If you know anyone struggling with grief, this is what I did.

http://lauramanivong.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/will-my-sorrow-count/

We witnessed a fair amount of wonkiness on Wall Street today. Biggest drop in history! Run for your lives!

But, but, but, percentage wise, the dow fell 6.98%, also known as not quite 7%, less than 7%, under 7%.

Compare that with Black Monday and the Depression when the dow fell more than 20%, also known as a helluva lot more than today, three times ( Read more... )

My topic? Targeting Your Submissions. Go have a look see...

community.livejournal.com/kidlit_central/24457.html

Everyone knows by now a story needs conflict, but I ran across a quote recently (thanks Angie Frazier) that really made the concept sink in...

"Without longing, there is no conflict. Is your main character's longing the driving force of the story?"
-Louise Hawes

I coupled this with CP extraordinaire Barb Stuber's insistence that I needed to dig deeper ( Read more... )

In my WIP novel, I'm guilty of using too many of them. A brilliant crit buddy, Barb, explained it to me this way...

At the museum, we teach people to analyze paintings by first considering the subject matter. Then we look at brush strokes: overlay, method, etc., and if those brush strokes get in the way of the subject matter, the painting loses some ( Read more... )