Great Writing Books

Creativity, Writing2 Comments

I love a good book about writing, especially one with great exercises.  I’m currently working my way through Naming the World: And Other Exercises for the Creative Writer edited by Bret Anthony Johnston.  It’s got contributions from different writers who provide a small essay about writing followed by suggested exercises.  Not every exercise is interesting or helpful, but I constantly find myself either genuinely prompted or at least noting an exercise to try again later.

Some of my other favorites:

Page After Page by Heather Sellers
Take Joy by Jane Yolen
Poemcrazy by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge

 

Cover Photo Decision?

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Thanks to lots of hours on Pixabay and pouring through my own photos I think I’ve decided on this photo for the cover of Rell.  It’s by Pixabay photographer DaveInTucson and I think it captures the atmospheric desert vibe of the novel’s setting.   For the books cover I’m going to focus on the hills and sky.  One reason I decided to skip using one of my own photos is that I always know exactly where I’ve taken them.  And even though the setting of Rell is partially inspired by the high desert of the Intermountain West, every one of my photos just felt too connected to my ordinary life to be a fantasy setting.

Thank goodness for Pixabay!  I use it in my teaching all the time and I’ll definitely be giving Dave some credit and making a donation to him on Pixabay once the project is completed.

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In Process…again

Getting It Done1 Comment

Spent three hours today working on getting a novel manuscript ready for ebook publishing with Amazon.  One good thing about going through the agony of multiple hopeful, encouraging query letters before just deciding to publish on my own is how little I care about making tons of money with this book.  Yes, money is great, don’t get me wrong, and I do have one tiny sales goal – 100 copies.  But that sales goal is just my own very personal determination of how many new readers will make all of this finicky button pushing and previewing worth it.

Flash Fiction

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So I’m posting my first piece of flash fiction.  What is flash fiction?  It’s a very short piece of fiction, usually less than 1000 words that still contains the basics of a story.  This is a piece I wrote awhile ago, inspired by a prompt in a writing magazine.   I’ll post any flash fiction pieces as blog posts but I’ll also provide links under the Short Story/Flash Fiction tab.  Thanks for reading!

The King’s Farewell

He’d put his affairs in order, given his power away to his many sons. Of course, if they were willing to pay the price they could visit him, but he doubted they would.  His time above was a source of shame to them.  The reason they had kept their children so distant from their own grandfather.

“Are you certain about this?” his servant Havla asked as he took the crown and the pearl plate armor from his king.

“You know that I am,” the old king replied.  “I am finally free.”

Continue reading “Flash Fiction” →

Next Step

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I’ve always been a bit of a DIY person when it comes to creative tasks – if I can find a way to do it myself I will.  But after a year and a half of letting my ready-to-publish manuscript sit on the digital shelf waiting for me to get around to formatting it, I’ve finally reached out to a formatting service to ask for their help.

It’s a little scary, but I think it will be worth it to get things moving.

Cento: Book Love

Creativity, Original PoetryWrite a comment

A cento is a literary form, especially a poem, that is made up entirely of quotations from other work.  Sort of the original mashup – here’s one of mine.

Book Love

There is no frigate like a book.
I love how books begin; those passages
Where the hills are twice as steep, and twice as rough,
And the yellow half-moon large and low:
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
And inspirations, that we deem our own,
Whiter than new snow on a raven’s back
Imagination gathers up.
With courage to endure.

– cento by Jenel Alan

(Credits:  “There is no frigate like a book” by Emily Dickinson, “Chapter One” by Mark Aiello, “The Man from Snowy River” by A.B. Paterson, “Meeting at Night” by Robert Browning, “Valentine” by Carol Ann Duff, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, “Imagination” by John Davidson, “The Old Stoic” by Emily Brontë)