Posts Tagged ‘women’s fiction’
De-Trite-Us
One of the worst crimes a writer can commit is to be predictable in his or her storyline and characters. This holds true even in genre fiction, where a certain formula is generally followed: In a romance, boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy and girl reunite forever. In a mystery, a crime occurs, there…
Read MoreAll By Myself
People sometimes ask me how I deal with the isolation of writing. I’ve recently been in touch with a former co-worker from my days as a hospital social worker and communicating with her reminds me of what it was like to work with other people. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that! The…
Read MoreA Pledge to Myself
December has been a fascinating month–so fascinating that I’ve gotten almost no writing accomplished. I had some health challenges, followed by fairly minor-ish surgery, followed by some more health stuff, all of which resolved beautifully and I am well, or as well as someone with Rheumatoid Arthritis can be. Then the holiday preparations hit. The…
Read MoreUp, Up and . . . Down.
Over the next few posts, I’m going to share some of the research that went into the writing of my recently resissued novel, Breaking the Silence. I’ll write about the secret CIA Mind Control experiments in which my character, Sarah Tolley, was a participant, and I’ll talk about my personal experience with selective mutism, which is five-year-old Emma’s affliction. …
Read MoreBreaking the Silence is Here!
I’m thrilled that Breaking the Silence has been reissued so that my newer readers get to enjoy this suspenseful story. It should be available today, November 24th, online and in stores, and you can read an exerpt from it here. (If your book store doesn’t have it, remember that they can order it for you…
Read MoreBalderdash!
I drove down the long gravel driveway to the Weymouth mansion Thursday afternoon with a prayer of gratitude on my lips. Coming here is like flipping a switch from the world of laundry and grocery shopping and doctors’ appointments and phone calls to the world of writing and nature and friends. Sarah Shaber was the first…
Read MoreTears and Laughter
I asked my Facebook readers if they like books and movies that make them cry. I found the answers fascinating because there were so many different takes on the subject. Some people feel manipulated by a writer if they’re moved to tears. Others like a little tear-jerkiness as long as they don’t feel manipulated. Still…
Read MoreWith Writer Friends
I just returned from a reunion with my old critique group. We all lived near Mount Vernon–George’s home–when we first got together, so we named ourselves the Mount Vernon Writer’s Group. Our first meeting was a very long time ago. As a matter of fact, it was the day I sent my first full manuscript to my first agent. I was so…
Read MoreCartomancy and Character
I’m not much of a believer in the occult, but I do love Tarot, not in any small part because the 78 cards in a Tarot deck can be so beautiful. There’s something undeniably fascinating in the symbols and images, and it’s easy to get caught up the magic. My first reading was done by a…
Read MoreMy New Author Photo
I couldn’t put it off any longer. It’s been two years (at least) since my last photo shoot, so John and I headed to his studio for an hour of torture. . . er, fun. The new photo will be up on my site in a few weeks and on the cover of my June…
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