons, not the least of which is that these women are singularly supportive, interesting, talented, and dynamic.

The plan has now been abandoned in favor of meeting at the hotel bar, sipping cocktails and mingling with any agents or editors who happen by. In theory, this is a most excellent idea.

In actuality, I can give you 10 good reasons why I should never meet anyone at a bar, sip cocktails, and attempt to network my way into any sort of business relationship. This is me after just two sips:

1. They say alcohol loosens the tongue and I think we can all agree that if my tongue were any looser, it would come flapping right out of my mouth.

2. Generally speaking, it is frowned upon in networking situations when one intrepid soul announces to the world at large that she can dance the macarena only t…
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Trick Up Your Sleeve

Ever picked up a book and halfway through it realized that all of the characters sound remarkably the same?

I know I have.

As an author, that's an easy mistake to make. After all, every single character is coming from you!

Here's a simple trick to make sure each of your characters have their own unique diction/responses/reactions/expressions:

Go through a few dialogue-heavy scenes in your novel and highlight each character's dialogue with a different color (you can do this right on the computer or print it off if that's easier). Then read each character's dialogue on its own. If you've done it right, the cadence and rhythm for each will be different and you won't have them sharing similar expressions or reactions to the external conflict.

If you notice any of the separate highlighted strands sound alike, go back to your characters, figure out what makes them fundamentally different from each other, and change their dialogue to reflect that.
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Shoe Check!

Taz had a Furball Incident the other night. My hubby discovered this first. This is because he gets up first.

And also because the Furball Incident occured on his shoes.
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Bring Your iTunes!

Wednesdays are Creative days over at Swords & Stiletto. Jump start your creativity (this is for anyone, not just writers!) by participating in the exercise of the day!

Today you'll need your iPod, iTunes, or mp3 player and a fun assortment of songs to choose from. :)

See you there!
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Penny Drop Moments

Guest Blogger: Tracey O'Hara who just yesterday signed a two book deal with Harlequin Spice Briefs!


I am very honoured to be invited here to guest post on your blog, CJ. Extra Pixie dust for you. =)

I have been writing for just over 4 years and every day I learn something new, whether it is about the craft, my characters or my story. But some of the best have been those “penny drop” moment.

You know the ones. It is when something suddenly becomes clear – something you may have been previously struggling with or something that just occurs to you. I love those moments.

One of my most memorable came about from contest feedback. I’d been struggling with the whole ‘show, don’t tell’ concept. Then one of the judges sent me an article on Deep POV. I realised that I was explaining what the character was doing and feeling. Instead I could ‘show’ what it was like in her head. The opening paragraph of my ms was -

The tropical night air hung thick and humid around Antoinette, as she crept quietl…
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Do You Show The Signs?

Thank you to Danielle Marie for the link!

This is a fascinating (and inspiring!) article about the characteristics of highly productive artistic people.

Just to whet your appetite - The fact that I've set down roots in Tennessee, the fact that I choose to wait tables when I could use my teaching credential, the fact that I introduce myself to others and present myself on the web as a writer first and foremost, and the fact that I demand writing from myself daily are all indicators that I'm a highly productive artistic person.

Go read and then tell me what you think. =)
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Art As Business

Writers are creative, artsy creatures who love words and how they flow together to paint pictures, tell stories, and evoke emotion. Writers craft and shape their words into poems, essays, blogs, novels, and short stories. Writers spend hours slaving over a single scene just to get it right. Writers are moved by their Muse, a slave to their creativity...you get the picture.

Authors are writers who take all of that and shape it into something marketable.

I was talking with an author friend this morning (One with significant talent - multiple contest finals and awards) and was suprised to hear she had never queried an agent.

Not one.

Why not?

Well, her reasons are her own but most of it stems from fear of taking that next step. It's nerve-wracking to put your brainchild out on the open market and see what the rest of the world thinks.

The great news is, you don't have to. You can craft stories and poems and blogs to your heart's content, enter contests, or share them with friends. …
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Apparently, I'm Not The Only One Who Needs Caffeine

It's 10:30 p.m. Monday night. I've just returned from the grocery store (hey, you go when you can). Because I'm facing a long night of writing and I don't feel all too energetic, despite taking a nap earlier, I decided I needed a jolt of caffeine (and does anyone else find it strange that this word thumbs its nose at the "i before e except after c" rule?).

