Terry Odell's Blog, page 322
January 21, 2010
RIP Robert B. Parker
Although I've joined the Twitter set, I haven't really found that it's something I want to spend hours a day tracking. I've yet to figure out the nuances. I have under 200 followers, and even filtering for those who I find have useful or interesting things to say, I can't imagine reading all those tweets. What do the people with thousands of followers do? Aside from finding some interesting blog
January 20, 2010
Who Needs Directions?
What I'm reading: Hard Rain, by Barry EislerThanks, Randall, for being my guest. You've given me a wake-up call too. Time to stop procrastinating and start submitting. Where to start? Way back when, when I was in school, teachers would give a test to see if you could follow directions. You've probably seen them. You're told that you have to finish within a specific time limit, which seems all too
January 19, 2010
Wake Up Out There
Today I welcome aspiring mystery author Randall LaBranche, who has some good advice for all of us, whether it relates to writing or not. I met Randall at the Y, where he wouldn't let me get away with cheating on the upper body machine I hated. But he would chat while I biked, which kept my mind off the workout tedium.Thanks to Terry for giving me the opportunity to contribute an article to Terry'
January 18, 2010
A Day ON, NOT a Day OFF
What I'm reading: The First Rule, by Robert CraisBefore I forget -- I'm doing the clone thing today. I'm over at author Karin Tabke's blog, The Write Life, talking more about character inspirations. Please visit! But don't forget to come back.I was going to continue talking about how we can use frustrations to put our characters into conflict-ridden situations, but in light of the aftermath of
January 15, 2010
We have a winner
The winner for Marie-Nicole Ryan's drawing is Wendy Qualls.Congratulations, Wendy! Wendy is the winner of her choice of Marie-Nicole's e-books. Please e-mail Marie-Nicole with your choice at: marie AT marienicoleryan. DOT com. Also inlcude your choice of format. You can view her books by going to http://marienicoleryan.com. Please be warned Marie writes a variety of heat levels from average
Friday Feature - a Tropical Getaway
Welcome to my new Friday Field Trip Feature - How about a tropical getaway to warm things up. Even though we're supposed to be reaching more 'normal' temperatures in the 70's, it's been super cold for Florida for almost two weeks. Normal cold snaps are more like two to three days, so I'm sharing pictures from a trip to Hawaii, specifically Haleakala on Maui, and the Molokai Ranch Resort.Since
January 14, 2010
That Magic Decoder Ring
How do you read? Decoding or Sight Words? And yes, this will get to a 'writing' topic, so hang in there. Please.When I volunteer for the Adult Literacy League, training new tutors, one of the things we discuss is how people learning to read must be able to decode the markings on the page into meaningful words, sentences, and paragraphs. There are many ways we do this.What does a reader do when
January 13, 2010
Confronting the Unexpected
What I'm reading: Rain Fall, by Barry EislerThanks to Marie Nicole for sharing her story. There's still time to leave a comment on her post to enter the contest for a copy of her book. Scroll down. I'll still be here.What's been going on in Florida started me thinking about disruptions, and how we deal with them. We spend a lot of time getting to know our characters so we'll know how they'll
January 12, 2010
Courage and Commitment
Today I'm pleased to welcome another animal lover, author Marie-Nicole Ryan to Terry's Place.. Are you afraid of adopting a dog with major issues? See what happened when Marie gathered her courage and adopted a Sheltie. And be sure to leave a comment because she's giving away one of her books.First of all, let me thank Terry for giving me the opportunity to talk about my favorite subject, Cassie
January 11, 2010
Dealing with Feedback
What I'm reading: Stand-In Groom, by Suzanne BrockmannSomeone once said, a camel is a horse designed by a committee.As readers, we all have different tastes. There's no such thing as a universal "great" book. I'm seeing that now that hubby is home all the time. He's asking for book recommendations. His preference would be mystery over romance, so I've suggested authors. He's sampling them, and
