Molly Ringle's Blog, page 8

Are you writing correctly about the moon?

Since I keep seeing things in stories like a full moon rising in the middle of the night, or a “waning” moon showing up at sunset, or the points of the crescent moon pointing toward the sun in the sky, I figured it was time to write this brief guide. Because none of those things are astronomically possible if you are writing about planet Earth as we know it.

This doesn’t matter very much, I know. But the small section of the population who does notice moon phases, and/or are...

Seeking Britpicker

Hi all!

So: I have a completed contemporary male/male love story (95,000 words, rom-com/coming-of-age) that has undergone some beta-reading, but what it still needs is a Britpicker. Though from the POV of an American, the story takes place partly in London and has plenty of English characters. (Yes, this is the one about Sinter, for those of you who've been around this journal a really long time.) So if anyone with London (or at least UK) linguistic instincts is willing to go through it for ac...

Mistress Mary Quite Contrary...

I am finally reading The Secret Garden, one of my all-time childhood favorites, to my own kids. I've been almost reluctant to do so, since I wasn't sure they'd like it, but I'm pleased to find they do so far, and that the writing has held up wonderfully over time. It's crisp and wry and intriguing, and a delight to read aloud.



It's no wonder I love it, since as many people have noted, it's essentially Jane Eyre for children--lonely girl arriving at big house on the...

Headspace voucher

I have a voucher for three free months of Headspace, if anyone wants it. I've been using the app for a few months and liking it. (Last year I used Calm, and liked that too. There are a lot of helpful mindfulness-and-meditation apps out there, I wager.)

Let me know if you're interested in the voucher!

Please go say something nice about something someone did.

Can you do something for me, world? Go out there and write a positive review about something you liked, in a place where everyone can see it, or at least where the creator of the thing you liked can see it. Your review could be for a book, a music album, a cool thing you bought on Etsy, you name it. Or, if you’d rather, compliment someone in person for something they did that you appreciate. Positive reviews only, today.

I get the feeling that the collective mood of the world lately is&...

Dreamwidth

All right, yep: come find me at Dreamwidth. I paid for a permanent LJ account years ago, but I suppose I've gotten my money's worth by now. If they shut me down for my slash content, so be it!

Links to elsewhere I can be found

Just in case we all decide to abandon LJ, here are some other places you are welcome to find/follow me...

I've been backing up this LJ here at Blogspot for a few years now. Suppose that will become my main blog if I ever choose to delete this one. (I have no plans to at the moment, but there you go, just in case.)

I am on Instagram now as well, just for fun and pretty pictures.

I have a Facebook author page though I continue to despise Facebook for so many, many reasons.

I'm on Twitter a...

Favorite nature scents?

On the Facebook fragrance forum I like to browse (one of the only things I still use Facebook for anymore), someone recently asked: what are everyone's favorite nature (i.e., non-perfume) scents?

My answers off the top of my head:

Petrichor! (Rain on ground, especially warm ground that has been dry a while.)

Fresh cut grass but also certain varieties of grass and/or moss and/or other ground cover--I've never quite placed what it is, but certain grassy fields smell so sweet and warm. A co...

Happy chocolate - er, Valentine's - Day!

Everyone knows what Valentine's Day is really about: chocolate!

I ran a search on my books, and predictably enough, nearly all of them mention chocolate. Some examples:

Summer Term:
He set down the glass, thought a moment, and said, “I would like to make chocolate chip cookies.”

Persephone’s Orchard:
Adrian peeled the plastic wrap from the brownie, broke it in half, and handed the larger section to her.

Immortal’s Spring:
Must be the scents and nourishment of a proper...

14 days of writing tips, Day 14: Listen to your critique team

14.     Listen to your critique team.

When you’ve acquired beta readers (or alpha readers, or critiquers, or whatever their chosen label is), and they’ve read your rough draft and sent you their thoughts, now is the time to exercise gratitude, as all the self-help books urge lately. Believe me, I know from experience that it’s nerve-racking to hand over your literary concoction to other people and open yourself up to anything they might say about it. But...