The hardest revision is the one you don’t think you need. It’s a common pitfall of writers to think that every word they write is pure gold. I admit I used to be that way. In Creative Writing classes I’d even work backwards from my story to fake a rough draft because I was certain that I didn’t need to edit. "Boy, was I wrong." The funny thing is, I was so convinced that the things I wrote wouldn’t – or couldn’t – be changed that I balked [...]
I had not before kept a detailed diary. Looking back at previous journals, one would simply find a note here and there reflecting a doctor’s appointment, a luncheon date, an audition, a listing appointment, a reminder to call my mother. My realization that I was into something profoundly foreign, intriguing, and sexually awakening, I began documenting each and every phone call, text message, and encounter with my own personal Aladdin. I had truly never been in love before. Four happy marriages and four easily forgotten divorces, in my [...]
Am I "normal," whatever that is? Why doesn’t anyone seem to care about me? Can’t they ask about something other than my in-law? Those of us “stuck” with being the son or daughter-in-law of a dementia patient often ask these questions of ourselves and the world around us. What are we to do? It seems all of the world’s information is written for the biological sons and daughters, other caregivers, and grandchildren of the patients. This very feeling of being left out of the loop once my mother-in-law [...]
I was suffering with bad depression, too scared to leave the house alone; I felt my life was worthless, until one day a friend suggested I get a dog. I know, what has this got to do with writing a book? In my case everything. I adopted a husky/malamute cross from my local animal shelter. She was a year and a half old. Her name is Kia. As you can imagine a young pup like Kia would need plenty of exercise, so out we would go, she is [...]
Writing for me is opening my heart in many ways. The pen and paper was a place I could share my most intimate feelings. I like many other writers feared sharing my works with others. Feelings of rejection or that people would not like my words. When my Mother passed away in 2010 decided to share my art and found myself on the road to self publishing my first book. It was a journey of love for me like the arrival of a new baby. Each step working with a publisher [...]
I made the choice to self-publish because I found it difficult to get the attention of a literary agent or publishing company. I sent query letter after query letter but found I was ignored. This dampened my spirits a little as I felt I had something to share with the rest of the world. I wanted to share the worlds within my minds with fellow kindred spirits. I read several articles on self-publishing and felt this would be the best path to take as I got my work [...]
Actually, this book wasn't the idea for my first book. Back in the 1980s, I was sitting with a friend and discussing the situation in the Middle East with Tom Sutherland and Terry Waite. One of the things we discussed was: What would s*omething like that be for a woman? From that discussion Cameron Andrews was born. She'd be a CIA agent who got caught up in a political situation and would spend several years in captivity in a foreign country. As I started to write, I kept [...]
I recently finished watching "Breaking Bad." (Don't worry, I'm not going to give anything away.) I, the writer, the creative one, wept during the final scene. My husband, not so creative, did not. I have a theory about that. For those of you not familiar with this TV show, Walter White is a high school chemistry teacher who, on his 50th birthday is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. His wife is about to have their second child and their high school aged son has special needs, so money [...]
I subsidy published my novel, "Tennessee Transplantation", in December 2012, that was written years prior. After writing the novel, I submitted it to two agents to obtain marketing assistance. Both liked my writing and characters, however they wanted me to move the characters to an urban setting and add sex and violence to the story. It wouldn't have even resembled my theme, if I had bowed to their change. The few family and friends that I allowed to read it , enjoyed it. My sister commented she didn't [...]
Hey readers! Let me introduce myself, my name is Donisha but I write under the pseudonym Queen G. I am 33 years old with two teenagers. I have enjoyed writing since I was 6 years old. My parents tell me that it came from my joy of talking and being nosy, lol. I didn't really think of my writing as anything more than a hobby at first, a second maybe even third love. That was before I was diagnosed with Lupus though. When that diagnosis came I slipped [...]