Starlog

  • Lesson Twenty-Two from a Manuscript Red Line: Does your Protagonist “Grow Enough?”

     2015 comment: Pay careful attention to this one. I think this is one of the most frequently missed aspects in first drafts and first manuscripts. There has to be a reason for your story. Your character must “Grow”. In the closing comments of the Gold Mine Manuscript, the Publisher who red-lined it noted that the… Read more

  • Sometimes, no matter how tight the deadline, you need to just stop and pick up a pencil

    Sometimes, no matter how tight the deadline, you need to just stop and pick up a pencil

    I thought I was home free when I got a one month extension on my deadline. I even used one day of my Writer’s Retreat weekend to start a new project. But now, with one more week to go on that deadline, I’m getting a little nervous. It’s over-used words. They are killing me. It… Read more

  • The scary, but exciting journey of starting something new

    The scary, but exciting journey of starting something new

    Last weekend, after spending over a year writing the Fire in the Woods Series, I jumped into unknown territory. I started writing something brand new. It suddenly struck me that the last two novels I’d written were contracted before I’d even written them. There was no query process. No doubt. No decisions to make (other… Read more

  • Lesson Twenty-One from a Manuscript Red Line: Common, and Cliché Themes

    This one made me laugh.  There is a point in the Gold Mine manuscript where a secondary lead character finds out that someone is his father.  His reaction is “You’re . . . my . . . father?” (minor action element for dramatic effect). “My father?” What made me laugh is that the publisher said… Read more

  • Writer’s Retreat! Woo-hoo!

    Just a quick wave “hi” on the way to my writer’s retreat.  I’m heading back up to internet-free woods of PA to an old house in the middle of nowhere where for three days, without interruption:   NOTHING BUT WRITING I am totally ready to sit back, relax, and open myself up to a brand… Read more

  • Lesson Twenty from a Manuscript Red Line: Don’t make things so easy

    For an intro into where these tips are coming from, please see my post: A Full Manuscript Rejection, or a Gold Mine?  You can also click “Rant Worthy Topics” in my right navigation bar.  Choose “Gold Mine Manuscript” to see all the lessons to date. In the Gold Mine Manuscript, there is a point where… Read more