Blog
Editing a novel on the go: First round of revisions takes place riverside
“Wocketa, wocketa, wocketa, wocketa …” Step into my office. Pardon the washing machine racket. Once you get used to it, it’s kind of a cozy sound. The coin-op dryers keep the place toasty; it gets cold this time of year in LA (Lower Alabama), where I have traveled to...
“By Zombies” and other novel writing highlights: Celebrating a manuscript milestone
Tap tap tap. Space. Tap tap tap. “The End.” I type the phrase of a dream. My heart is pounding. I’m grinning. The manuscript for my first novel, "More Than You Think You Know," is finished, totaling 84,819 words complete. No matter what else happens, it's done. As I...
An interview with Corey LaBissoniere, young YFA novelist shopping for (and landing) a publisher
“Boom!” “Whee!” “Poof!” Corey LaBissoniere’s first novel resounds with mayhem, mirth and magic. He’s currently shopping for a publisher, but the fledgling author isn’t letting the arduous process wear him down. He feels like he’s already crossed the finishing line...
Appetite for action? The wise writer turns to her cookbooks
Bon appetit! As the harvest peaks, riffling through cookbooks and recipe files is a daily duty. What to do with all those tomatoes?Truth be told, I’m apt to do my recipe scanning on the computer. Earlier this summer I donated a sack of cookbooks to Goodwill. “Quick...
When a writer turns to alcohol: Boozing it up with the ‘Blackdog’ crew
Cheers! All three of the runaway menopausal women in my novel are drinkers. Two of them have, or have had, legal and health issues linked to alcohol. They all experience heavier night sweats when they drink. But hot flashes don't stop them from self-medicating for a...
Error-free copy: Too much to ask? A writer’s lament from Typo Hell
Phooey! Why didn’t I catch that egregious error until it was in print? As my eyes run over the page that I cannot change, the headlines, sentences and paragraphs that I have given up to the Print Publishing Gods knowing that I gave my best, the mistake jumps out at...
Dying magazines put the ‘free’ in freelance
Bang! The door slammed shut at Latitudes & Attitudes Magazine on June 20, with staffers reportedly locked out of the Redondo Beach, California offices, unable to retrieve their personal belongings. In a June 21st e-mail, former Publisher Bob Bitchin writes: “As...
Hey would-be author: What, exactly, are you saving those words for?
Woof! The watchdog surveys her territory, ears pricked for the slightest sound, senses on alert. She doesn’t miss a thing. She rests and waits, oblivious to the past, completely in the moment. Soon enough there will be something to bark about: a bird, another dog, a...
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