Posts Tagged ‘work-in-progress’
Hearing Voices: Point of View in Fiction Writing
The Midwife’s Confession is written from five different points of view, and I’m here to tell you, that was a challenge! Every one of my twenty novels has had multiple points of view, but never before have I had to balance five female voices in one story. Want to know the hardest part about multiple…
Read MoreThe Agony and Ecstacy of Synopsis Writing
Remember my new idea? The one that came to me so perfectly formed that I knew the book would write itself? Well, it may be true that the book will write itself, but the synopsis is another matter altogether. A good synopsis is incredibly important. Even if you’ve already written your book, you will still…
Read MoreCan You Help Me Come up with a Prize Idea?
First, I may be slightly absent this week, as far as a new blog post goes, though I’ll check your comments at least once a day, I promise. My work-in-progress (formerly known as The Waif–still waiting to hear which title the publishers like) is due a week from today and that means I’ll be tied…
Read MoreRules for Becoming a Full-Time Writer
For my blog post today, I’m stealing something Kasey Michaels wrote on the Novelists, Inc authors’ loop–with her permission of course. This was in response to a writer who is about to quit her day job to write full time. So much of what Kasey says resonates with me. Some of it makes me nod…
Read MoreMy Readers are Ageless!
I’m always asked the question “What age group reads your books?”, and I always respond that I seem to have readers of all ages. Today, I present my proof! I recently heard from Sierra Dobbie, a young lady who lives in Ontario, Canada. She’d reviewed Before the Storm on her blog The Reading Chic and…
Read MoreBook Launch!
I had a blast last night at the official book launch for The Lies We Told at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh. Here are some pix. 1. Chatting about the book. 2. Yum! 3. my writing buds, Sarah Shaber, Brenda Witchger, Margaret Maron, Alexandra Sokoloff, and Quail Ridge Books owner, Nancy Olson, who brought us…
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 MoreMy Characters are Party Animals!
Wow, was I young. I was looking through the scrapbook I kept during the early years of my career and found this old article from a Richmond, Virginia newspaper. For the first several years of my writing career, I maintained my private practice as a clinical social worker. It was so hard to make the choice…
Read MoreRevising on the Porch
A few readers have asked me what’s happening with my work-in-progress, The Lies We Told, due to be published next June, so I’m here with an update. I’ve shared with you the synopsis process, the outline process, the writing process, the revising process and the torturous rush-to-deadline process. That was followed by two weeks of…
Read MoreOne Paragraph, Three Drafts
I write many, many drafts as I work on a book. Recently, someone on Facebook asked writers to share different drafts of a single paragraph. I thought this would be an interesting exercise for me to share with you, my blog readers. I want to give credit to the Facebooker who suggested this, but I don’t…
Read More