Deborah Adams's Blog, page 11

A Small Town Witch Teaches the Fine Art of Sorcery

No one listens to what she doesn’t say. That’s her art—the tacit spell. She can curse anyone without a word spoken, and this serves her well. Her specialty is justice, the distribution of retribution. Take the neighbor on the corner, the one who revs his monstrous truck’s engine when decent people are asleep, or should be. Tires go flat, fluids leak, belts fly off. No reason. Just happens.

She’ll tell you if you really want to know. You don’t, but she would. The secret of sorcery lies in plain si...

Erika Krouse – 3 Questions & a Cover

Question 1What books do you recommend for an aspiring writer?

The best book on characterization that I know is actually an acting book, Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen. It’s an excellent resource for really investigating characters and their motivations. But I still believe that you can learn more about writing a novel from a great novel, and ditto for memoir, short story, essay, etc. It’s a good practice to read a book you love several times and then figure out how they did what they did. How di...

Elizabeth Spann Craig – 3 Questions & a Cover

Question 1 Do you create elaborate outlines for your books? If so, can you explain the process (briefly)?

I’ve found that the more I outline, the easier it is to draft a book. It’s also much easier to revise it. The outlines for my mysteries run anywhere from fifty to eighty-five pages and are fairly detailed. They cover setting and character descriptions, introduce suspects and victims, and lay out clues and red herrings. One thing that’s been especially helpful is for me to label the da...

b.read.crumbs : Dancing

“I want you to enjoy freedom from fears and falsehood….”

Spiritual Tarot: Seventy-Eight Paths to Personal Development by Signe E. Echols, M.S., Robert Mueller, Ph.D., and Sandra A. Thomson

We’ve come to the end of the Major Arcana. This journey is complete, and now the journey begins again. Sometimes we travel by putting one foot in front of the other and moving from one place to another; sometimes we are limited by fences and borders. The World card reminds us that we can always dance within the ...

Claudia M. Stanek ~ 3 Questions & a Poem

3 Questions and a Poem–in which one of my favorite poets is interviewed and shares a poem.

Question 1What do you consider the three most important elements of a poem?

What is the poem’s message? One could argue that a poem does not have to have a message in order to be a poem. Think of extreme abstraction or surrealism. But even in the absence of an obvious message, what isn’t on the page can convey almost as much as what is. However, a good poem leaves the reader with at least a direc...

Claudia M. Stanek ~ 3 Questions & a Poem

Question 1What do you consider the three most important elements of a poem?

What is the poem’s message? One could argue that a poem does not have to have a message in order to be a poem. Think of extreme abstraction or surrealism. But even in the absence of an obvious message, what isn’t on the page can convey almost as much as what is. However, a good poem leaves the reader with at least a direction toward an intentional message, even if the reader is the one supplying it. The message is best if...

Writers have to beware

This morning’s edition of the Writer Beware newsletter reports that Writer Beware is being impersonated by trolls and scammers. Please take note:

The ONLY authentic Writer Beware email address is beware@sfwa.org.

“Writer Beware” emails from any other addresses are fake.

Arm yourself by reading the full post:

Dogging the Watchdog Redux: Someone Else is Impersonating Writer Beware

KB Ballentine ~ 3 Questions & a Poem

3 Questions and a Poem–in which one of my favorite poets is interviewed and shares a poem.

Question 1What do you consider the three most important elements of a poem?

Three important elements of a poem are the musicality of language, verb choice, and imagery.

One of the things that sets poetry apart from most prose (except in the cases where prose writers are also poets like Ron Rash) is language. There should be no extraneous words in a poem, and they should be the absolute best wo...

Maggie Gigandet – 3 Questions for a Freelance Writer & Blogger

A short interview wherein one of my favorite authors answers three questions about the writing life.

Question: What’s your Go-To source when you need inspiration?

My experiences in the Tennessee State Parks have been the inspiration for several articles. But I’ve found that the most important thing is to just get out there, do something fun, and start meeting people. I’m always pleasantly surprised at the article ideas that I happen upon simply because I was out of the house. 

Question:...

b.read.crumbs : Comforting

Key XIX The Sun

I drew The Sun card here at the end of October, when our sun—Earth’s own Star—is traveling low in the Northern Hemisphere sky. We’re heading toward the season of hibernation. This isn’t the time for the Sun to shine bright, not when autumn shadows soften the edges of summer. It’s not a reversal of the Sun, mind you, but a modification, a different aspect. This is a time for soft blankets and gently drifting leaves, for hot soup and warm spices. The harsh masculine energy o...