Leesa Freeman's Blog, page 16
September 11, 2012
Conflict vs. Complexity
I read a wonderful blog the other day about killing your darlings, a Stephen King term (although it’s been around in some form forever, it’s just that the idea coming from the Master of Horror has a certain je ne sais quoi.) Anyway, the blog got me to thinking about what exactly what the difference [...]
September 2, 2012
Trust me, I’m a Writer
When you pick a non-fiction book, by definition you expect that book to be an “expert” in that subject. A self-help book is supposed to be written by some psychologist with a doctorate on human behavior, a book on training your dog ought to have been penned by some dog whisperer, and the author of [...]
August 20, 2012
Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Pasta with Chicken (Shawna’s Kitchen-Sink Pasta)
I love cooking – well, baking mostly – but it’s therapeutic to get in the kitchen and use my hands to create some culinary masterpiece that will nourish my family and friends. To take simple ingredients and combine them in just the right way to create something new, somehow allows my mind to release whatever [...]
August 1, 2012
On Indie Publishing
I am an indie writer. I admit this with a fair amount of anxiety, bordering of fear – the kind of deep, heart-pounding fear I get when contemplating heights and creepy clowns. Nevertheless, I am an indie writer. So why is that so damned scary to admit? Because I’m afraid I’m painting myself into a [...]
July 24, 2012
When is it done?
At my Critique Group recently someone posed the question, how do you know when your book is done, and I’ve been thinking about that question ever since. The truly neurotic answer is, it’s never done. You can always make it better, ad infinitum. And for the truly neurotic, I’m gonna guess there’s a certain amount [...]
July 19, 2012
On Character Development
I love my characters, mainly because they’re a mess. Running around creating havoc with their own lives, but usually trying their best to do better. Not unlike most of us, right? But figuring out exactly who these people are isn’t always easy. For some reason they tend to be shy, especially my secondary characters, and [...]
July 16, 2012
Editing, The Necessary Evil
I try to look at editing as a positive thing. Especially since no one is going to edit my writing but me – gone are the days when some benevolent editor in an ivory tower living off the love of literature and the Oxford comma happily took a red pen to manuscripts, happily re-crafting the [...]
July 10, 2012
Goodreads Book Giveaway – Win an Autographed Copy!
Goodreads Book Giveaway The Wisdom to Know the Difference by Leesa Freeman Giveaway ends July 21, 2012. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win
June 24, 2012
Be a Joiner!
I have a fabulous Critique Group of really talented writers, and I am absolutely grateful for them because their advice is invaluable as I’m writing. They see the holes in my story that I sometimes miss, they point out those fatal flaws that I never even noticed, but most of all, they know just how [...]
June 12, 2012
Running Around Naked
In The Wisdom to Know the Difference, Todd says something that tells you, dear reader, much of what you need to know about my religious beliefs. ”My dad, the incredibly liberal UU minister,” he says, “believed that because God created human beings, we each had a bit of His creativity in us. Like a wave [...]
