In New York City, the natural urge is to look up. Up at the towering skyscrapers. Up at the cathedral spires. Up at the neon extravaganza of blazing signs in Times Square. But on a trip to NYC a few months ago, I found myself looking down. And my heart rose for it. I was […]
writer's life
So an Author Is Coming to Your Book Club…
Many authors love to visit local book clubs, either in person or over Zoom or Skype. They enjoy meeting fellow book lovers and talking about their book, their writing process, and the research they did into their characters, settings, or stories. Inviting an author to visit your book club is a great opportunity to peek […]
So You’ve Been Asked to Appear at a Book Club . . .
By Laurie Marr Wasmund Please welcome my illustrious guest blogger this month, Laurie Marr Wasmund! It’s what you’ve always dreamed of—a gaggle of dedicated readers who are eager to rain praises about your writing down upon your head, to fall at your feet lauding your brilliance, to honor you with the moniker “GOAT.” Yeah, right. […]
I Drifted in a Hellcat for Research Purposes Only. Honest.
“Write what you know,” they say. Well, the protagonist in one of my WIPs (works-in-progress, and yes, plural, because doesn’t everyone work on multiple novels at the same time? No? Hmmm…) is a committed lone wolf caught up in a controversy he’s not interested in being caught up in. There are bad guys. Missing friends. […]
Aliens, Cows, and Story Ideas
A friend recently told a group of us that the county I live in, out here in eastern Colorado, was a hot-spot for crop circles and cattle mutilation back in the 1970s. Let me tell you, nothing derails a perfectly mundane writers’ discussion about passive voice like UFOs. “You mean, seriously? Or were they hoaxes?” […]
A Book-Lover’s Birthday in New York City
A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine and I decided the sting of our March birthdays could be made more bearable by celebrating them in New York City. We were right. We’d originally decided to go because one of our favorite playwrights, Tom Stoppard (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Arcadia, Shakespeare in Love, […]