How do you get a jolt of caffeine this late on a Monday in a small town? You go to McDonalds. They have fancy coffee drinks, now, and I decided tonight was the night to try one.

I used the drive through and the resulting conversation went like this: (

ME: *waiting patiently, although no one else is in line and there doesn't seem to be a valid reason for the lack of greeting from the little electronic box*

PERSON MAKING MINIMUM WAGE: (henceforth referred to as PMMW) Wait a minute.

ME: *wonders what might happen to my order if I tell PMMW he should at least say please*

PMMW: Okay. What do you want?

ME: *some c…
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Monday's List

1. Yes, for those of you uber-blog readers, I'm posting Monday's list on a Sunday night.

2. This is because I like to live on the edge.

3. So does Daredevil.

4. Last night he informed me (in his best indoor voice which means only half the restuarant heard him) that he had a rash.

5. When I inquired as to the location, he said the following: "You know how I wanted to wear the Scientist's shorts yesterday but they were too big? (umm, no, I didn't know this) Well, I had to put on 8 pairs of underwear to get them to fit. I've been wearing 8 pairs ever since and it's getting hot."

6. I'm not sure which is more interesting: the fact that his little boy logic led him to layer on the undies in an effort to wear a pair of shorts two sizes too big or the fact that he had no problem announcing it at my place of business.

7. In honor of Father's Day, I decided I would cook my hubby a nice steak dinner.

8. Using his grill.

9. When I announced this plan, every s…
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Swords & Stilettos!!

Today, being Friday the 13th (although I don't know what that has to do with the price of eggs...but still, there you have it) and being Blog Like It's The End Of The World Day (which also was a freakin' coincidence but whatever), is the day Swords & Stilettos go live!

What is Swords & Stilettos, you ask?

It's a website devoted to creative writing, entertainment, getting published, and some all-around wierdness put together and maintained by my critique partner and fellow writer K.B. Wagers (our wandereringray) and yours truly.

What can you expect to find on Swords & Stilettos?



Sharp objects and really cool shoes.

Oh, and interactive creative writing activites, lessons in craft, entertainment, and did I mention wierdness? There will be some of that. =)

At the moment, we'll be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We want this to be an interactive playground for writers in every stage of their career (or for those who want to dabble in some creativity…
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Okaaaaay

I just posted my usual Friday's Week In Review and for reasons known only to my computer and perhaps some techno-villain lurking on blogger, snorting with glee as he messes with innocent writers like myself, the post showed up below the Black Gallows Moan poem that was already there.

So, whatever.

Scroll down past the older post to find the newer post. Makes perfect sense.
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Black Gallows Moan

As snow does to a fire through splendid cities white Ophelia floats;
Her sweet madness the devil's paladins;
Like dragonflies threading the bark of the boughs.

On the blue summer evenings the shivering willows
Would dust with fine gold, the flowers that you picked.
In a slumbering alder hemmed in by chimaeras
From violet forests where the stars are sleeping.

The black gallows moan; i shall let the wind
Embroidered with black moss weep on her shoulder
Of an eternal voice and endless.

The rivers let me sail; i have seen maelstroms eternal
Devouring the green azures where gleams the daylight.
Backwards into sleep, i hung there


Poem created using this site.
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Week In Review

1. I can sum up my activities this week in one pithy word: Writing.

2. I've discovered, as I continue to throw plot twists into SHADOWING FATE, that I can write faster than I ever thought I could.

3. I am incredibly grateful to my hubby for being so supportive of his wife's crazy hours so I can finish this book before we leave for vacation!

4. A few days ago I took the kids to our neighborhood pool and there was a small group of teenage girls sitting with their feet in the water.

5. One of the girls was singing. Loudly. Apparently under the midguided impression that A) she was on key and B) the rest of her neighbors (most specifically a teenage boy) wanted to be serenaded by her.

6. Daredevil, who as you know has NO FILTER between what he thinks and what he says, swam by her, stopped, threw his hands in the air and said in his very best outdoor voice, "If you had a heart, you would stop singing!"

