-
The Magic Number
I witnessed an online conversation that irked me a bit. This in and of itself is not unusual. It is the internet, after all. Apparently, there is a school of thought that says you have to write a certain number of words before you start writing publishable material. I want to say the number tossed around was something like 500,000 words. To me, ( Read more... ) -
Project Lifesaver
More and more in the news you hear about kids with autism wandering off and being found injured or dead. I don't know if we're just hearing more about it now or if it's happening more frequently of late but it scares the hell out of me ( Read more... ) -
Growing up needs to slow down.
My oldest kid is off to Governor's School - a summer camp program. It's so hard to keep reminding myself that he's the same age that I was when I went off to CTY (very similar to what he's doing). I know he's having a blast. My youngest kid is not - he's missing his brother like crazy. I'm pacing by the phone to hear from him and feeling guilty ( Read more... ) -
There is much editing in my future
I was frustrated with my current WIPs this weekend and went searching through my files for something else to work on. I probably should not have done that. Apparently, I write a lot ( Read more... ) -
Revisions are fun
sort of. My favorite part of writing will always be the initial writing, the zero draft where anything is possible, everything is made up and the names don't matter. Yet. That stage where I'm still learning about these characters I will eventually come to know and love (or hate). But there's a lot to be said for revisions too ( Read more... ) -
Autism Awareness and The Discussion
So, it's April again. Everywhere I look there is something about Autism. That's not a bad thing. With diagnostic numbers on the rise (again), there's a big push in getting information out there. That is a very good thing, in my opinion. The only way to counter ignorance is with information and education. It matters. It matters a lot. It hits home ( Read more... ) -
It's nice when someone really *gets* you
Today is my husband's and my anniversary. The poor guy has put up with me for fourteen years (sixteen if you count the two before we got married). I guess I'd be worried if he didn't know me by now. But, no fears, the man just gets me. So well. Even though we're all recovering from a recent bout of icky, we spent the day together. That doesn't ( Read more... ) -
Corners, Drafts, and Darlings
One of my favorite things about writing the way I do - without a plan or an outline - is that I routinely write my characters into corners just to see what they do. I am a worst case scenario thinker. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t - especially at three in the morning when I’d rather be sleeping but my brain is asking me what I would do if... In any ( Read more... ) -
Anti heroes
It doesn't surprise me in the least that the "anti hero" is generally my favorite type of hero. What does surprise me are the so-called lists of anti heroes out there as none of them acknowledge a few of my favorites (and list a whole bunch that I would never have considered as such). I guess maybe my personal definition of such is off or wrong ( Read more... ) -
Books for a thirteen year old boy
My oldest child is a bit of a pain in the butt to find books for. He loves to read but he reads way above his supposed "level" and that makes finding appropriate books very difficult. I try to read most things before he does as I have issues with some of the current "popular fiction" aimed at young teens and am not shy about saying no to a book ( Read more... )