Adventures in Crafting with Words

"On Wednesday's we wear pink." Okay, okay.  Maybe not.  I only wear one pink shirt anyway.  But, my love of alliteration causes me to want to say... On Wednesday's we do writing prompts.    Fill free to share your own in the comments below. * http://www.writersdigest.com/prompts/wedding-crashers You are standing at the altar waiting to marry the person of your dreams. The preacher says, “Should anyone here present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace.” You smile at your soon-to-be spouse, ready to get on with the vows. Suddenly—just like the movies—the chapel doors burst open. “I object!” You turn to see who dared to interrupt your day. It’s your ex. Finish the scene. Post your response (500 words or fewer) in the comments below. *             It was everything I had ever dreamed about.   The ...

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman teetering on the verge of thirty is in want of a husband." The book starts with a a parody of the famous line from the book this novel was inspired by.  And that's not a bad thing.  Are all women in want of a husband at thirty? No. Especially not Elizabeth Scott. She's happy with her dog. Men, especially wealthy men... well, I'll let Teri Wilson's words tell you. "There was something about capturing the unwanted attention of a very powerful, very married man who couldn't take no for an answer that made her appreciate the unconditional love of her dog in an entirely new way.  Dogs were loyal. Dogs didn't get people fired. Dogs understood the word no." So, we have dogs - I love dogs even though I'm allergic to them,  so I settle for books with dogs - and then we have wealthy British men named Darcy.  So, we have two aspects of this book that I adore. We get parts of Donava...

I have a love-hate relationship with books that are a part of a series, despite writing one myself. What if I've invested all this time and the last book sucks?  (I think many of you are thinking of a book series or two where you simply hated the endings.) What if one of the books drags down the tone of the others? ( *coughs* See above parenthesed note.) What if it take an extremely long period of time - I mean years - between a the previously released volume and the next installment? That's why, as soon as I find out a book series isn't completed, I'll stop reading it. Wait? What? I stop reading, collecting each volume - with the possibility of checking the ending as I collect them - until all planned books are released. I'm currently seriously doing that with at least 2 series that aren't quite mainstream but should be. I'm an indie author and I'm going to support them.  The first book in the 'The Crown of Tremontane' series pulled me i...

Cheesy right?   But it's a lovely way to pass a weekend. For weeks I've had Unleashing Mr. Darcy on my DVR.  Mostly because it has Ryan Paevey and is based, if loosely, on Pride and Prejudice . Paevey is a joy to watch on General Hospital.  And to look at. Yum. Guess my surprise when the opening credits revealed that the movie was based on a book!  Naturally this bookworm looked it up. Unleashing Mr. Darcy by Teri Wilson.   There were several other retolds by her as well, but this book is going to be wedged between finishing Agent of the Crown (McShane) and a Hunger Games fanfiction.  But this isn't about the book.  It's about the Hallmark movie. Starting out I liked Elizabeth "Liz/Lizzie" Scott.  She was a teacher. She had morals. She had standards. And then she met Mr. Donavan Darcy.   I couldn't figure out exactly she was rude to him during most of their meetings.  While her life was falling apart, with direct corelatio...

*Warning: Contains a free write that is basically a stream of conscious jumble of verbal diarrhea. Yes. Writer's block. A freeze on words that are necessary for forming the next story in the Bookworm Stories series. I have my base. I already know the major event that is going to happen during the prom chapters. I've already referenced it. I'm working my way towards it. But what about what happens before this event? After? It's been 12 years since I went to my own prom. Even then I went stag because I was too shy to ask any off the guys - including the track team member I had a crush on, or the baseball player I had a crush on. That was an interesting semester... It's not like I was Miss Popularity. I was Miss Bookworm. Miss Awkward. Miss Socially Awkward. I'd rather be on the track running in circles and trying to improve my personal best times instead of dealing with the boys at my high school. (No offense, guys, if any of you are actual...

Sometimes the hardest things to write are unexpected.  I had no problem writing 5 pages of a troubling scene in Aimee's story.  I channeled a friend and several psychology classes I'd taken. I'd channeled what I thought I'd do in that situation.   I channeled my imagination. When Aimee's story comes out you'll know exactly what I'm referring to.  I'm trying to keep down on spoilers. But with Jennifer's story, a story mostly dealing with prom... . . . I can't figure out how her prom date asks her.  Although, I did get to look at prom dresses.  For research purposes of course. Still, not the oddest thing I've done writing research on.  That honor belongs to an outline for something that I'll never release.  Unless the person I gave a copy to randomly gives me permission. Or I ask if it's okay.  It's complicated.   And yet how Jennifer's prom date asks her is still more difficult to write than that 'silly stupid...

Is that even possible?  Can Aimee Kirkland from the Bookworm Stories Series be redeemed?  She isn't supposed to be a likable character.  She's one of the mean girls that everybody sees in real life.  That girl that believes that she deserves it all.  Did she learn anything from The Bookworm Next Door ?  Did everybody rallying around Gloria in Along the Road teach her anything about her actions?  But as I released Along the Road and got started on my next installment - what is supposed to be Jennifer's story - I started my outlines and plotting... but Aimee kept popping up.  And then her unnamed sister - now named Amanda.  So, when the Bookworm Series moves out of the high school area and into the college arena we'll see more about Aimee and Amanda and how these sisters deal with their mother's influence in their lives.  Can Aimee be redeemed?  What is going to happen to be the catalyst for this redemption?  I don't k...

It's little surprise that my most popular story is The Bookworm Next Door.  It's the story I'd worked on for years and it shows. Not always in a good way. While the UK sales are surprisingly good and US sales beginning to stall, there is that unnerving moment of concern that my debut is going to remain my best seller. The very same debut that has a completely different writing style than my most recent offerings. The very same debut that isn't technically complete since it's part of a series of interconnected stories. Even I can't claim I'd give it a 5 star rating, but authors tend to be harder critics to their writing.  But that debut is having an effect on my other writings. Don't like it and you don't give the more recent offerings a chance.  Offerings that you might like even more than Bookworm. Even my betas have remarked on the changes in writing style between the 3 "major" works. Regardless... the three major series that I...