7. She stopped.

8. Starshine ate an ice cream cone tonight and managed to co…
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You WILL Do My Bidding

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Flattery Will Get You An Autographed Copy...

I've read all kinds of posts from writers about why they write and what keeps them writing. There really isn't a concensus. Some write because they love it. Some feel compelled to tell their stories. Some chose it as a career and there they stay.

For some, the reward of finishing is reward enough. For others, the journey is what it's all about. Some want to be a best-seller.

I am not ashamed to say that for me, it's the reaction of my readers I want. I write because writing has always been the best mode of expression for me and because my wild imagination runs toward storytelling. (And NOT toward artsy scrapbooking so please don't invite me to those parties. I barely know which end of a glue stick to use and I'll probably just sit on the scissors and give everyone waaaay too much to talk about.)

Finishing isn't enough for me. That's like breaking a speed record with no audience, for me. What I really want is for people to read my books and tell me th…
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Staying True to your Voice – Writing in Multiple Genres

Guest Blogger: K.B. Wagers (our own wandereringray!)

My bookshelves look like a library threw up on them. You can find anything from a history of Rome, to Shakespeare's plays, Russian literature (sometimes in the original Russian), erotica, urban fantasy, science fiction ... you get the idea.

My insanely varied tastes have had a major impact on my writing style. To date I have finished three science fictions novels, a dark erotica novel, one fantasy, and one urban-fantasy. Waiting in the wings of my brain are a young adult novel and several other crazy ideas.

What I do isn't very common (and we'll have to wait to see if it works *grins*). A lot of people will tell you to find a genre you're good at and stick with it. I don't disagree with this advice and part of the reason is a lot of new writers are still feeling their way around the mechanics of writing. You're trying out different voices, etc. to see what works for you. This is a good thing and you shouldn'…
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Step Away From The Paw-Print Bottoms!

I went to the bank a few months ago and stood in line behind a woman who was a low income couch potato whose social life revolved around her fifty cats.

How do I know that?

I don't.

What I do know is that the woman in front of me was overweight, her hair was yanked up in a sloppy ponytail, her accent was what most southerners instantly recognize as "redneck", and she wore cheap gray sweat pants with GIANT cat paw prints embroidered aross her generous backside.

Now, it's very likely that this is a warm and wonderful woman who was simply having one of those days. Maybe she has six children, another two she's taken in from a sick relative, and she's lucky to have made it out the door. Maybe the only clean garment she had at the time was the awful pair of kitty-paw-print sweats her great Aunt Mildred gave her for Arbor Day. Probably she was on the way to serve soup to the homeless.

Most people would never get past her initial appearance to figure that out because fir…
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Uh...Wait...What?

Tonight I went grocery shopping and stood in front of the cookie display in the bakery section for several minutes, staring at the package of cookies in front of me, trying to figure out why anyone would make Chocolate Liver cookies.

I mean, I don't eat chocolate so I know I'm not an expert on what chocolate can and cannot do but even I know that the magical properties of chocolate are not enough to redeem an organ whose sole function is to process waste into poop.

I thought it must be someone's idea of a sick joke but I had to admit, the cookies were a rich, dark brown so...

Then I thought it might be the latest fad diet. Get your protein and your sugar fix in one low-fat, disgusting little package!

I was all set to grab a package, march over to the baker counter, and get to the bottom of it when some latent anti-idiocy gene suddenly flared to life and I decided to take another look.

I leaned closer, blinked my bleary eyes, and realized I'd missed something in my initial…
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Monday's List

1. Last night, on my way to bed at *#@^ in the morning (yes, another laaaate night writing), I stepped on a pile of clothes pins left beside my bed.

2. See? They're trying to kill me.

3. This morning, Starshine ran into my room, locked eyes on the pile of clothes pins and said, "Hey Mom! Did you see my swords?"

4. Why yes. Yes I did.

5. I'm now in the market for a pair of steel-toed slippers to use for the dangerous pathway between my bathroom door and my side of the bed.

6. My hubby is taking the kids to see Kung Fu Panda today.

7. Fortunately, this means they will have a fun afternoon and I will have some quiet for writing.

8. Unfortunately, they started "practicing" kung fu on each other the minute they heard they were going and I've now exchanged my nurse/referee cap for the hat of Instant Executioner for the next boy who decides to chop his brother upside the head.

