Writing
What I don’t know
Last weekend my husband and I went to the coast for our usual New Year’s celebration. Our celebrating is tamer than it used to be. Now we dine at a great restaurant, come home and usually end up asleep long before midnight. This year we stayed up to see the new year; we were…
Read MoreSinging the computer blues
Note: I have not posted my blog for several weeks. My excuse is: I’m lazy; I’m overwhelmed with settling into the house here in Florida; My computer is new and not used to me yet; I’m a total idiot when it comes to a new computer; Take your pick of the above. I think…
Read MoreIntroducing new characters in a cozy mystery series
If you already have a cast of interesting characters in your series, why would you want to introduce another one? Consider this: writers insert new characters in a series when the protagonist solves the crime. The bad guy or gal is almost never someone who has appeared in the series before, although this could…
Read MoreTypewriter to Computer
Is what we write how we write it? An old Smith-Corona typewriter sat on the desk in the house I grew up in. It had been there since the nineteen thirties before my parents moved to the farm. It was my grandfather’s, but I never saw him use it. My mother didn’t either, but on…
Read MoreTags in Writing
Support Your Local Library “He said.” “She said.” Sometimes a writer needs them to indicate who is speaking. Sometimes it’s easy to insert them when, with a little effort, we could make our writing better. Tags can disappear when reading a conversation. They may sound redundant in the process of writing them, but reading…
Read MoreThe Three Stages of Pantsing
This week did not turn out to be what I was anticipating. Glenn and I had to cancel our trip to Killer Nashville because both my vertigo and my arthritis decided to take over my life for a while. I seem to be getting better today. I’m sorry I had wasn’t able to be on…
Read MoreResearch in Cozies Only Goes so Far
When I first began writing mysteries I was told to write what I knew. I soon found out that what I knew was limited. I had retired from academe after many years of serving as a professor and as a university administrator, both awfully boring stuff for mysteries unless a writer can spice them up…
Read MoreWriting Short
I began writing fiction with a book length cozy mystery, and that continues to be where I invest most of my writing time today. However, the first award I won was for a short story, and it was the first one I’d ever written. I submitted it to the short story contest sponsored by Mystery…
Read MoreMy version of developing story ideas
Yes, those are my feet in not very high fashion shoes (they’re plastic) and white socks. This is called, “I’m holding my feet to the fire.” It means I’m finally moving on with ideas for the next three Eve Apple mysteries. I am working on descriptions of my next three books in the Eve…
Read MoreA visit from a neighbor north of us and a giveaway
I am so pleased Joanne got in touch with me and was willing to do a guest blog today. You’ll find her thoughts on quilting and writing interesting. In 2008, Joanne Guidoccio retired from a 31-year teaching career and launched a second act that tapped into her creative side. Slowly, a writing practice emerged. Her…
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