When writing fiction, I find timelines to be tricky, slippery little devils. My current work-in-progress (WIP) is a holiday novel and the opening scene takes place the Monday after Thanksgiving (US). So, I am motoring along, seventy thousand words in and so much has happened that I have no idea what the date is in […]
writing related books
Why We Write — Book Review
Why We Write is a collection of essays from 20 authors*, edited by Meredith Maran. The essays are written by authors who “have written books that sell in the kinds of numbers that make publishers send them flowers and leather-bound first editions, and most important, new book contracts.” Maran calls them the successful ones, the ones […]
Writing Great Books for Young Adults — Book Review
Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks has the rather ambitious subtitle “Everything You Need to Know, from Crafting the Idea to Getting Published”. For the most part, the book lives up to its promise. Regina Brooks covers all the essentials of writing great books for young adults, such as plot, character, setting […]
Still Writing — Book Review
Dani Shapiro’s Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life is a gentle companion, filled with a myriad of antidotes that helps the writer on their own personal journey. The book is not a how-to guide in the least. It does not go over grammar, writing a sentence, or the like. It does, however, […]
Time Management Books for Writers
As the year end approaches, the conversation inevitably turns to what we have accomplished in 2013 and our plans and resolutions for 2014. Very few of us have the luxury of spending as much time as we would like focused on our writing, and most of us are greedy for any time management tips and […]