I continue to be amazed every spring when new growth appears in the garden. All that was dormant awakens and begins again, stronger and larger in many cases. It’s that…
Nature’s Lessons
Inspiration
Without inspiration, there is no creativity. I have a folder with photos I’ve taken, ones I think might inspire me to paint. This one, I took awhile ago, reminds me…
More thoughts on writing rules
Paula Renaye, author of The Hardlines Self-Help Handbook www.hardlineselfhelp.com had an interesting response to my earlier post on writing rules. As she said I could post her thoughts, here they…
Why Men Fight
In my historical novel, Sunflowers Undedr Fire, I write about the time my grandfather decided to fight for the Tsar’s army in the Great War. My grandfather told my grandmother…
Poetry
I’ve written a lot of poetry, inspired many times by some angst I was going through. I found it cathartic. I got my love of poetry from my father, who…
Universal Themes
In writing my grandmother’s and mother’s memoir, I am struck by the universal themes that are peppering my pages. Love, death and destruction. Woven through all of this is the…
Ramping up the tension
I’m just about finished reading The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. I find it fascinating to see how Stieg Larsson ramps up the tension as he progresses through his…
Exposition
In our writing group last night, we discussed exposition and the need to weave it into the scenes seamlessly. It’s every writer’s challenge. How do you give background information so…
Breaking the rules
Like any other professional, a writer never stops honing his craft. There are so many “dos” and “don’ts” in articles on how to write, that if an author tried to…
Endings
My visit to my mother in the personal care home is ending, but the memories of our visit will carry me until the next time, if there is one. She…