At the Rochester Spotlight on the Arts show, I saw something I’d never seen before: Authors, sitting in a booth with their books stacked in front of them on a table. There was a Michigan mystery writer, a young adult writer, and a children’s writer. Children’s author, Dana Lehman had a large, professionally printed banner hanging behind her: “Award Winning Children’s Author,” stacks of her … [Read more...]
Bad Character: BAD MARIE
If you like dark stories with flawed narrators who go to frightening extremes, Bad Marie, by Marcy Dermansky is for you. As a writer, I learned much from studying the main character, Marie. After spending 6 years in prison for helping her bank-robbing lover evade the law, Marie is hired by her best friend, Ellen, as a live-in nanny for her toddler daughter, Caitlin. It’s a situation that “would … [Read more...]
What Makes a Good Agent
Hands-on After a complete reordering of my novel, which resulted in the deletion or streamlining of several scenes, and the writing of additional scenes and subsequent transitions… and then rewriting two major scenes as my agent suggested… and THEN softening the narrator’s stance toward her mother…and much honing, sweating and worries, I submitted the manuscript back to my agent for review. I am … [Read more...]
When You’re Strange
It’s no secret to those who know me well that Jim Morrison is an obsession of mine, as well as an influence on my writing and art (see Linda + Jim Interview). My poetry chapbook, Dear Jim, is based on a poem that's actually a letter to him, apologizing for my (then) crush on Russell Crowe. I created a piece of art with Jim’s image, Angel in Death, that was used in the indie film Celebrities in … [Read more...]
A Writing to Writers Campaign
In "Making a Literary Life," Carolyn See suggests a campaign of writing one letter of praise or appreciation to a writer every day. She envisions white envelopes crisscrossing in the sky like sailboats of praise to solitary writers. Or something like that. I’m paraphrasing. But isn’t is a wonderful idea? I believe the rewards are great, even if only one out of five or ten authors ever respond to … [Read more...]