Apr 18
Bet’cha you’re a poet and didn’t even know it. However, ask me if I’m a poet, and my immediate response is no. After all, poetry is sing-songy rhymes sung by first graders. Classic poets are older writers spewing stylized language for pages upon pages. The new wave of poets are hipsters baring their raw, tortured …
Apr 16
I remember being a child and responding to my (now beloved) sister’s taunts with the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words shall never hurt me.” How anyone ever thought that was an effective way for children to deal with ridicule is a mystery to me. Today it’s more commonly understood that …
Apr 14
Last November, one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, Ali Brandon, who writes the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries series, blogged about her characters’ reluctance to use bathrooms. (Check out her blog here.) If you think about it, you don’t read about characters using the facilities. You don’t see this often on TV either. I mean …
Apr 11
A trait is a distinguishing characteristic or quality, especially of one’s personal nature, defined by Dictionary.com. When using traits with a paranormal twist you can go with classic takes, such as mind to mind communication that Bram Stoker uses in Dracula and, one of the most common vampire traits, the elongated fangs. Stoker takes Dracula’s …
Apr 06
“Don’t be afraid to fail, be afraid not to try.” Randy Rubin How many times have you thought about writing a story, poem, essay, or memoir and failed to even try. How many times have you questioned your desire to write and thought, “What’s the use? No one will want to read my work.” Do …