I know I need to get really good at explaining this. Especially when I am in public, carrying or reading one of the Write Great Fiction books I am studying as I revise my manuscript. My hesitation? How much do I actually give away about the plot while explaining it? What would the back cover of my book say? Here is one of the versions I am working on. No Eye Has Seen…
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Researching a Ghost Town
Writing about a ghost town is not easy! When I started research for my novel, I knew I wanted it to take place as close to Penn Valley as possible. I had lived at Oak Tree Farms for about six months when I was in high school. It was here that the beginnings of No Eye Has Seen began to take root. When I discovered the town of French Corral had been a
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Writing This Is Like Giving Birth Without Pain Meds!
I gave birth to my first three children without pain medication. My first labor lasted 27 hours, so by the time I could push, I was utterly exhausted. No matter how prepared I thought I was for the process of labor, there was no way to fully know what I was getting into. However, somehow I remained very calm through the process–I even slept during the majority of transition, sometimes
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Crossing Over: Reflections on Getting to the Place Where I Can Write Fiction Again!
Changes at my day job and a sudden change in character in my husband have left me floating between uncertainty and relief. Is all this happening in order to bring me to a place where I can finally write the stories that have been buried in my heart for so long? With the New Year I realized I have formed some bad habits since our move to California. In my