There's a meme going around the blogosphere at the moment, where you're given a letter and challenged to come up with 10 things you love, beginning with that letter. I thought, why not? This will be easy. So I commented on Tami Clayton's post on the letter A; and she subsequently challenged me with the … Continue reading Let there be L words
Once upon a time it seemed as though I had hours and hours a day in which to read. I devoured books at an impressive rate. Although I'm not a particularly fast reader, I made up for it in sheer number of hours devoted to the cause. But that was before I started writing in the evenings, … Continue reading How reviews influence my choice of books
You may be surprised to hear that, despite my being an avid fantasy reader for the vast majority of my life, I have never much been into gaming and had never ever played the iconic role-playing game, Dungeons and Dragons, until last weekend. We were a group of mixed experience, two of us novices, and, … Continue reading D&D chronicles: the novice
Reading is what it's all about, isn't it? That's why we writers turn up to the computer, day after day, to grind out the words. In fact, reading invariably came first. As children we devoured books; at least I did. Now I look back at those days with yearning, because I seemed to have so … Continue reading Reading places and spaces
Today it's my turn to write an installment of the progressive story, The Octopus Knows, another creation of Laird Sapir. I'll admit I've been panicking er contemplating this over past couple of days... There have been six very creative installments to-date (links to all can be found on Laird's round robin page) and they're a … Continue reading The Octopus Knows – part 7
Ever have one of those days when you do all the right things -- sit down at the computer, open the WIP, block out all distractions, prepare for an unbroken afternoon of productivity -- and end up with a mere (this is almost too embarrassing to admit) 250 words? Four hours. FOUR HOURS was how … Continue reading Four positives out of an ‘average’ WIP Wednesday
Last Monday I launched the April Wikirandom 3-sentence writers challenge and visitors to this blog have had five days to channel their inner flash-fiction self and come up with an entry to impress me. It's been such a blast! We've had 15 entries inspired by the prompt 'wooden wings' and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading them … Continue reading Wikirandom winner!
Fiction or non-fiction? -- that is the question. And the answer is easy. Fiction. I read non-fiction under sufference. I'm a member of a reading group that chooses a fair amount of non-fiction... sometimes I give the books a go, sometimes I don't even try. Having said that, occasionally I'm surprised by a book I don't … Continue reading Fiction or non-fiction?
This is my first attempt at ‘reblogging’ via WordPress, so I hope it works! This post is another classic from Kristen Lamb. It’s all about quitting: the novel that isn’t working, the job that is too demanding, the extra-curricular interests that eat up focus and time. I know I’m not too good at any of this and I pledge to be better!
Want to know the secret to success? Quitting. Yes, you heard me correctly. And, if you’re a creative professional, it is in your interest to learn to get really good at quitting. Maybe you’ve felt like a loser or a failure, that your dream to make a living with your art was a fool’s errand.
Maybe, if you are anything like me, just maybe you had friends and family and people around you telling you that you were a dreamer, that you needed to get your head out of the clouds and to let go of your “magic beans” and learn to be something practical that made a good paycheck and came with dental benefits. Maybe, in an effort to counteract all this negativity, you found yourself wandering the inspiration books in Half Price Bookstore (namely because you were too broke to buy books full-price). And maybe, just maybe…
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And now for a bit of fun and creative engagement! As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, it's my privilege to host the April Wikirandom Writers Challenge, created in February by the Shabby-Chic and Sarcastic Laird Sapir. Thanks to the talented Sara Walpert Foster for passing the baton onto me after the March Challenge. The … Continue reading Wikirandom Writers Challenge – April
Ellen Gregory 