Sue Bradford Edwards's Blog, page 35

Do You Support an Indie Bookstore? Day is 4/29

For those of you unfamiliar with this term, an independent or indie bookstore is a bookstore that is independently owned. It is a small business. I always feels like I’m preaching to the choir when I post about indie bookstores, but then I discover that there are writers and readers who don’t support their local … Continue reading Do You Support an Indie Bookstore? Day is 4/29 →

How Many Sources Will I Need?

“How many sources will I need?” This is a question that I never know how to answer. I’ve written book with 10 or 20 sources. But for this particular project I’m up to 134 with 11 spreads still to rough. After that, I get to revise the whole book which normally adds still more new … Continue reading How Many Sources Will I Need? →

Picture Books to Study: A Review of Woven of the World

If you are someone who is writing picture books, Woven of the World by Katey Howes and illustrated by Dinara Mirtalipova is a book that you need to study. And I don’t use the word study lightly. This is a book that needs to be savored. It needs to be experienced multiple times to completely … Continue reading Picture Books to Study: A Review of Woven of the World →

When Do You Stop to Do Research?

Yesterday I wrote about a letter I composed as part of a class exercise. I wanted it to sound like it has been composed in 1876. In reading letters actually composed during that time, I got a feel for the language, both individual words and how sentences would be spun. But what I didn’t get … Continue reading When Do You Stop to Do Research? →

Imitating the Past

One of the assignments in my course on writing historical fiction and time travel fiction involved “forging” historic documents. It sounds edgy, doesn’t it? But what the author meant was that we needed to write a letter, an article or some other piece that sounded like something written in the past. For my first attempt, … Continue reading Imitating the Past →

Reading My First Novel

When you write for young readers, a lot of time is spent discussing what words you shouldn’t use and what concepts are TOO much. It is a concern but it is one we tend to overemphasize. When kids read up, they filter out a lot. A group of us were discussing the LGBTQIA characters in … Continue reading Reading My First Novel →

Writing Someone Else’s Story

As I was drafting my cozy, I included a scene that took place on the bottoms. That’s an area here where I live. Actually we have two bottoms. One is named for the river, the Missouri Bottoms. The other is the Columbia Bottoms. In my region these are areas of farmland. Spring floods and the … Continue reading Writing Someone Else’s Story →

Why You Need a Critique Group

Yesterday I had a critique group meeting. I was kind of bummed because I meant to have a new manuscript. I had drafted it, but it was flat, blah, and boring. It wasn’t the awesome idea I had had in my head. Several of us stuck around after the meeting. One of them asked me … Continue reading Why You Need a Critique Group →

Manifestation: What It Is and Isn’t

I’m going to be upfront. When I hear people talk about manifestation, I battle not to roll my eyes. Don’t get me wrong. Setting goals is vital. Visualization can help. And I really do believe that like attracts like. But the way many people practice manifestation gives me the willies. It’s like they think they … Continue reading Manifestation: What It Is and Isn’t →

Best Vacation Reads

I had to laugh when a friend suggested this as a blog topic. I don’t read different books in the summer than I do the rest of the year. But I do remember one very memorable book selection process. I was probably about 12 when I was out of school for the entire week before … Continue reading Best Vacation Reads →