Writing Advice, and the Taking Thereof

There have been several interesting posts on the topic of writing advice in the past few weeks on my blog roll.1 I like Justine’s (first link), and it’s a good thing to keep in mind.
She says:
I occasionally get letters from beginning writers and newly published authors who are confused by some of my writing advice [...]

Yeah, But Are They *Zombie* Five Year Olds?

How Many Five Year Olds Can You Take In a Fight?
Why does this exist? I don’t know, and I don’t care.
24

Sailor Boy, apparently, can be responsible for 34. Together, we could take out a kindergarten.

Before and After

BeforeAfter

Writing-wise, there’s an interesting discussion going on at Robin Brande’s blog, prompted by a post on Patrick’s. Grrrrr…. Patrick, why can’t I post on your blog?

Secrets of My Suburban Life

I’m off to the first WRW meeting of the new year today. Emilie Richards is talking about how to save your novel from sinking, which sounds like a fabulous topic. I can’t wait!
Meanwhile, to entertain you, listen to this fascinating podcast by prolific and talented author Lauren Baratz-Logsted, whose latest book, Secrets of My Suburban [...]

*Want*

A few facts you may not know about me:
1. I love the show How I Met Your Mother and am probably missing it more than anything else on TV right now.
2. Primarily because of Barney, the character played by Neil Patrick Harris.
3. In fact, I started watching HIMYM again because I was watching my much [...]

To the Spammers…

That would like me to “partner” with them in their blogging endeavors, who have invited me to become a “contributor” to their blog, who would like me to “collaborate with them” to sell their product, and who wish for me to take “unique advantage” of their “very special offer” to get in on “the hottest [...]

Pret a Porter for the Zombie Apocalypse

One of my favorite pictures from our trip. There we are, strolling down Rome’s most fashionable shopping strip, and we come across the following window display:
The Belstaff website also has the movie poster up, which I guess means they are the official outfitters of survivors of the zombie apocalypse.
At least we know what to wear.

RITAs

So I got my RITA books in the mail, which of course, I’m not allowed to talk about.
In passing, why do we capitalize the word RITA? The award is not an acronym. It’s named for Rita Clay Estrada. Why don’t we just call it the Rita, like the Norton, or the Hugo, two literary awards [...]

Character Names

I have a nice, healthy obsession with character names. I need to get them right, or they don’t work on the page. In the past, I’ve started writing a character as one name and he’s changed his mind mid-sentence, started referring to himself as a different name, and it was a couple of pages before [...]

My Boudoir is None of Your Business

I used to be a journalist. I wrote for several years for an alternative weekly paper in Tampa Florida. Most of my articles were food reviews, which made them opinion pieces. When I wrote those pieces, I went to the restaurant, ate the food, and then formed an opinion upon which to base my article.
That [...]