Nuts & Bolts: Part 2 – A Writer's Education
(As you read this, remember it was written for and presented at a Romance Writers of America conference. Â It’s absolutely valid for any writer, but you may have to translate […]
Craft
The the impotence of proofreading
I have copy edits on IMMORTAL OUTLAW coming the first week in January. Those are the ones where you and the copy editor (not your “editor” at most houses, but […]
Free at last
Over at Murderati, JT Ellison continues her series, A Virtual Montparnasse, with a long, thoughtful post on the pleasures and perils of the Internet for writers—a common topic on writers’ […]
Jouissance
Sometimes, people say things in a way that make me laugh or cry. Things that make my heart sing. Things that I would like to have said myself, or that […]
Conference Alzheimer's
So, Wednesday, I had a dinner meeting with a local group of writers, and they asked those of us who had gone to RWA to give a brief rundown of […]
Sticky pixels and electronic cork
I’ve been experimenting with doing more thorough pre-planning/outlining/storyboarding. Â I’ve always written a pretty thorough synopsis and had a clear idea of the overall story, but there came a point in […]
On love and latex
On one of the reader-oriented email lists I’m on, the group moderator (who is brilliant at starting up good discussions) recently asked what everyone thought about condoms in romance novels. […]
The eyes have it
I don’t know how it came up today, but I was thinking about how eyes get described in romance novels. Â They’re seldom plain blue or grey. Â They’re azure, or cornflower […]
What's his name, and what does he look like?
Those may not be the first two question I ask myself when I start writing, but they’re right up there. I HAVE to know his name and appearance — hero […]
Sloppy, sloppy
I’ve noticed my speech patterns getting lazy–full of stuff, sort of, like, um, this. I don’t want my writing to get that way, so I’m working on it, and I’ve […]