-
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…
-
Write Another Book
Waiting is the hardest part of the writing process. When all the revisions are complete and I’m super-happy with the story I have written, I’m sure a publisher is dying to sink their hooks into my brilliance. My agent has put together a comprehensive submissions list and excitement tingles along my spine all the way to my toes when I get the e-mail notifying me that my manuscript has been sent out into the world to find a home. And then, comes the waiting. And…more waiting. At first, you’re counting the days. You think, okay, the editors need time to read the ms. Maybe they need to take it to…
-
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…
-
More Writing Prompts – the “book of regrets”
In Season three of The Crown, Queen Elizabeth made a decision not to go to a disaster site that involved the loss of the lives of many school children, when it first happened. Later, we learn, she always regretted not going earlier. She made several visits in the years that followed, trying, no doubt to make up for what she viewed as her initial error in judgement. We all make decisions we wish we could change. Why not rewrite history and make that decision you always wished you had made. Choose a memory in which you were torn between two choices. Were there two different and super important events at…
-
Write Your World
“If you feel like you don’t fit into the world you inherited it is because you were born to help create a new one.” Ross Caligiuri What would your favourite world look like? By favourite, I mean a world that is custom designed for you. Who, besides you, inhabits this ideal world? Describe what you see from your window. Writing Prompt: Write in your “Ideal World” journal every day for a week. How is the ideal world holding up? Do you have a lot of friends? What is your favourite activity? Do you miss your other world? After writing for seven days. Go back to Day 1 and see if…