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Showing posts from December, 2015

What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...

How can I pray for you during this Christmas season?

Photo credit: lalalime.blogspot.com I asked God to make me a prayer warrior, and I realized I was missing out on the chance to pray for all of you, my online friends! So how can I pray for you, especially during this busy, stressful, lonely, joyful, heartwarming Christmas season? Prayer requests can sometimes be private things, so to keep your privacy, I’ve made a form you can fill out that will keep your requests just between you and me. Also please be sure to fill out the form again to update me if you sent me a prayer request in the past. I’d love to hear how you’re doing. Loading...

Christmas in the Regency

I was over at ChristiansRead blog talking a bit about Christmas in the Regency time period but also a personal challenge I have for myself for this Christmas season. Regency Christmases are not well documented, since it was not as huge a celebration as it would be in the later 1800s during Queen Victoria’s reign, but the things I have been able to dig up all have a common theme. Christmas is all about large gatherings, usually with family, often including friends and neighbors. Click here to read more I forgot to mention it in the blog post, but I have a nice Snapdragon scene in The Spinster's Christmas . :) It's probably what sparked my slightly unhinged interested in the game.

Christmas Traditions

I’m over at the Clean Romance Reads Cafe blog today talking about some of my Christmas traditions, which admittedly aren’t “traditional” but are fun. :) What are some of your Christmas traditions? I was thinking today about Christmas traditions. I had always thought of “Christmas traditions” as things like antique tree ornaments, or certain family games, or special Christmas dinner plates—stuff that’s been passed down for generations. … But I realized that “Christmas traditions” aren’t necessarily things that we own, or things that you’d usually think of as a “tradition.” Click here to read more.

Deep Point of View worksheet now available

I've just released my Story Sensei Deep Point of View worksheet on ebook! $2.99 on Kindle , iBooks , Nook , Kobo , Smashwords . As a writer, you can provide a richer emotional experience for your reader by utilizing a deeper point of view. Deep point of view draws the reader into the characters’ heads and can elicit a stronger emotional reader response to the characters’ struggles, decisions, and reactions to external conflict. Readers who have read a passage in deep point of view often talk about how the characters seemed more vivid, how the story and prose riveted them to the page. It is very easy for a writer to learn ways to draw the reader into the mind, body, and soul of your characters through deep point of view techniques. By the end of the worksheet you’ll have: 1) A basic understanding of different points of view so you can decide if deep or shallow point of view is best for your story 2) Ways to strengthen the emotional writing and draw the reader deeper ...