Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 248

What's Scary

My now eight year old daughter was in preschool for a couple of days a week to give me a break—and some time to do some writing. This always seemed to work out well for both of us.

Except when she was two. That's when separation anxiety kicked into high gear. Her poor teacher that year was a sunny, small, smiling, blonde mother of two. Mrs. Heinz would greet my daughter in a cheerful voice. My daughter would scream bloody murder and cling to me in a way that necessitated her being pulled ...

Reactions

Sunday morning I woke up with a stiff neck. Since Sunday was really busy for me, I just ignored it. I continued ignoring it the entire day…until I sat down to write this post and started thinking about it again.

But what if I weren't a busy mom? What if I were an Olympic athlete? I'd be devoting some time trying to resolve the problem. Maybe I'd take some ibuprofen (or maybe not—not sure about the drug testing there.) Maybe I'd put ice, then a heating pad on it. I'd be talking to my...

Indicators

I took a quick trip to South Carolina Friday and Saturday to see my folks and talk to Mama's book club.

On the way back home Saturday morning, I suddenly realized I needed to get gasoline…and was hungry. I pulled off the next highway exit into a small town that I'd passed on the interstate for years and never been to.

The highway sign had been misleading—yes, there was a Chick-fil-A fast food place there…three miles in. So I ended up driving through a good amount of the town's main...

Developing Our Story

Okay, y'all know I don't usually post a video. But this one, if you're a writer, will put a smile on your face if you have the time (1:58 length) :

The video features an editor trying to get a writer to change his manuscript—and coming up with confusing and bizarre storylines for the author to develop. The hapless writer is trying to make connections between his plot and the outlandish ideas the editor is dreaming up.

I've never had an editor act this way, of course—they're always...

On Revising

Today I'd like to welcome Bob Sanchez to the blog. Bob, a retired technical writer, has published two novels, When Pigs Fly and Getting Lucky. His blog is http://bobsanchez1.blogspot.com and is the webmaster and frequent reviewer for the Internet Review of Books at http://internetreviewofbooks.com.

Elizabeth asked me for a post on revising—not necessarily how to do it, but how I do it. Writing and revising aren't separate processes, but are closely bound together. Revising is writing...

Characters and Conflict

My third grade daughter brought a children's chapter book home from her school library a week ago. The book was about a fifth grader who decides that grades and standardized tests aren't accurate assessments of children's abilities and can make students feel stigmatized. The girl decides to make straight Ds on her report card.

I know…my eyebrows went up, too. :)

But she'd picked the book out herself, was excited about the novel, and was reading it carefully to take (ironically) a...

Making the Ordinary Extraordinary

My husband's sister and her husband live in Africa where they work as translators. My sister-in-law speaks French fluently and perfectly accented. Her husband speaks 5 or 6 languages, including Swahili.

For years they lived in Nairobi, Kenya. Life there; apart from election violence over a year ago, living in a guarded housing compound, and occasional run-ins with police (who aren't like our police); was pretty tame compared to life in their current home in Bunia, Congo. Congo hasn't...

BSP (Blatant Self-Promotion)

My upcoming Delicious and Suspicious will be released July 6, 2010, under my pen name Riley Adams. Just in time for the backyard grilling season! Here's the back cover copy:

Welcome to Aunt Pat's barbeque restaurant--family run and located in the heart of Memphis, Tennessee. Named in honor of Lulu Taylor's great aunt, the restaurant is known for its ribs and spicy corn bread, but now the Taylor family will be known for murder--unless Lulu can clear their name...

Rebecca Adrian came t...

The Bare Minimum

I get a lot of emails for different organizations that I either volunteer for or belong to. Sometimes I want to get out my highlighter and mark the information I need.


Frequently I'll get a page-long email with only one sentence that was actually important.


It's easy to get overwhelmed with information overload.
On one hand, it's wonderful to have so many writing resources and tips online.  When I was starting to seriously write (seven years ago), there wasn't enough information online.  Now th...

Arguing

I belong to a couple of Yahoo groups for cozy authors. One subject that's been hot on the boards lately is the way some authors argue with their readers on (mostly) Amazon.
It's almost like the social media phenomenon, which has resulted in a casual relationship with our readers via Facebook and Twitter, has gotten authors in the mood to fight back when a reader gives a negative review.
I think it's a really bad idea.
Usually, if a reader doesn't enjoy your book then they're honestly writing a...