A loud, noisy grateful shoutout to Ana P. Rose for the post idea. Thank you, Ana! đ My first foray into writing was a poem I wrote when I was 15. I still have it. English was my favorite class. I dedicated my first novel, Honey Ko, to my High School and College English teachers. Mr. Grundy told me I could write, Mr. Karlin taught … Continue reading Random Thoughts – Writing and Writers
Green, green of eye, with strangled cry and knuckled mouth, chasm-echoed tricks of thought, devil-filled, of shadows in the dark Behold the crack of heart’s desire, where love is thwarted, thinking he, she seeks another, one not he, but he his brother He must fly at risk of thunder from fool well-versed in blunder, bethought a man, beheld a cripple weak of heart and branded … Continue reading Gentle Dove of Sweetly Cooing Breast
Please read and share this amazing work from Fortune’s Expensive Smile. My love / a silent film / over dramatized for maximum effect / my life / stormy / I mean all out tornado Twister wild / âThe Suck Zone,â / Phillip Seymour / âThatâs not the technical term for it, obviously.â / Hoffman / (rest his soul) / look into my eye / you … Continue reading Twister â Fortune’s Expensive Smile
Holy cow, that was fast! I submitted my query letter (and first three pages of my novel) yesterday afternoon about 5:00 pm using Query Manager according to the agent’s submission guidelines. Most agents take weeks, if not months, to respond to a writer’s query. Not this one; by 7:00 pm I had emailed the agent asking for any information about why the agent rejected my … Continue reading Pitching Your Novel to Literary Agents
Somehow I’ve contrived to lose a draft post of a little over 200 words. It’s quite deflating to see a work of two months flushed away into WordlessPress Land and not know how it happened. When I left the draft yesterday evening I felt it was shaping up into something I would be ready to post this weekend. My six verses of lyrics titled “Shake … Continue reading Beelzebub – I Lost a Draft!
Have you ever wondered why a blog goes silent? I get worried when bloggers I particularly love have not posted in a while. I become concerned when I try to visit their site to see if I’ve missed a new post and the site doesn’t come up. Such is the case with Victoria. I’ve followed her blog for several years and find her posts, especially her … Continue reading Wherefore Art Thou?
Roger Bannister, the first athlete to break the four-minute mile, said this about his record-breaking run: “The world seemed to stand still, or did not exist. The only reality was the next 200 yards of track under my feet. The tape meant finality–extinction perhaps. I felt at that moment that it was my chance to do one thing supremely well. I drove on, impelled by … Continue reading On Writing, and the Four-Minute Mile
I remember the night I fell for you, our romance and a lifetime of nightlong dreams. The dreams where you whisper so close to me, seeding memories inside my mind. And when I awake I think you are there and reach up to touch you but clutch empty air, then flinch from the gut punch when I know you’re a spirit and gone. I fall … Continue reading Of Love and Moonsweat
I feel so much satisfaction watching the word count grow in the little story flowing from my pen. This joyful enterprise, this crafting of a universe built from memories of a lifetime. This imaginary world I have peopled with those Iâve grown up with, played, schooled, worshiped, worked, and served with. Decorated with scenes that have thrilled my eyes and my mind and lifted my … Continue reading My Little Story
Your heart is a sheet of cold, thin ice; Spider cracks zigzag among open veins; Eggshells scatter before my footsteps; On my toes, I step between the cracks and crush the eggshells with my heels. I peel away onionskin layers of you; Vaporous particles explode into my eyes; They stick to fingers and leave them numb; With steel razor taut in my fist, I scrape … Continue reading Mornings, A Halloween Tale
Admit it, you love to edit, don’t you? I can see you now as you read through your printed manuscript, coffee cup in one hand, yummy croissant in the other, eyes whizzing left to right as you enter the world of magic you pulled from your storyteller’s mind. Raindrops catch your attention as they patter against the window and merge into a sheet of water … Continue reading On Editing
Sheâs the girl with the curls, And a face with a sneer on her lips, And when she comes near, You tremble in fear Of the threat in the swing of her hips. She’s the fun in the sun, With trouble in the song on her tongue, And when she comes along, You feel so wrong, When you notice how pretty and young. She’s that … Continue reading She’s that Girl
A Pride of Lions; a Gaggle of Geese; A Query of Writers; A Rejection of Agents. I really should be writing đ Continue reading Names for Things
Well, I pitched to five agents during the SavvyAuthors September Pitch Fest. All five shot me down. Between them, they must have received over a thousand pitches. Some writers pitched to all of the agents (there were publishing house editors too, but I didn’t pitch to them). Out of the ninety requests from those agents for full or partial manuscripts, I was not one of … Continue reading Practiced, Pitched, Punched
“Two dead women, a death in Vietnam, and an infant hastily given up for adoption stand between Aida and marriage to Tom, the man of her dreams.” This is the pitch I’m using in the pitch event over at SavvyAuthors blog. The Pitch Event runs through midnight 17 September. You may pitch to both agents and publishers. Continue reading Critique My Pitch: Part Four, A Wished-For Love
“Decades after their tragic deaths, two women haunt the lives of two men broken by grief and a hasty adoption. One of the men finally comes to terms with his loss and finds love again. One cannot.” I didn’t provide a description of my story in previous posts, so I’ve added one here to help you critique my pitch. You’ll note there are two Susannas. … Continue reading Critique My Pitch, Part Three: A Wished-For Love
“Two dead women stand between Aida and marriage to Tom, the man of her dreams.” Thank you to everyone who commented on my original pitch. This is my latest draft. Comments and suggestions welcome! Continue reading Critique My Pitch, Part Two: A Wished-For Love