9. Two nights ago at work, Paul and another friend of ours (who shall remain nameless unles…
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It's Official...

My children are trying to kill me.

When I sat on the miniature torture device that looks like a toy metal airplane but feels like a colonoscopy, I chalked it up to childish forgetfulness. I did pause to wonder why a child of mine would be playing airplane in my bed, but why do my children do anything?

You see my point.

When I stepped on a glossy I Spy book discarded near my bed and wrenched my back as I slid precariously across the floor and launched myself onto my mattress, I congratulated myself on having a soft surface to land on and made a mental note to ban all books from my bedroom.

But last night...last night the true agenda of my spawn became frighteningly clear.

As you know, I hauled myself upstairs at an insanely late hour. My hubby, who does not hear voices in his head and therefore feels no compulsion to stay awake for hours turning those voices into a literary masterpiece, was already asleep. I, being a respectful wife and not wishing for a repeat of the Earthquake Incident …
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Reasons Why I Am Not Asleep

1. I worked tonight and my feet hurt.

2. I fear this is not because I walked too much but because I am no longer in my twenties.

3. I am writing another scene for SHADOWING FATE and even though my eyes are crossing, I'm excited about seeing the end of the novel and I hate to stop writing for something as mundane and over-rated as sleep.

4. Wait til you meet Alexa's Alpha male...

5. A stranger told me tonight that she reads my blog and loves it and so I feel inspired to post something vaguely entertaining so as to prove that I deserve the compliment.

6. Though why anyone would want to know why I'm still up at 12:43 a.m. is beyond me.

7. Three of the last four nights have been 3 am bedtimes.

8. Which means that I no longer make much sense when I talk and I don't remember things 1.7 seconds after they are told to me and I cannot be trusted to accurately judge the distance between my mouth and my fork.

9. Really, the main reason I'm still up is that I'm downstairs and my b…
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Week In Review

1. Last night we watched The Curse Of The Black Pearl as a family.

2. Told you I needed my Jack Sparrow fix.

3. As I'm posting this, my kids and I are watching Dead Man's Chest. =)

4. I've been up laaaaate every night this week finishing SHADOWING FATE.

5. It's just the right mix of suspense, humor, and "oh crap".

6. A few days ago, apropos of nothing, Daredevil looked at my hubby and said, "You are just creeping me out on so many levels!"

7. Lol

8. Two nights ago, Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys came in to Cracker Barrel to eat with a couple of his friends.

9. Because I do not know what any of the Backstreet Boys look like and care even less, I didn't recognize him.

10. Apparently not enough other people recognized him either (we currently had a dining room mostly full of older couples and rednecks) so he started singing - loudly - at his table.

11. I was frankly surprised both he and his ego could fit in the same chair.

12. I will admit to being sor…
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Keep Writing!

Some days, I stare at my work in progress (WIP) and think one of the following:

*I don't know what happens next.

*I can't finish this, it's too big for me.

*I know I've got something screwy with the plot/conflict/setting/characters, but what?

*My WIP is a POS.

*I have no idea how to do this!

I think all writers have those days. Writing is such a solitary endeavor. No matter how many critique partners we have to share our load or how many supportive readers we have who love our stuff, the reality is that if we don't find the words, the story will never be finished.

How do we power past the doubts, the paralyzing realization that we've just written ourselves into a corner, or the blow of another "this project just isn't right for us" letter? How do we refocus when the ideas run dry, the words sound cliche, and the characters all start to sound like cardboard cutouts of themselves?

Here's what works for me:

1. Keep writing. Nothing fuels doubts more tha…
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Signs, Signs, Everywhere A Sign...

Two nights ago, I learned two very valuable lessons:

1. Just because the Cracker Barrel that I work for has the men's restroom on the left and the women's on the right in the little restroom hallway, does not mean every Cracker Barrel employs this same policy.

and

2. A grown man caught in the act of readjusting his goods by a woman barreling into the wrong bathroom will shriek like a little girl.

