Barbara Fradkin's Blog, page 45

First Piece Published--What a Feeling.

 by Thomas KiesAs I was walking Annie, our dog, one morning, I thought about the first piece of fiction that I was lucky enough to have published.  It was a short story called Fast Dancing Detroit Style.  No, it wasn’t a mystery story.  It was horror—an erotic ghost story. I was paid $250, I was 26 at the time and I thought I was hot as a box of matches.After all.  I’d been published in Cavalier

Tucson Festival of BooksBy Johnny D. BoggsI have been swa...

Tucson Festival of BooksBy Johnny D. BoggsI have been swamped with deadlines, assignments and shoveling snow. But here’s some great news:March 4-5 is just around the corner.Because that weekend, I’ll be at the Tucson Festival of Books. For a writer, or a reader, there is no better place to be.If you haven’t been to Tucson for this festival, you are missing something special.I was invited to speak

Me, Too (Writing and Post-Covid)

Both Charlotte's and Donis's posts this week struck home with me. At the best of times, I procrastinate even when I have something I want to get done. The only thing I don't do this with is moving around odds and ins that I'm inspired to move around while flipping through home decorating magazines. I love those magazines even though I get sticker shock when I realize I picked up one with an

Me, Too

Both Charlotte's and Donis's posts this week struck home with me. At the best of times, I procrastinate even when I have something I want to get done. The only thing I don't do this with is moving around odds and ins that I'm inspired to move around while flipping through home decorating magazines. I love those magazines even though I get sticker shock when I realize I picked up one with an

There Are People Out There!

 I, Donis, am actually going to a conference next month! I'm signed up for Left Coast Crime in Tucson, AZ, in mid-March. This is the first time I've basically been out of the house since before the pandemic, and I certainly have not attended a large gathering like this in at least three years. I'm going this year because a) it's in Tucson, which is a 90 mile drive from where I live, and b) I'm

Road trip!

 Two weeks ago, I blogged about promotion and my upcoming in-person book launches in Toronto and Ottawa. As could be expected in Ottawa in early February, the weather did its best to sabotage both events. The day of the Toronto event, the city (indeed much of the eastern half of the country) was in the deep, deep freeze, with a brutal wind and temperatures not rising above -20 C (about -5 F) not

Creative Procrastination

 by Charlotte HingerMy all-time favorite way to avoid the onerous task of writing a novel used to be through excessive research. I really knew how to milk that one. But I was saved by a scoldy part of my brain that monitors such nonsense. The rescue was quite simple. I forced myself to write a quota of pages every day. Five pages a day, five days a week. After producing the five pages, I allowed

Writing Historical Mysteries

 by Sybil Johnson My comment on Thomas’ post on Monday was a suggestion to have a workshop on writing historical mysteries. That came to my mind for two reasons: (1) I’m working on trying to write one myself and (2) I attended a talk on Sunday given by Naomi Hirahara on the subject. I’ve known Naomi for over ten years. She’s a lovely person, great writer and has been a help to me a number of

Curses

by Charlotte HingerWriters are a superstitious lot. Curses that people put on our ability to write hold us back. Here are a few that "everyone" knows about writing.1.  You will never write another novel as fresh as the first one.     This one nearly did me in. I heard it from my best friend. Since I started so high on the totem pole and then had trouble selling my second book, it was easy to

Workshop Ideas, Please?

 By Thomas KiesOver the past few years, I’ve taught Creative Writing and Advanced Creative Writing classes at our local community college.  I love doing it because I love talking about writing, publishing, books, and storytelling.  The college has asked me to shake things up a bit for the spring and lead some workshops.  I’ve already reached out to the Carteret Writers Network and they’d like to