Natasha Deen's Blog, page 23

Counting down to June 22nd!

June 22nd will start the Edmonton Public Library’s Summer Start Program, and I’m delighted to be telling stories as part of the celebration.

For full information on the program, head to epl.ca/SummerStarts.

In the meantime, check out these amazing facts 9(via the EPL):

The program includes: A summer reading challenge:Kids track their reading activity and for every six hours of reading completed, they get to design their own button and receive a prize ballot for a chance to win awesome prize...

One Day at a Time

The past two weeks have been…decent. Instead of forcing myself into writing (or berating myself for not writing), I used the time to read—not for research or teaching—I read for fun.

And I realized I needed it. I needed to get back to the other side of the fence, where I shut down my editing brain, and the “how do they put the story together” brain, and just enjoy the ride of someone else’s story.

This week, I went back to the books I’d read and asked myself, why did I enjoy this story? And I...

Once more into the breach

Yikes. Looking at the date of my last post, it’s painfully obvious the writing has not been going well. When the writing is plodding along, I post. When I’m in the depths of writing despair…well, you can see the painful silence.

I’m using this week to get back into the reading, with the hope it will kick start the story writing process again. Not sure if it’ll work, but all I can do is try, right?

Book Review

In Another Life is a swift, fun read for those looking for suspense mixed with romance.

Chloe moves to Joyful, TX with her mom to reclaim/restart their lives (Chloe’s parents are divorced). It’s an excellent set up, new town, new school, new life…complications will ensue. Of course, complications are one thing, Cash Colton, is a complication of another sort, entirely.

Cash has his own issues (deadbeat dad, grifter lifestyle) but he’s trying to make amends and seek redemption, and his journey...

Coming full circle…

When I was a kid, I used to harass my parents *all the time* about taking over their stuff.
“Can I have your sweater?”
“Can I use your walkman?”
“Do you need the discman?”
Now, it’s my turn to show generosity—my mom *super* wants my iPad (“Hey, honey, you’re upgrading, soon, right?” “Hey, sweetie, did you say you were going to get a new iPad?”), so now I’m pondering how to do this for her…
It’s a funny thing, when the circle begins to close itself, when you’re the one worrying about your pare...

Marco? Marco?

My current Work In Progress (WIP) is…is less work and more trial and tribulation. Trying to hear my Main Character’s (MC) voice is like being in a dark cave and playing Marco-Polo. I’m yelling, “Marco! Marco!” and I’m getting “Polo! Polo!” **EXCEPT** my MC’s voice is ricocheting off the walls and creating echoes, so I’m constantly running to the wrong spot…I don’t know that I’ll eventually hear her properly, but I have to have faith that I will and trust that like the other novels, her voice...

The sweet but smelly choice

Oof, you know, getting Gracie salmon snacks was a sweet thought ’cause my girl loves her fish, but dang, when you’re in a small office with that stuff, you **really** realize how strong fish can smell!

Oh, well, at least she’s happy. ^_^

Embracing the bad review a.k.a who is your ideal reader?

Yesterday, Gilette released this ad to both positive and negative reviews. In the positives, people feel it’s embracing a new definition of masculinity and the ad is pro-human. In the negatives, folks feel it’s anti-man and assumes the worst in men.

I find this interesting because the ad is the ad, and it’s the individual viewer who brings their throughts and philosophies to the commercial. It’s a great reminder to me that when it comes to creative endeavours, as creators, our focus is to do...

Chug, Chug

Plugging along with the work in progress, and it’s funny how often I’m stopping because I’m worried about the edits to come. Will I need to dial back the character? Will the plot need to be tightened?

They’re all good questions, but they’re not relevant to the moment. Edits and shifts in the storyline can all come later, after the first draft, after I’ve sat with the story…

Part of me feels like I’m just being a good writer, I’m thinking ahead to what may need to happen. Part of me feels like...

I’ll take “Questions that have no answer,” for $500, Alex

Unsplash | @akovacsa

And of course that question would be, “What is the correct way to write a book?”

I think this is the question that keeps writers up at night, whether we’re published or not. Is there a right way to write a book?

Sure, there are LOADS of How-To books out there that will say things like, “Don’t head hop,” “Stay away from adverbs,” “Don’t overdo your description,” which we all take as gospel truth…then we go to the library and promptly find that NYT best-selling novel (or no...