Pamela Love's Blog, page 7
September 22, 2014
Inspiration
Did you know that "blog" spelled backwards is "golb"? Of course, that doesn't have any significance whatsoever, but it is an example of how a writer thinks.
Writers are always on the lookout for inspiration--for a new manuscript, or for a scene or even just a line in one they're currently working on. Wordplay--reversing or finding anagrams in common terms--can lead to new plot points. Now, I don't at the moment see how "golb" could be turned into something I can work with, but the next word I transform just might.
Writers are always on the lookout for inspiration--for a new manuscript, or for a scene or even just a line in one they're currently working on. Wordplay--reversing or finding anagrams in common terms--can lead to new plot points. Now, I don't at the moment see how "golb" could be turned into something I can work with, but the next word I transform just might.
September 21, 2014
Word Count
Tweets can be only 140 characters. A blog post can be any length. Is it ethical to have a blog post shorter than a tweet? Or does it cheat the reader? Is it a sign of laziness on the blogger's part?
Haiku are generally supposed to be seventeen syllables. (Yes, I know there are exceptions.) Can a blog post have fewer than that?
I'm used to writing for children's magazines which have strict word counts. Blogging is a whole new world...
Haiku are generally supposed to be seventeen syllables. (Yes, I know there are exceptions.) Can a blog post have fewer than that?
I'm used to writing for children's magazines which have strict word counts. Blogging is a whole new world...
September 19, 2014
Talk Like a Pirate
It's Talk Like a Pirate Day. I'm married to someone who dressed up as one to scare people in a haunted house one Halloween. "Me treasure! Arr! Me treasure!" he yelled, waving a plastic sword over a "treasure chest" filled with "gold" coins.
Well, of course he knew they weren't gold, but after the haunted house was over, he picked one up to eat the chocolate that he figured was inside. It wasn't chocolate, it was gum. Not even good gum, by gum.
Talk about Trick or Treat!
Well, of course he knew they weren't gold, but after the haunted house was over, he picked one up to eat the chocolate that he figured was inside. It wasn't chocolate, it was gum. Not even good gum, by gum.
Talk about Trick or Treat!
September 18, 2014
Children's Novels: Fantasy vs. Reality
Recently, I published my first novel, The Pegasus Potential. While it took over a year to complete, I always knew how to proceed. How it would end, that is, how the protagonist's problems would be resolved, was clear to me from the beginning.
Now, I'm working on my second novel, The Blame Game. Unlike my first, it's a realistic novel set in the present day, not a fantasy set in some unspecified past. I'm finding it much more difficult, because the protagonist's main problem, I now realize, is an emotional one. It's not something that can be easily fixed with an action, as in The Pegasus Potential. Furthermore, resolving his problem depends on another person.
Now, I'm working on my second novel, The Blame Game. Unlike my first, it's a realistic novel set in the present day, not a fantasy set in some unspecified past. I'm finding it much more difficult, because the protagonist's main problem, I now realize, is an emotional one. It's not something that can be easily fixed with an action, as in The Pegasus Potential. Furthermore, resolving his problem depends on another person.
September 16, 2014
Hide and Seek
When I was teaching my toddler son to play "Hide and Seek", I couldn't get him to hide from me. I'd look around saying, "Where are you?" way over his head.
"I'm right here!" he'd yell, tugging on my hand.
Then I started picking up teddy bears, toy trucks, etc. "Are you under here? Are you under there?"
He thought Mommy was hilarious.
"I'm right here!" he'd yell, tugging on my hand.
Then I started picking up teddy bears, toy trucks, etc. "Are you under here? Are you under there?"
He thought Mommy was hilarious.
September 15, 2014
Fudge
I once described a flourless chocolate cake to my husband by describing it as "glorified fudge".
He said, "Fudge needs no glorification."
Once I made fudge and offered it to a toddler. He didn't know what it was and we had some trouble getting him to try it--the first time.
After that, he brought my husband (who was holding the bowl of fudge) a toy firetruck. He held it out, obviously intending to "swap" the equally desirable items.
He said, "Fudge needs no glorification."
Once I made fudge and offered it to a toddler. He didn't know what it was and we had some trouble getting him to try it--the first time.
After that, he brought my husband (who was holding the bowl of fudge) a toy firetruck. He held it out, obviously intending to "swap" the equally desirable items.
September 14, 2014
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
I often rowed at camp. (I wasn't really "into" swimming.) Maybe because most of the other campers were in the "swimming" lake, not the rowing one, nobody ever told me that you're supposed to row backwards. I always went forwards.
The only person I remember seeing rowing before I started was someone in a Marx Brothers comedy called "Horsefeathers". She was going backwards, but it was a comedy, right?
The only person I remember seeing rowing before I started was someone in a Marx Brothers comedy called "Horsefeathers". She was going backwards, but it was a comedy, right?
September 13, 2014
Cover of The Pegasus Potential
The cover artwork was done by ebooklaunch.com. They were very helpful.
Earworm in action
Went for a walk today on a nearby walking/biking path. Heard a mother pushing a jogging stroller chanting to her toddler, "We're gonna go home soo--oon! We're gonna go home soo--oon." She passed another family, and suddenly their boy was echoing, "We're gonna go home soo-oon!"
Moments later, my son was doing the same. "We're gonna go home soo--oon!"
Moments later, my son was doing the same. "We're gonna go home soo--oon!"
September 10, 2014
It's Not Just Cell Phones
Authors often complain that the existence of cell phones means that characters in danger can summon help too easily, unless the author makes the character lose the phone, or puts him/her in a location without cell phone reception, or has the battery run out.
I'm working on a novel in which the family doesn't have a television, and so should miss some vital information, except that they can stream it over a computer. Luckily (for me, not them) they don't have Wifi.
I suspect we're going to see more books set in the 1980's so as to avoid this problem.
I'm working on a novel in which the family doesn't have a television, and so should miss some vital information, except that they can stream it over a computer. Luckily (for me, not them) they don't have Wifi.
I suspect we're going to see more books set in the 1980's so as to avoid this problem.
