At the end of each month, I compose brief reviews of the books I completed in the prior 30 days or so. These are a month late – my apologies.
YOUR FIRST NOVEL:
An Author-Agent Team Share the Keys to Achieving Your Dream
By Ann Rittenberg + Laura Whitcomb
Part One: 2.5 [...]
This blog has been quiet for the past few weeks, but it’s for good reason. I’ve been writing the novel. It’s slow going for me at this point. I’ve drafted a prologue and two chapters, about 6,500 words altogether. But things are moving, and I’m excited.
For the most part, I have maintained my regimen [...]
Below is the newest update to the synopsis for the novel. I feel like, now that I’ve loosely plotted the story and have begun writing, this summary is starting to be more reflective of the story (as opposed to speculative about what the story could be, as the other two synopses I’ve written have been). [...]
San Diego CityBeat is conducting its annual “Fiction 101 Super-Short Story Contest.” The concept is to compose original works of fiction using 101 words or less. The catch is that you can only submit two pieces. I’ve written five. Help me decide which two I should submit. Leave a comment [...]
Robert Olen Butler details his use of note cards in effectively plotting his own stories in his book “From Where You Dream,” which I used as a template for this, my first novel. This past week, I’ve been diligent about waking at 4:45 am daily and spending 2 hours before [...]
At the end of each month, I compose brief reviews of the books I completed in the prior 30 days or so.
THE SURRENDERED
By Chang-rae Lee
3.5 out of 5 stars
How much human suffering can one guy pack into a 500-page novel? Chang-rae Lee’s The Surrendered is the definitive answer to [...]
When I decided to grow up and become a writer this past May, little indicator lights started burning in my brain every time I rolled into work at 7:30 in the morning and didn’t leave until the same time that evening. A new bulb would begin buzzing when my weekend was consumed with a [...]
A dull current begins to reverberate in my fingertips. I am alone, and this is why I can imagine the humming that gets louder and moves quickly – too fast for me to measure – inward, compressing my core and wrapping like cloth around my throat until it is an outright uprising. My pores moisten [...]
Oftentimes a well-told story can ask of it’s reader (or viewer) not more than 5 minutes of her time, yet have the same emotional wallop as a really good (and days-long venture through a) novel. Think about the opening scenes of Disney/Pixar’s “Up,” which takes you through an entire life’s coming of age and romance [...]
My protagonist’s name, Nicholas Naylor, always felt too familiar. I did a Google search, of course, when I first thought of it, and besides a smattering of folks in the entertainment industry (including a sprightly gospel music prodigy who is out there savin’ souls), I couldn’t locate any characters, real or [...]
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