Critique this! Does this query pitch pique your interest? “Crippled with grief after his fiancĂŠeâs death, Tom Nelson shuns love lest he betray Susannaâs memory. When he meets Aida, he finds love again, but will Susanna let him go?” Continue reading Critique My Pitch: A Wished-For Love
I lose hope when I spend too much time reading the news. I despair of mankind living in peace and harmony. I despair of the world we are leaving our grandchildren. I gain hope and confidence when I turn off the news. I walk outside and see a world bigger than our differences. My spirits lift and soar when I walk among people and the … Continue reading Apples
I’m not a fan of monopolies no matter how convenient they make shopping, or how cheap they can sell products. Progress is good in many ways, but the easier it is to do things from a computer – shopping – the less time we spend interacting with others. It’s the same dilemma we find ourselves facing with cell phones. The computer and cell phone are … Continue reading Convenience
I can’t count the times I’ve been asked by a writer to provide “an honest” critique or review of his work. Invariably, I think to myself, “What? I’m going to give you a dishonest review? I’m going to lie to you?” I think what they mean is they don’t want me to spare their feelings. I never ask for an honest critique. Last month, I … Continue reading A Wished-For Love, Second Beta Review
The last three weeks have been a pleasant vacation from writing and posting. The break presented an opportunity to catch up on chores and reading, both of which suffered from lack of attention. I needed to step away and take a breather after finishing the novel that consumed so much of my life since first putting pen to paper in December 2013. “A Wished-For Love” … Continue reading A Wished-For Love: First Beta Review
I apologize if the new title for my writing posts makes you hungry. I cannot stop thinking of Rice Crispies; does any cereal hold more sugar? As a ten-year old boy, I reached for unsweetened cereal in the cupboard. I wanted to choose the amount of sugar on my own. Some cereals tantalized my tongue with lots of added sugar, while others were delicious with … Continue reading Write Crisp – Word Choice
So, there I was, reading calmkate’s response to today’s Daily Prompt, Crisp, and, as is my wont, pondering ways to submit an outside-the-box response of my own. That led to a headache which made me stop thinking and make some tea (Stash brand Licorice Spice, BTW). Two tea bag tea, too (yeah, I know, but I drink tea out of a huge coffee mug). Writing … Continue reading Write Tight? Or Write Crisp?
I’m not a note taker. Nor am I a retainer. However, I carry a paper brain with me to meetings, jot things down, order them, number them, draw lines (with a ruler) through completed (or wishful thinking-completed) items, and look with jealousy at people who have advanced degrees in note taking. Do Type A folks take notes? Or are note takers Type C? I’m a … Continue reading Write Tight
Golden fields stretch far, Rolling hills studded with rocky ledge; My fingers brush the fibrous Beards of breezy strands Tapping at my legs; Behind me the reaper Harvests ripened grains. I move apace, steady on For looming edge. Continue reading Grains
Word Choice. Ernest Hemingway is said to have paused writing for days while searching for the right word. I don’t have the patience for that, though I will put my pen down and spend a few minutes racking my brain for the word on the tip of my tongue. I suspect Ernest had more on his mind than finding lexicologic Nirvana. One word that I … Continue reading Mr. Grundy’s English Class
I often see writers use the term “aircrafts” when referring to two or more aircraft. “Aircraft” is the correct term for both singular and plural cases. Example the first: “The aircraft flew until it ran out of fuel. Then it made a sudden landing.” Example the second: “The aircraft were parked wingtip to wingtip making them easy targets for strafing by treacherous seagulls. It’s one … Continue reading Mr. Grundy’s English Class
My heart is breaking, coming apart in pieces I see the top of her head, seventeen-thousand heartbeats away We spoke in line, waiting for the call to board She stood next to me, reading mail on her phone I pretended, under the spell of her nearness, to be her boyfriend and Stood close so others would not jostle her We laughed and joked, silliness between two … Continue reading The Girl in 16E
I grip it with my toes That phantasmagoric line between living and dying Behind rise the hairs on my neck Ahead my heart pumps furiously To live is to die Yet I am not finished living I grip the precipice with my toes When I stop living I will die. Precipice Continue reading Precipice
Walking though the city, another set of footsteps in the crowd Peering in the crystal panes, another reflection of the proud Standing out is difficult when you’re just another face The crowd doesn’t notice you, they’re in the same rat maze. Maze Continue reading Daily Post Prompt: Maze
Pink Pink Pink Plunk Plunk Plunk Pink Pink Pink Shaking fingers, once-nimble joints are swollen Trembles too, the pianist’s frail white head, nodding to and fro His greatest works behind him Reputation firm Within, time’s tolling call, Eternal silence beckons. Fingers square on ivory keys Pink Pink Pink Plunk Plunk Plunk Pink Pink Pink <a href="http://Pink“>Pink Continue reading Daily Prompt: Pink
Originally posted on Writers Envy:
I read music in your eyes, Delicate chorale filled your voice, The melody of your soul, Breathed hymn into my life; Each movement measured note by note, Dancing fingers played across my keys, âTwas not a symphony filled the silence, But a quartet caressing strings; Hosannas rose into the night, Angelic host proclaimed, Cantata filled my ears, Notes kissed me… Continue reading The Melody Of Your Soul
I just want to take this time to thank everyone who reads, subscribers and shares my site. I appreciate all the support and encouragement.I would love to read everyoneâs blog, but I donât always get a chance to read and follow everyoneâs blog. So today I want to offer a networking opportunity and a chance [âŚ] via Networking + Share Your Blog â Jay Colby Continue reading Sharing! Because I didn’t always share with my sisters…. đ
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