The Buzz

Okay, here’s the first teaser… Granda Luis halted and turned Dobbin to face his troop. The chilled air tugged at his cloak and swept through his winter white hair. His eyes glimmered from his face and the young trio drew their horses back a few steps. “We’ve a straight and narrow trail ahead. We’ll go in single file—” “A narrow … Read More

Three Awesome Events for the month of April: 1.) Attended the Donald Maass Breakout Novel Workshop–best money I ever spent!! The words Micro-Tension and Unique are forever engraved in my brain. I am an official Maassketeer, mouse ears and all ;-D 2.) SCBWI Spring Conference 2010 in Rocklin was great fun. The workshop on synopsis by Brian Farrey, Flux Editor, … Read More

WOO-HOO, I made it through the second cut (250 people out of 5,000). My first chapter is on Amazon.com to be reviewed by the world, while Publisher’s Weekly reviews the entire manuscript. Next cut is April 27th, bringing the 250 down to 50. I hope ARROW OF THE MIST is on that list as well!! Go to amazon.com and type … Read More

Okay, so this April is a big month for me. I’m all set to go to Donald Maass’s week-long intensive in Oregon and then a week after I get back I attend the SCBWI Conference in Rocklin. Lots to look forward to!! (And more revisions to my ms I’m sure!!)

I attended a workshop hosted by RWA this past Sat. Jan 23rd in Sunnyvale, CA. Donald Maass, literary agent and author of the book “Fire in Fiction”, was simply wonderful! His wisdom, advice, and personable manner were a delight. I can honestly say I learned more in one day with him than numerous days at other conferences and workshops. He … Read More

Okay, so two contests are buzzing about. One is AMAZON BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL AWARD, follow link at: http://www.amazon.com/Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011 Deadline for this is Jan. 25, 2010. The other is NOVEL BEGINNINGS CONTEST hosted by Mary Kole (agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency) for the first 500 words of a MG or YA novel. Deadline is Jan 31, 2010. Link for this is: … Read More

The SCBWI conference this past Saturday in Oakland was a great learning experience. It was a real treat listening to Stephen Mooser, co-founder of SCBWI, speak about getting young readers to laugh. His books and ideas are fresh and inspiring. I had my “first page” read aloud by Sarah Shumway at HarperCollins, and my first 10 pages hand edited by … Read More

Wow, 3 meetings this week with fellow writers. One with a newly forming group, the other with my YA Novel group, and the third with a writing buddy I’ve worked with for several years now. Definately feeling in “the flow” of it all. Also, attending the SCBWI Conference this Saturday in Oakland. As with any workshop/conference I try to remember … Read More

Current writing trends veer us away from the use of adverbs and adjectives with the notion that nouns and verbs are superior. I “get” this in regards to keeping the prose tight and succinct, but let us preview this beautiful sentence from F. Scott Fitsgerald: “Slenderly, languidly, their hands set lightly on their hips, the two young women preceded us … Read More

Currently editing (3) different manuscripts for writing buddies, and I Looove this process. Yes, it’s time consuming, yes, it forces all my mental faculties to go to work, but there is no better way to improve on my own writing. Guess it’s that whole “teacher becomes the student” phenomena that comes into play. Whatever it is, I’m grateful for it! … Read More