Well, I’m back from a week of vacation and I’m feeling rested, refreshed, and about 10 pounds heavier. On almost every front it was a success. Where I feel I’ve fallen down is on the planned writing I was going to do. I was hoping to have another 15K words written on my current story. Unfortunately, that number is closer to 3,500 words, which is respectable, but nowhere near what I wanted. Still, I’m going to cut myself a little slack and keep pushing forward. After all, beating myself up won’t do me any good. I’ve read the first four chapters to my family and they all seem to like it (although their opinions might be a tad biased). My […]
Read moreAuthor: Michell
Bad Things Don’t Always Happen to Bad People
We all love those movies where the bad guy gets his. I’ve actually stood up and cheered when it happens. I’ve seen others do it too, so I don’t feel like my reaction is strange. The same holds true in books although I’m usually a little more restrained. But what about when a good character gets the short end of the stick? I remember watching “Bridge to Terabithia” last year on a flight from Calgary to Toronto (Spoiler alert!). The early parts of the movie involve Josh and Leslie becoming friends and inventing Terabithia where they can be the heros. Then, Leslie unexpectedly dies. I remember the shock and the tears running down my cheeks as I continued to watch […]
Read moreDon’t Force Your Muse
We all have preconceived notions about what we want to write. Usually it closely echos what we read. For myself, I’ve always read Science Fiction and Fantasy so that is what I try to write. But is that what I should be writing? Two years ago I wrote a story aimed at Juvenile Readers and I had a real blast doing it. I truly enjoyed watching the characters develop right in front of my eyes. There were scenes where I actually teared up and others where I laughed out loud. I suppose it was a fantasy of sorts, but it wasn’t the kind of fantasy that I read now. Was I straying from what I SHOULD be writing? Not at […]
Read moreFirst Readers and New Stories
I’ve been looking for First Readers for a while for my adult work with little success but I really haven’t bothered with my young fiction. I think part of the reason for that is I’ve been focusing too much on adult fiction. I’m not sure why that is; I enjoy writing stories for a younger audience so why don’t I do more of it? That’s about to change. I had a couple of story ideas that really reached out and grabbed me by the collar. Both ideas were for younger readers, one for age 9 – 12 and the other for young adults. As soon as they hit me I jotted them down as I usually do and got on […]
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