Terry Odell's Blog, page 50

Weather … or Not

Weather … or Not

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

Weather can be used to set the mood, be a portent of things to come. We attribute human emotions and behavior to the weather with things like whispering winds and sullen clouds. (Points if you know the term for this.)

There are those who say opening a book with the weather violates one of Elmore Leonard’s “rules” but the rest of that rule is often omitted. It says (bold is mine):

“Never open a book with weather. If it’s only to create atmosphere,...

“Sadie’s” Tomato-Spinach Soup

Many of my books include food in some way or another. Characters cook for each other, go out to eat, or even run a cooking school. Since I’ve had requests to post recipes from time to time on this blog, I thought I’d share one from Finding Sarah. Sarah often eats at Sadie’s. One of her favorite things for lunch is their Tomato-Spinach Soup. Here’s my version, which is quick and easy. Perfect with a grilled cheese sandwich.

“Sadie’s” Tomato-Spinach Soup

Ingredients
Vegetable cooking spray
1 ½ te...

There’s Always Something To Do

There’s Always Something To Do

Work on the manuscript slowed this past week, for a variety of reasons. Since my date to turn in the book isn’t until November, I wasn’t stressed. Sometimes you need to step back and find a solution to a tricky plot point. Or decide whether that point is needed at all. Or you’re waiting for someone to get back to you, and you don’t want to move forward until you get the answer. Or your son shows up with anniversary gifts and you visit for several hours. However, t...

Anniversary Day Off

I’m taking a day off. Yesterday was our anniversary. Hubster ordered a cake.

And don’t you think our son brought a very appropriate gift?

 

Meanwhile, there are only a few days left to take advantage of deep discounts on 12 of my audiobooks.

Deeply Discounted Audiobooks

Available Now.
Trusting Uncertainty, Book 10 in the Blackthorne, Inc. series.
You can’t go back and fix the past. Moving on means moving forward.

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Using Automated “Editing”—A Second Look

Using Automated “Editing”—A Second Look

Image by Christian Plaza from Pixabay

While I would never trust my manuscript to an automated editing program, I decided to take another look at one I tried when it first came out. Back then, I uploaded a chapter and the program reported something like 27 “errors”. Only one of them was an actual error, and it was one of those “could be right” sentences. I reported on that here.

I still rely on SmartEdit, which I do NOT use for grammar. That program shows m...

Time and Structure

Time and Structure

Keeping track of time in my books is something I forget to do all too often. I’m getting better at including it in my scene summary spreadsheets, but I still have to remind myself to go back and make sure my characters don’t have breakfast after lunch, or go to bed after breakfast. My spreadsheets give me the story day—until there’s a need for a specific day of the week, I tend to call them Day 1, 2, 3, etc. Given the current manuscript takes place on a cattle ranch, I haven’t...

More Dark and Stormy Nights

More Dark and Stormy Nights

It’s time for the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest winners. And, of course, the dishonorable mentions.

For those who might be unfamiliar with it, here’s the skinny from their website.

“Since 1982 the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest has challenged participants to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written. The whimsical literary competition honors Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel Paul Clifford begins with “It was a dark and ...

Suggested for Me? Why?

Yes, I have a Facebook account. I have my personal profile (only my family and people I know/have had personal contact with can see my posts) and an author page where I regularly post a Word of the Day game, and a meme I’ve found funny. From time to time I share phishing scam emails, or other things that make me stop and think. Oh, yes, and news about the book I’m working on, new releases, and other “writing” type stuff. All in all, I scroll through my news feed two or three times a day, mostly ...

Are you Triskaidekaphobic?

What’s in a Number?

Are you Triskaidekaphobic? Or just Paraskevidekatriaphobic?

The first refers to a fear of the number 13.  It’s common enough, which is why hotels often don’t have a 13th floor (but of course they do, it’s simply labeled 14), and some airlines don’t have a 13th row. This isn’t a universal fear, however.

In Italy, 17 is supposed to be an unlucky number. Tetraphobia, fear of the number 4 — (phonetically similar to ‘death’) in Korea, China, and Japan, as well as in many East-Asi...

Insider Information

Insider Information

Image by stephanie brousse from Pixabay

Do you ever feel like an author is giving insider information to readers—things that the author thinks they would know, but maybe they don’t?

I finished a book recently, where one of the protagonists was a singer, and the other was a music buff. One of the recurring events in the book was when the would text each other a “Song of the Day” to show how their day had gone. They gave title and artist.

As a reader, I was lost. In that entire...