Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 122
February 3, 2014
Did You Fall Off The Wagon with the Winter Writing Fest? Here’s How to Climb Back On!!
As happens every year, we’ve got lots of folks zooming along, joining the writing sprints, and racking up major word counts. (Woo-hoo for all of you!!!)
And we’ve also had folks fall by the wayside–knocked down by the flu, or unexpected five-rampaging-kids-at-home snow days, or a realization that, “No, I can’t really write 2000 words a day like...
February 2, 2014
TV or Not TV
I am so excited to introduce our guest blogger today, Pang-Ni (pronounced “Bonnie”) Landrum. “Writer. Mom. Food Truck Follower.” I’ve known Pang-Ni since high school, and she’s awesome in so many ways…but today, she’s awesome because she’s here to talk about writing for TV…or not.
TV or Not TV… Should that be the question?
As a writer who’s been fortunate to have made a career in television, I sometimes find myself falling for the cliche “the grass is always greener…,” thinking my life would so...
January 30, 2014
Winter Writing Festival: Check-In #3
Hellooooo Winter Writing Festival Particpants!
Do you know what’s even better than TGIF? WWFC! That’s right. Winter Writing Festival Check-in Day! Remember, you must check-in every Friday to qualify for the GRAND PRIZE at the end of the WWF.
It’s the day we get to ‘fess up. The day to spill our guts. The day to tell others how we did.
It’s also the day to win prizes. Yes, I said PRIZES! The day just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? Five lucky people will be randomly selected from today’s check-...
January 29, 2014
Name That Ruby
A few weeks back, Liz Talley and Kim Law did a post in which they invited us to guess which paragraphs had been written by each of them. It was a fascinating exercise in the power of voice. Your voice as a writer makes you distinctive and keeps readers coming back for more. For many of us, it’s not even conscious – just the way we put words onto paper, a natural extension of how we see the world. Ask three writers to write the same scene and you will get three very different voices.
Today we’r...
January 28, 2014
A Writer’s World
Have you ever gone for a walk in the early morning when no one is awake yet? The birds are quiet, no airplanes streak overhead, even the hum of the distant highway is muted? And for an instant you wonder if civilization has faded away somehow.
What would happen if suddenly every animal and human being were gone? Why? How? The spark of a story begins. As I traipse the waking neighborhood, I ignore the lights flicking on and the cars warming in the driveways, the kids walking to the bus stop and...
January 27, 2014
Ruby Tuesday: Tamara Hogan
Welcome, ladies and gents, to another edition of Ruby Tuesday, that day when we get a closer acquaintance with one of our Rubies. Today on the hot seat we have our paranormal wordsmith of the north Midwest, Ms. Tamara Hogan. Welcome, Tammy!
Name: Tamara Hogan
2009 GH Category & Title: Paranormal – Underbelly
What Happened to That Book: Published by Sourcebooks as TASTE ME
Website: www.tamarahogan.com
What subgenre(s) do you write? Paranormal romance.
When did you start writing? (And why?)
I wrote p...
January 26, 2014
Happy New Year — Take 2!
Are you ready for the Lunar New Year on Friday, January 31st?
I’ve barely recovered from the Gregorian New Year and here comes another one. But this is a good thing, right? Because if you’re already slipping on those New Year’s resolutions or didn’t get a chance to step out and party on New Year’s, well here’s your chance.
What I’ve always loved about Chinese/Vietnamese New Year is that it’s New Year’s, Mardi Gras, and Valentine’s Day all rolled into one. You clean out old debts, wear your shin...
January 23, 2014
Winter Writing Festival Check-In Friday!
Hello Winter Writing Festival Participants! Welcome to our second Check-in Friday! So…how did you do this week? Did you meet your goals? Did your muse come out to dance, making your fingers fly across the keyboard and the dialogue flow without your conscious thought? Or were your kids home, demanding sippy cups and play dates until you had to lock yourself up in the closet to sprint to the end of your daily word goal?
We want to know! So make sure to comment on this blog on the Ruby Slippered...
A Noun Is A Noun
We all know that a noun is the subject of a sentence and used to name a person, place or thing. And, in any line, the noun holds the main meaning. But nouns also have another function. They make the picture a writer desires to covey vivid. Let’s look at a few examples where I’ve changed up the nouns. 
1) The boat sailed through the port’s gate.
2) The ship sailed through the port’s gate.
3) The yacht sailed through the port’s gate.
The first sentence is bland. The reader could picture either a tw...
