Terry Odell's Blog, page 312

Friday Field Trip--From our Windows

Last week, our Field Trip was to the mailbox. This week, we're staying even closer to home. Thanks to the Hubster, we've got some halfway decent shots of the local wildlife. Most were taken right through our windows. He's having a ball, especially watching the hummingbirds every evening. Broad-tail hummingbirdsKeep Reading... Mule deerGolden Mantled Ground SquirrelRed FoxAbert's squirrelPine

Adding Tension to the Mundane

Thanks to so many of you who went over to Author Expressions yesterday. If you didn't check my 'audition' post, you can find it here.While doing edits definitely qualifies as writing, yesterday was the first time in about 10 days that I've been able to sit down and work on the new WIP. I've tried once again to analyze my process.My basic premise in writing a scene is to decide what needs to

Mystery, Suspense and POV

What I'm reading: Almost Like Being in Love, by Christina DoddThanks to Rosemary Harris for being my guest yesterday. My editor received my revised manuscript and is working on it. With that off my plate, I'd planned on jumping back into my new WIP, but the hubster and I went all the way down the mountain and spent copious amounts of money on new everythings for the house. Eventually, they assure

Ripped From the Headlines

Today I'm pleased to welcome author Rosemary Harris to Terry's Place. One of the most frequent questions authors get asked is, "Where do you get your ideas?" Here's what Rosemary has to say about that. Ripped from the headlines is such a cliché these days. Can we go back to the much classier sounding roman a clef? Why is the RFTH label so compelling to editors, publishers, reviewers and, one

Which Way Next?

What I'm reading: Smash Cut by Sandra BrownHow much should you plan ahead? One of the first thing you learn when you're starting out is that nothing moves fast. You spend months—maybe longer—getting the manuscript ready to submit. Then it's time for queries. Agents might have response times of weeks or more for a query. You're lucky; you get a request for a partial. There's another month or more

Friday Field Trip - Down to the Mailbox

Sometimes there's beauty in our own backyards. Or at least right down the street. Our mailbox is located 0.7 miles from our house. There's more than a 200 foot elevation gain in that distance (Actually, most of it is in the first five minutes, but it's downhill that way. The killer is that last five minutes going back UP the hill.) At any rate, we gave it a test the other day, and took a few

The Discomfort Zone

Congrats to Lil, the winner of Karin Harlow's L.O.S.T mug. We're always talking about taking our characters out of their comfort zones, making them do things they don't want to do, making them face things they don't want to face. These are usually things that mark critical turning points in a book. The claustrophobic hero has to rescue someone from a cave. The guy with the snake phobia has to

There's Edits And Then There's Edits

First – thanks to Karin for being my guest yesterday. If you haven't read her post, or left a comment (there's a PRIZE, gang), Go. Do. It. Now. Winner announced Thursday, so there's still time today.As I mentioned, I got my edits for WHERE DANGER HIDES back from the editor late Sunday. I refrained from opening it until Monday; otherwise I might have been up all night, and done a sloppy job.She'd

What A Character!

Today I'm delighted to introduce the debut paranormal suspense author, Karin Harlow. Join me as we learn about her new series. And don't miss a chance to win the special prize she's offering. Read on.Recently I did a little traveling on family business. The airport we flew into was a first for me. On our approach, which seemed to take forever, took us directly through a city! A city with high

I'm Really a Normal Person

What I'm reading: Winter and Night by S.J. RozanI feel like a normal person. I mean, I don't have two heads, and although I have my quirks, I don't think they put me outside the box of what "everyday" people do. Yet the reaction when I tell people I'm a writer is always one of surprise and amazement.While at Barbara O'Neal's discussion group at the library last week, Barbara pointed out that in