S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 225

Right Vs. Left

I was reading an article by Deb Schwartz in the June '10 issue of Real Simple magazine entitled Organizing for Your Personality which opens with this brief review of personality types:

"Right-brain types are visually oriented. They tend to think in images rather than words, focus on the big picture rather than the details, and go through life in a somewhat seat-of-the-pants (a.k.a. scattered) way. Left-brainers are those who think in words (attention, list makers!), do a lot of advance...

Which Austen Heroine are You?

Does this mean I have to marry a fickle vicar?

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

Off to Write

Generate your own newspaper clipping online here.

Teach Thyself

With all the biz emphasis on costly MFAs, seminars, workshops and what have you in regard to learning how to write fiction, I think the next generation of writers may not always consider or even understand the merits of self-education.

Before I start offending the academics out there, I don't think there's anything wrong with formal education in general. For the medical, technical and scientific professions obviously it's a must. Most of us attend public or private schools as kids, so usua...

How Much US Have You Seen?

I never really thought about how much of my country that I've seen until I saw a link to this online mapping generator over at Poppy Brite's LJ:


visited 42 states (84%)


Evidently I do get around. The only states I haven't visited are Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Rhode Island (actually I think I drove through RI at night once but I'm not sure so I didn't check it) Utah and Vermont.

I won't visit Ohio or Utah for philisophical reasons, and the plane trip to Hawaii would be too much for me,...

Support PBW Ten

Ten Reasons You Should Consider Buying (or Requesting) Dreamveil by Lynn Viehl

Alexandra and Michael from the Darkyn series make a cameo appearance in the book.

Everyone so far has been surprised by the ending. Seriously surprised. Well, not my editor or my agent, but they read the synopsis before the manuscript so they cheated.

How well this book does will have a direct effect on what novels I will be writing and publishing in 2011. If you like my dark fantasy, buying this one or requesting it ...

For Fun

What do Amsterdam Yellow, Bridal Strawberry, French Haze, Harvest Swirl, Lily Shadow, Sea Sunrise, Timeless Emerald and Warm Magic have in common? They're all evocative color names randomly generated by Serendipity's Color Name Generator.

If you need to create fictional ABCs and aren't sure how to start, check out Springhole.net's On Creating Fantasy Alphabets.

Register with Malinche Entertainment and they'll give you a free Interactive Fiction eBook entitled Azteca. They also have another...

3 books

Just Read: Robin Hood: The Story Behind the Legend , novelization of screenplay by David B. Coe, mass market

Why I picked it up: A friend wants me to go see the movie because he's crazy about Ridley Scoot films. I didn't like the last movie I saw by Ridley so I thought I'd at least see what the story is like first. Generally I enjoy most Robin Hood books because I like Robin Hood, period, but if anyone can ruin it for me, Ridley can.

What I liked: Russell Crowe on the cover certainly doesn...

Character Therapy

Authors, are your protagonists not in pain? Do your villains suffer from compulsive kindness? What about those sidekicks who simply won't be supportive?

Here at The Character Wellness Center our award-winning staff of storytelling psychologists, conflict counselors and motivational coaches are ready to provide the real answers writers need to craft well-adjusted characters, from immediate in-story interventions to long-term quality series care.

Here's just a small sample of some of our critica...

Sub Ops Ten

Ten Things About Submission Opportunities (Kids & YA Special Edition)

Annick Press publishes Canadian authors of teen and middle grade children's fiction and nonfiction; does not accept manuscripts from outside Canada. Regarding teen fiction: "Annick Press invites writers to submit proposals for teen novels which possess a high degree of originality and capture strong and distinctive contemporary voices. There should be creativity in the use of language—language that is lively, dramatic and ...