*sigh*

Lesson learned. Either I read signs instead of assuming I understand the bathroom arrangement or I walk around with my ipod blasting in my ears...
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What Theater Taught Me About Dialogue

Guest Blogger: Amy Atwell

I'm so pleased C.J. invited me to discuss dialogue today. Dialogue is possibly the most valued tool in your writer's kit. Some writers are intimidated by dialogue—how can they possibly get the people inside their heads to have voices of their own and say things that are interesting, while they convey important information and move the story forward?

I've had dialogue in my manuscripts described as "crisp" and that it "zings." But one contest judge summed it all up: "I could hear the twangs and sounds of the secondary characters without being overwhelmed, while providing everyone with their own voice." Jackpot—dialogue that reveals character but doesn't call overt attention to itself.

Dialogue doesn't scare me. I revel in it. It's the natural result of working fifteen years in educational and professional theater. I've analyzed scripts and helped bring them to the stage as an actor, stage manager…
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Contest for Unpublished Authors!

Have your contest entry critiqued by published authors and Golden Heart finalists!



Presenting The Golden Network’s

2008 Golden Pen Contest

for unpublished writers



FINAL ROUND JUDGES:

Short Contemporary: Susan Litman, Harlequin

Single Title: Tara Parsons, HQN

Romantic Suspense: Adam Wilson, Mira

Historical: Allison Brandau, Berkley

Paranormal: Chris Keeslar, Dorchester

Inspirational: Melissa Endlich, Steeple Hill

Mainstream with Romantic Elements: Kerry Donovan, NAL

Young Adult: Jennifer Heddle, Simon & Schuster



AWARDS:

1st place in each category: Engraved gold pen; a certificate and a check for $30.

2nd place in each category: Certificate and a check for $20.

3rd place in each category: Certificate.

Final placements will be announced in the RWR.



Entry deadline is September 1, 2008. For more information, entry form and scoresheets, please visit this site.
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Transitions

A blog reader asked about using smooth transitions in her writing so I decided to tackle that topic for today's Writing Process post. Smooth transitions are essential to excellent writing - they help maintain your novel's pace, change POV, and ground your reader in what came before.

They are also tricky little devils.

I've used transitions differently in my two novels. For DYING TO REMEMBER, I have two or three smaller scenes per chapter, each scene told from a different POV. Instead of transitioning with words from one POV to the next, I simply hit return, used *** centered on the next line to indicate a larger space needed due to scene change, and then started the next scene. I loved using this method because it makes it easy to keep a fast pace (give just enough info to get the reader on the edge of her seat and then switch to someone else) and I didn't have to mess with pesky sentences that restated anything that came before.

For SHADOWING FATE, that method didn'…
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Monday's List

1. I stayed up until 3 am last night (this morning?) working on SHADOWING FATE.

2. I had plenty of help from Seattle's Best to accomplish this.

3. I am thinking of entering SF in a contest (appropriately labeled the Stilletto!) on this site.

4. I'm just not sure SF is a strong enough "chick lit" voice to really count for the Paranormal Chick Lit category - feel free to weigh in with your opinion!

5. Apparently the youngest Hanson member is now a father - a fact that makes me feel old.

6. I saw an article this weekend where a government rep whose name escapes me was pontificating (is there any word more perfect for a politician?) about gas prices and explaining to us that gas prices were simply a result of supply and demand and nothing could be done about it at the moment.

7. Hmmm...

8. So the government couldn't release some of the hundreds of thousands of reserve barrels they have in case of an emergency?

9. And the astronomical taxes levied by our government on each ga…
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Upcoming Project

Never fear, I'm hard at work finishing SHADOWING FATE...however...as most writers will understand, the voice of the character in the series to follow the Fates is growing increasingly loud in her demand to be heard.

I took five minutes today to write a prologue for her first book. Most likely, this will be re-written five times before the book ever comes to light but this is the first draft. Let me know what you think. =D

Prologue

If I were you, I wouldn’t read this.

Not because if you keep reading, something dire and most likely fatal will happen to you, although I never discount such possibilities. Not because the story I’m about to tell isn’t interesting, for if you like magic, misdeeds, or motorcycles – and who doesn’t? – you’ll be suitably entertained.

No. If I were you, I wouldn’t read this because if you aren’t a believer in Evil, you’ll become one.

I did.

Once you become a believer, nothing you will ever hear, see, or do will change your mind. You’ll listen for voices no one el…
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