Linda K Sienkiewicz

Writing life, line by line

Beyond the Easy Gestures in Fiction

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Oh, those flashing eyes! The other day, I laughed when I read the recent tweet of a fellow writer: “There's a lot of 'flashing eyes' in this draft. Need to fix.” Our fictional characters certainly do flash their eyes. They also roll them, grind their jaws, blink, sneer, grimace, and smile in varying degrees from crookedly to unabashed. They shrug, cross their arms, tremble, and shake their … [Read more...]

Sacral Torsion and back pain

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Back pain is more than a nuisance. It’s horrible to get up from a chair or out of the car to find yourself unable to stand straight. My back pain began in 2011. I don't know what made me thought I could lift, or even drag, an oversize duffle bag packed with magazines and books with one arm, but that's what I tried. Full stop. The bag didn't even budge. Instead, it was me that gave way. … [Read more...]

The Joy of Meeting with Book Clubs

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The Joy of Book Clubs: As an author, a great way to foster a relationship with your readers is through book clubs.  Readers at book clubs are incredibly sincere, and they are thrilled to meet with a real life author. It’s quite an ego boost. They want to know about your inspiration, your approach to writing, how you create characters, how long it took you to write your book, how you got … [Read more...]

Boredom and Creativity

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"Creative people need time to just sit around and do nothing." ~ Austin Kleon My 10 year old granddaughter flopped next to me on the couch and stared at the ceiling. "Hey, how are you doing?" I asked. She sighed. "Fine. I'm just bored." "That's okay," I told her. "It's not a bad thing to be bored." She gave me a funny look. I tried to explain that boredom can be a meaningful … [Read more...]

Bar Jokes and Grammar

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What's better than bar jokes for English majors, grammar nerds and writers? When they also serve as mini grammar lessons! These jokes are all over the internet, and unfortunately I couldn't find the author. But here they are for you, with my lessons. A dangling participle walks into a bar. Enjoying a cocktail and chatting with the bartender, the evening passes pleasantly. A dangling … [Read more...]