Michelle McLean's Blog, page 53

Friday Funnies

Any fool can take a bad line out of a poem; it takes a real pro to throw out a good line.— Theodore Roethke


English usage is sometimes more than mere taste, judgment and education — sometimes it's sheer luck, like getting across the street.— EB White


Nobody wants to see the village of the happy people. — Lew Hunter

Thirty-three Word Thursday

An artist must approach his work consciously, but you are confusing two concepts: the solution of a problem and the correct formulation of a problem. Only the second is required of the artist. — Anton Chekhov
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What Did You Expect?

First of all, nope, no new words...my Potato Man says it all....



Buuuuut that will hopefully be changing today :D

Right now, I actually have a question for everyone out there...is your writer's life what you thought it would be? I know before I began this journey, before I decided to really start doing this "for real", for publication, I had this vision of what my life as a writer would be like.

And boy was I wrong LOL

I imagined myself putting my kids down for a nap or for bed, or sending them o...

Ten Word Tuesday

Writers should be read, but neither seen nor heard. — Daphne Du Maurier 
(makes me wonder what she'd think about all the social networking and platform building that goes along with being a writer today :D  )
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When Jumping the Gun Is Helpful

If you haven't checked out yesterday's post yet, make sure you do before you leave here! Michelle Davidson Argyle is celebrating the release of her novella Cinders with awesome style :) Scroll down to yesterday's post to check out our interview and enter to win some fabulous prizes!

So, how is everyone doing this fine Monday morning? I wasn't able to work on my book this weekend (I was too busy getting my butt handed to me by my mother during a few tense rounds of Bananagrams) - but I spent a ...

When Jumping the Gun Can Is Helpful

If you haven't checked out yesterday's post yet, make sure you do before you leave here! Michelle Davidson Argyle is celebrating the release of her novella Cinders with awesome style :) Scroll down to yesterday's post to check out our interview and enter to win some fabulous prizes!

So, how is everyone doing this fine Monday morning? I wasn't able to work on my book this weekend (I was too busy getting my butt handed to me by my mother during a few tense rounds of Bananagrams) - but I spent a ...

Cinders - An Interview with Author Michelle Davidson Argyle

Cinderella's happily-ever-after isn't turning out the way she expected.


With her fairy godmother imprisoned in the castle and a mysterious stranger haunting her dreams, Cinderella is on her own to discover true love untainted by magic.

I am very pleased to be kicking off the blog tour for Michelle Davidson Argyle, author of the recently released novella, Cinders. I was intrigued by this book. It looks at the story of Cinderella from a point of view that I had never thought of before, and answer...

Friday Funnies

If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second-greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they're happy. — Dorothy Parker 


It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head. — Audre Lord 


Some American writers who have known each other for years have never met in the daytime or when both were sober. — James Thurber (ha! or in "real life") ;-D

Thirty Word Thursday x 2

Dialogue isn't just quotation. It's grimaces, pauses, adjustments of…buttons, doodles on napkins…crossings of legs…People communicate…with their faces, their bodies, their timing…the objects around them. Makes this a full conversation. Not just the words part.Conversations are like icebergs…Most of their weight, their mass, their meanings are under the surface. Make your readers feel…what's above and…below, and you'll have a story. — Jerry Stern 
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Weird Facts Wednesday

While researching for my books, I come across a lot of weird and interesting facts. I have a file full of these little tidbits, kept forever in the slight chance I might find one useful in a story. I thought I'd share a few of them with you :)

- Lizzie Borden was actually acquitted of killing her parents with an ax (after only an hour of deliberation)

- the black box of an airplane is really bright orange

- ship captains (unless specifically ordained) can't legally perform marriages


- porcupines ...