M.L. Desir's Blog, page 23
September 6, 2019
Writing The Final Draft: What To Check
You know that meme where writers name their files “Final Draft”, “Final Draft 2”, “Final Draft 3”, “Really Final Draft”, “Really, Really Final Draft”, “Seriously Final Draft” etc.
I get that. I’m currently working on the sixth draft of an MS I literally named “Final Draft” three drafts ago.
Past-Me probably thought it would be. Present-Me just spent eight months rewriting the whole thing and knows Future-Me still has at least one more draft to go.
Did I plan to rewrite for eight...
September 3, 2019
7 Actionable Steps to Convert Social Media Followers to Buyers
Are you actively trying to convert social media followers into paying customers?
Do you see an ROI from your social media activity?
Social media is a fantastic digital marketing asset that can quickly skyrocket your business if you use it correctly. It is among the best marketing assets that will enable you to increase your visibility, brand awareness, and create an outstanding online presence.
If you have a growing following on social media,...
September 2, 2019
The Art of Dimension Jumping in Fiction
#TalkGeekyToMe This is a great post for science fiction and fantasy authors!
Blink from Marvel
There’s a difference between teleportation and dimension hopping that some people don’t always realize. The former involves jumping from one location to another in the same world. The latter is about moving between different worlds. You can call it dimensional teleportation, which works. Yet, the two words aren’t interchangeable. Obviously, I’m here to talk about the mor...
September 1, 2019
Wolfsbane and Werewolves
Research. #amediting #amreading #SharingIsCaringSunday
In a former post, I discussed the beautiful but deadly herb Aconite, or wolfsbane (sometimes spelled wolf’s bane), also known as monkshood. In this post I’m dwelling on its wolfsbane component as werewolves and the herb are linked in lore.
Regarding werewolves, wolfsbane is reputed to repel not kill werewolves and vampires. I gleaned that from this site on : How To Kill A Werewolf, Methods and Materials.
The contributor...
August 25, 2019
Blaming Schools for Student Absences is Like Denouncing Doctors for Disease
If something is wrong with children, it must be the school’s fault.
Right?
If kids can’t read, write and do ‘rithmetic, the teachers must not have taught ’em right.
It couldn’t have anything to do with home life, generational poverty, economic inequality and systemic racism.
Except that it almost always does.
Inextricably.
The fact is children who don’t live in safe, loving homes have much greater difficulty concentrating and caring about academics. Kids with impo...
August 20, 2019
Teaser Tuesday: It Started With a Cat #fantasy #shortstories
Cool Guy and Author, Charles Yallowitz has so many fantastically completed books. I need to step up my game! #TuesdayThoughts
Cover Art by Circecorp
Here’s another one from The Life & Times of Ichabod Brooks. I’m finding it difficult to locate the older teasers, so they might all be new. This is a part from Ichabod Brooks & the Phantom Archer. The adventure is him judging an archery tournament, which couldn’t possibly go askew. I mean, it isn’t like he’s recognized...
Cover Design: 4 Tips to Keep in Mind – by Renee Wittman…
Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
on Jami Gold:
If we’ve been part of the writing community for a while, we’ve probably come across some basic advice about cover design. Those of us who get a say into our covers—either because our publishers listen to us or because we self-publish—might have even paid attention to some of those tips. *grin*
But as with most aspects of writing, there’s always more to learn. I’ve talked before about finding cover artists and my struggle to find diverse cove...
August 17, 2019
Scottish history is not so sweet when it comes to slavery
[Many thanks to Dale Battistoli for sharing links to this article.] This post about the colonial Scottish presence in Suriname, is a shortened version of an academic article (see links below). David Worthington (Head of the Centre for History at the University of the Highlands and Islands)
explores Scottish participation in the slave plantation economy in this Caribbean South American country.
Our modern relationship with sugar is a less than happy one: an obesity crisis, mo...
August 11, 2019
11 Elements of Writing Noir
Writers Anon - Taunton's Writing Group
Noir has its roots in hardboiled fiction, such as Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. This detective fiction then influenced cinema and became film noir, developing the tropes we’re familiar with from Humphrey Bogart and co. Cinema then influenced fiction again to create noir fiction, which differs from hardboiled, as it doesn’t put the detective at the centre of the story.
There is more to noir than trilbys, trench coats and femme fatales, so let’s bre...
How Much to Show of Side Characters
by Doug Lewars
Consider a scene in which a CEO is meeting with some senior executives. Of interest to the story are a couple of individuals – say John and Frank. There are, however, say eight people in the meeting. Presumably we need to know something about the CEO but there are five who are minor characters. One way of handling the dialog is to use generalities
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