How to Handle a Harsh Critique: Writer’s Point-of-View
Imagine someone telling you that your child needs help – he’s lazy, incoherent, and not many people are going to like him. Ouch. Yet writers hear that all the time about their babies (their manuscripts). Not only that, writers pay people to criticize their children! That’s right – when you [...]
The Importance of a Series Style Sheet (or Tripped Up by Snickerdoodles) by Johnnie Alexander
(Read through to the end for a special surprise!) --- Say “snickerdoodles,” and I’m transported to a long ago summer. My first (or perhaps it was my second) 4-H project booklet contained recipes for me to follow. One recipe quickly became a family favorite: snickerdoodles. Dough that had to be refrigerated [...]
Book Review: Forever Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon
With the witch of Doon on the throne, Jamie believed dead, and Duncan and Mackenna trapped in Alloway, Veronica has no choice but to put her grief aside and prepare her remaining followers for the impending battle against the false queen and her forces. But while on a covert mission [...]
The Nine Plots: Character vs. the Situation
What would you do? That’s the main question at the heart of every Character vs. the Situation plot line. Whether your character finds himself washed up on an island or trapped in a sinking ship, the situation will forever change his life. There are two kinds of situation you’ll see [...]
Book Review: Catch Me If You Can by Carrie Marston
This novel of friendship, family and change in a modern girl’s world follows 15-year-old Laura Brown, a plain girl with big problems. Laura is an average teenager of a divorced family, she dislikes her dad, detests her stepmom, doesn’t talk to her mom and never sees her sister. Add in [...]