Natasha Deen's Blog, page 88

Top Books Gives Vegas 5 Stars!

This romantic comedy is a quick and hilarious romp…I could not put it down.  I really hope this isn't the last time we see Binda or Corin.  If this is what happens in Deen's version of Vegas, I wanna keep coming back!

For the full review, head here.

Technique Tuesday: Writing Emotions

You can say "he was sad" or you can give us an image. How? Association: think of how "sad" makes you feel/think/see, then write it.  So, "he was sad" becomes "sadness washed over him" or "sadness surrounded him like a tattered, old blanket, its color bleached by too many washes."

8 Stars from iMiraculous for Vegas

"Deen's clever, well-developed story is amusing and difficult not to finish…" For the full review, head here.

Writing Challenge: Day #15

3 pages.

Yeah, baby! With the work schedule this week, it would have been so easy to wuss out. I was super tired, but instead of looking at it like a chore, I faced it like a meditation and got the pages done in 35 minutes.

That's gotta be some kind of record for me.

This is Where I Squeal with Glee!

What an AWESOME review for What Happens in Vegas: "laugh out loud funny in almost every scene." Head there for your chance to win an e-copy!

She's also the first to review from a writer's perspective and says, "The writers who choose this story will learn loads about dialog, scene, and setting the tone with the characters…great technique…"

Monday Mechanics:(In)dependent clauses

Strunk & White say: Put a comma before a conjunction that introduces an independent clause.

Okay, what does that mean?

Conjunctions are: and, but, or, so, yet…

What they're saying is when you have a sentence and you're joining it with a phrase that can stand on its own (independent clause, in italics), you put in a comma:

The bridge was rickety, so I had to tightly hang on to the rope.

"So I had…" could be a sentence by itself but for artistic reasons, I want it to be with "the bridge...

Writing Challenge: Day #14

14 pages—but it was administration, not writing.  Still, should count for something…right?

Viktor Frankl Forever

From his book "Man's Search for Meaning" (an account of his time in Nazi concentration camps):

…We stumbled on in the darkness, over big stones and through large puddles, along the one road leading from the camp. The accompanying guards kept shouting at us and driving us with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with very sore feet supported himself on his neighbor's arm. Hardly a word was spoken; the icy wind did not encourage talk. Hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, the man...

Writing Challenge: Day #12 & 13

Day #12 :Nothing (and was too depressed by that to even post yesterday)

Day #13: Success at 5 pages! Yes!! Totally makes up for Friday.

Friday Freebie: Mothership Down Rocks!

Went to see Marty Chan's Mothership Down, #YEGfringe,  play at the Stanley Milner library. 

Two words: Must see.

Other words: Hilarious, thought-provoking, intelligent, totally worth $10.

Plus, it's at the Milner's theater: comfy seats, great parking, near pubs & restaurants. 

In all, it's the perfect venue and event for an awesome date night or girls'/boys' night out.

Here's the info:  Mothership Down - aliens have landed and taken over Canadian parliament. Be afraid.

Venue...