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October Insights
“The best discoveries always happened to the people who weren’t looking for it. Columbus and America. Pinzon, who stumbled on Brazil while looking for the West Indies. Stanley happening on Victoria Falls. And you. Amy Curry, when I was least expecting her.” Roger Sullivan. Morgan Matson – Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour I was very excited to discover that Morgan Matson had a new contemporary novel out. Her stories are always a lot of fun and this one promises more of the same. So far, I am loving it. I’m at the part where the two theatre friends have just left for their night in the big city so I…
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The Summer Shelf: The Start of Me and You
“Ryan Chase was my eighth-grade collage, aspirational and wide-eyed. But Max was the first bite of grilled cheese on a snowy day, the easy fit of my favorite jeans, that one old song that made it onto every playlist. Peanut-butter Girl Scout cookies instead of an ornate cake. Not glamorous or idealized or complicated. Just me.” Emery Lord – The Start of Me and You What do rainy days, smoky days, scorching hot days all have in common? Why, they are all perfect for curling up inside, out of the weather, with a delicious novel. So far this summer, there has been no shortage of reading days! If you read…
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What’s in a Title?
In my work-in-progress, I seem to be hesitant to give my manuscript even a working title. Why is that? I always thought that the title needed to say something significant about he story. The essence of the plot in a few words. Anne of Green Gables, follows the life of the orphan, Anne, from the time she arrived at Green Gables, for example. I picked Winds of L’Acadie, for my first novel because, through the magic of the porcupine quill box Sarah found at her Grandparent’s house, winds transported her to Nova Scotia at the time when the Acadians were about to be deported from their homes. Not the most…
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READ, READ, READ
“Read everything–trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read!” William Faulkner Great advice. There is something said for the process of osmosis. When I find myself in times of trauma or stress, and the words will not come, no matter how hard I try to make them appear, it is reading that saves me. Last fall, putting the keyboard aside, I decided to immerse myself in literature. I read for pleasure. I read books from my shelf that I had not gotten around to yet. I downloaded new novels on my e-reader and…
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READING your way out
Facing the blank page is one thing, but sometimes the complications of life steal your emotional energy. Despite all of the best techniques for getting words on the page, if your emotions are sucked dry, working longer and harder is not the answer. Sometimes your emotions are knotted up in a major life event, and while this may provide material for writing down the road, at the moment you have nothing left to give. In times of deep emotional exhaustion, I pour out my thoughts in a private journal, but I find it impossible to focus on my fiction. Reading, however, is something I can do. At the moment, I…