Some books I devour and enjoy, then lovingly place upon my bookshelf where I can walk by it and smile, remembering that first reading with fondness. I may pick them back up weeks, months, or years down the road, but often I just put them up like trophies in a ‘display case’ while I move […]
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about reading and critiquing within your genre. Not just YA writers reading and critiquing YA, but the specific kind of YA–contemporary, paranormal, fantasy, historical, etc; And where I’ve ended up is that doing both widely can be a great benefit to your own personal writing . . . but it must […]
I adore a good YA Contemporary. While I enjoy being sucked into the world building of paranormal, there’s just something about reading a novel with real people that I can completely relate to and a world just like my own. It has its own special magic. This weekend I inhaled Gwendolyn Heasley’s WHERE I BELONG, […]
It is March. Is it just me, or is this year flying by? It seems like I was just celebrating New Year’s! The definite up side is the nicer weather. This is the time of year when the girls can play outside during the day and I don’t have to worry about heatstroke. I love […]
Last summer while perusing the bookstore shelves for a fun, romantic read, my fingers stopped on a bright soft-white cover. Front and center was a young girl, cute and very girl-next-door-ish, and behind her were two boys that while blurry, were obviously both attractive. What caught my eye the most was that the three teens […]
Whew! I just got back from a fun-filled, inspirational weekend in Dallas with my husband and good writing buddy Rose. Out of all the conferences in my local area, this one appeared to be the best investment . . . and it did not disappoint. The quality and number of agents, along with the variety of […]
I am a sucker for a good love story so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I loved Mandy Hubbard’s PRADA AND PREJUDICE. But simply labeling this tale as a romance would be grossly underestimating it. My favorite love stories are the ones that are able to combine the romance with a deeper character […]
I love doing book dissections. In the past, I’ve always done them with a targeted objective–to see how they balanced dual point of view, dialogue, amount of scenes/chapters, pages per chapter, back story, etc; Having never studied writing at this level before, I used these self-created spreadsheets as my own personal writing curriculum. As I mentioned […]
Greetings! On our way home from church, my husband decided to surprise me and take our family on a 24 hour adventure. He gave us 10 minutes to run in the house, grab a change of clothes and any necessities, and then make it back to the car before taking off to lands unknown. We are currently […]
Hello Blogosphere! Yes, it has been a little while since I last posted. First I was yucky sick and laid up in bed with the most adorable little nurses you’ll ever have, and then I have been in major catch up mode with school, as well as doing critiques for my writing partners, researching for my […]
