Linda Acaster's Blog, page 21

Site Update

Spring has sprung, I don't want to clean the house so this website is having a makeover. Everything will still be available, but may be in a different place. Please bear with me while I refresh pages and reconnect the links.

Wednesday Writing Prompt #16 - Images

Over the past weeks I've emphasised that to convey a story well writers need to focus on how characters tick not on what they look like, if for no better reason than that their deportment, how they dress, how they adorn themselves, comes from how they are at their core, and whether they are trying to project that core, or mask it from the outside world, or even from themselves.



But we live in

"Clean Reader" Censorship - Update on Post 14 March

Events
never stand still and my original post on the Clean Reader app for use with ebooks needs an update. 

To recap, the app sanitizes words and phrases as
innocuous as ‘damn’ with either a blue dot or a replacement word/phrase chosen by the app creators, whether or
not these are a near fit to

Wednesday Writing Prompt #15

Over the past weeks I've emphasised the need for some deep thinking where characters are concerned, on the level of what makes them tick, not what they look like.



This week I'm offering the same exercise I offered to my long-ago writing group. Some interesting possibilities, and some fascinating fiction, came from it, so give it a go and see what you come up with:


list people by occupation

Wednesday Writing Prompt #14

Over the past weeks I've emphasised the need for some deep thinking where characters are concerned, on the level of what makes them tick, not what they look like.



This week I'm offering the same exercise I offered to my long-ago writing group. Some interesting possibilities, and some fascinating fiction, came from it, so give it a go and see what you come up with:


list people by occupation

"The Paintings" now live in all formats

It's good when planets align, and my supernatural chiller The Paintings is now live across all formats. The launch discount on Amazon has closed and pricing stabilized across e-retailers. Enjoy!



"...in this well researched novella the clues are wonderfully placed..."

"...the whole subtle sense of something sinister is very well done..."


Amazon Kindle ¦ B&Noble Nook ¦ Kobo ¦ Apple iBooks ¦

Launching Short Chiller: "The Paintings"

It's Launch Day for Amazon Short "The Paintings". If you enjoy atmospheric mysteries, if you like creepy...



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Wednesday Writing Prompt #14 - Sound

Are you deaf? 



The chances are that you are lucky enough to be able to answer no to the question, but it doesn't mean that your hearing is crystal clear. Put me in a noisy room - a reception for instance - and I find it hard to differentiate the voice of who I'm talking with from the hubbub about me,  even if he/she is standing within a hand's grasp. That nod and smile I'm portraying masks

"Clean Reader" - The Censorship Beggars Belief

Okay, I'm on a rant here, I'll say that upfront and try to keep a lid on it. 



I've just caught a Tweet which reads "Weird >> App Allows Readers to Sanitize Books for 'Cleaner' Reading..." I followed the link to a post dated 9th March on Lit Reactor which is basically highlighting an app called Clean Reader.



A couple in America have decided that to help their offspring, a 4th grade '

Wednesday Writing Prompt #13 - Detail

How much is too much detail? It all depends on what you are writing and its genre.





Here’s
a handy rule of thumb...



Short
fiction is a single snapshot of life set in words. Leave the promo video in
words for a novella; the two-hour blockbuster movie, complete with sound and
atmospheric lighting, for the novel.



However,
this doesn’t take into account the genre. A pithy, kick-ass