Posts Tagged ‘Before the Storm’
Structure
Tomorrow I begin the outline for my current, as yet untitled, WIP (Work in Progress). I’m excited and nervous. Excited because I’m embarking on a new story with new characters, and nervous for the same reason. When you have the unknown stretched out in front of you–along with a deadline that’s mere months away (August)–it…
Read MoreSneak Peek!
I know the release of Secrets She Left Behind is still months away (last week of May), but I wanted to give you a sneak peek at the cover. I love it! Love the colors and the evocative mood. Secrets She Left Behind is the sequel to Before the Storm, but will easily stand alone for…
Read MoreCreating a Story, Cont'd: Suspense
After taking a break for the election and to talk about my cute new UK cover, I’m following up on my recent posts about creating a story. You may recall that I hadn’t quite finished the synopsis for my next book while in the Outer Banks. Once I got home, I whipped through to…
Read MoreWho Writes Like Me?
I’ve addressed this topic informally on my blog, but in the last few days, I’ve received four nearly identical emails from new readers, so I think it’s time to address the topic formally. Each reader spoke of discovering me with The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, and each went on to read Before the Storm. A…
Read MoreSex and the Teenaged Reader
It’s time to revisit the topic of sensual scenes in fiction, but not for the usual “one of my readers is offended by graphic sex in my books” reason. A few days ago, I received a sincere and thoughtful email from a woman who recently discovered my books and is really enjoying them. She wishes she could share…
Read MoreTopsail Island, After the Storm
One of my readers, Donna Moffett, just sent me these pictures taken by her husband Dick. They show the northern end of Topsail Island after the last spate of storms. This is the string of houses I wrote about in Before the Storm — fictionalizing them of course. It’s so scary to see how quickly…
Read MoreTwo Tense
Hmmm. . .this happened when I was writing Before the Storm, and it’s happening again. As I wrote Before the Storm, the story unveiled itself to me in present tense. I ended up changing it all to past tense (with the exception of…
Read MoreThe Burial
Well, there’s killing your babies, as I discussed a couple of posts ago. Then there’s burying them, and that’s what I’m doing with my Work-in-Progress. Some of you voted on titles for it (I was, for the time being, calling it The Glimmer Child), and you know how excited I was about it as I…
Read MoreIs Your First your Fave?
I’ve noticed something. When I hear from readers who’ve read many of my books, very often their favorite is the first one they read. It doesn’t matter what the book is. A quick glance at my email in the last few months illustrates this fact. The following books were all claimed as a favorite by…
Read MoreKilling Your Babies
Oh, it hurts. I believe it was Ernest Hemingway who coined the title to this post. He was referring to those wonderful turns of phrase a writer comes up with that, in the final analysis, simply don’t belong in the story and must go. It’s painful to chop a few beautiful lines from what you’ve written,…
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