Monthly Archives: April 2020

Writing-Tip Wednesday: When is a Manuscript Done?

There comes in the revision process a point of diminishing returns. And upon reaching that point, we need to say, “The novel is good enough, as good as I can make it with the feedback and skills and tools at … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: 50,000

It is more people than can fit into the stands of Fenway Park. Or Wrigley Field. It is actually higher than the capacity seating of 28 of Major League Baseball’s 30 stadiums (the exceptions: Yankee Stadium and Dodger Stadium) It … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: Fog on Jackson Lake

Another week gone, another Photo Friday post. How is it possible, when we’re basically all sitting at home doing next to nothing, for time to fly by so quickly? March dragged. April has sped by. At least for me. Anyway, … Continue reading

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Making the Most of Our Present Situation

My Writing-Tip Wednesday post for last week was a downer (and also had a rather annoying typo near the end, for which I apologize). No way around it: The publishing business is in a bad place right now, and if … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: Covid-19 and Hope

Last week, when I wrote my Monday Musings post, I was pretty ticked off at the world. And this week, after watching “protesters” in Michigan, North Carolina, and other states take part in the worst sort of astroturf demonstrations, one … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: White Dogwood

For today’s Photo Friday post, I have a taste of Appalachian spring. Our white dogwoods have been blooming for the past week or so, and most of our trees are starting to leaf out. Nancy’s garden looks wonderful. I captured … Continue reading

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: The Scary New Realities of Publishing

Really, though, this is about more than the immediate economic and health crises. Publishing has been in trouble for some time now – falling profits, fewer opportunities for writers and their books, less support for those writers who do land … Continue reading

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Monday Musings: Flattening the Curve, Projection “Hoaxes,” and Righteous Anger

I’m angry today. The pandemic – the isolation, the uncertainty, the steady stream of tragic news, the underlying fear – elicits different emotions at different times, running the gamut from those I’d expect (sadness, fear, numbness) to those I might … Continue reading

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Photo Friday: Spring Hues from the Bluff

Another week of distancing, another week of hikes around our beautiful little town. Spring is in the air, despite the light freeze we had just last night. Early in the week, I hiked out to one of my favorite view … Continue reading

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Writing-Tip Wednesday: Dialogue, part II — Attribution

Last week’s Writing-Tip Wednesday post began a two part series on dialogue with some advice on the writing of the actual “spoken” words we put in the mouths of our characters. Today, I follow that up with a discussion of … Continue reading

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