I love films, but I confess to easily tiring of the cliched, humdrum, been-there-done-that fluff that Hollywood has a tendency to churn out at breakneck speed. I like my movies witty, clever, unusual, and if I’m being honest, just a little weird.
Or a lot weird.
That’s why indie flicks are my go-to. They stay with me longer, impact my life in a deeper way, make me flinch, make me laugh, and make me think.
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Sometimes we Christians are a funny bunch. I wish we could say everyone is laughing with us, but sometimes if we’re honest, everyone is laughing…
… um, next to us.
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You’ve done it. You’ve given birth, essentially, to a two-pound, emotion-ridden, baby book. It took years from start to finish to create this little guy; years of blood, sweat, and tears.
So many tears.
From the ground up, you built a world, breathed life into it, filled it with characters, laughter, death, adventure, and love. From the depths of your soul and your heart and your mind, you created something.
And now, in their free time, after spending an hour or two with it, someone rips it to shreds.
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You can’t judge a book by its cover.
~ someone less judgy than I.
Well, we can and we do judge books by their covers. Cover art is so important. Just like we eat with our eyes first, we get immersed in a story with our eyes first as well.
At least, most of the time anyway. The only time I don’t pay any attention to the cover on a book is when it’s an author I know darn well I adore. Even then, if the cover is bad, I tend to cringe before cracking it open.
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Series that grip you, grab you, consume you – heck, take over your life – don’t come around all that often. Luckily for you, my chickens, I’ve been reading since I was but a wee bairn. Long enough to come up with a list for you when you’re suffering from a bad case of droughtlander.
You. Are. Welcome.
And if you’ve been living under a rock, the Outlander series of novels is seven, soon to be eight we hope, books series by talented best-selling author, Diana Gabaldon. Already hugely popular, it gained a whole new fanbase when Starz picked it up as their new baby. The Outlander fandom is a force to be reckoned with. We know our kilts from our porritch, ye kin?
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When I was young – back in the olden days, by crikey – I longed for a pony. My longing would not be fulfilled by roly-poly bugs named Juan, or stray cats that refused to cuddle, or the occasional frog that was captured, named, snuggled, and played dead at all the wrong times.
You can’t even purchase saddles for pets that small, for goodness sake, much less ride off into the sunset, ponytails waving in the breeze.
No, what I needed was a pony. A mighty steed, a classy mount, a real life, by golly, horse. One that I could tie my saddlebags filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to, and gallop off to have amazing adventures. Read more
A short story in three parts.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
“Mrs. Lemon, I do believe you’re crazy.”
“No, no, not crazy! Just rather inventive. And creative, too. I’ve always been creative, I think, it’s just that I’ve never really shown it much. I think I’ve been holding myself back. I never really knew what kind of good ideas I could come up with until now.”
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A short story in three parts.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
Bored to death, she thought, and it gave her a strange and wonderful idea.
You see, that morning of the idea she had found lipstick on the collar of Charles’ best button-up, the one he only wore for special occasions and yet had worn for no good reason just the day before, and he had smelled strange, like someone else’s perfume, and he had whistled – whistled! – in the kitchen before work. Charles never whistled, hadn’t whistled in years and years, and she knew right then, that she – his wife – was not the cause of it. Read more
A short story in three parts.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three
“It is the best time for a ghost story,” said Nick. “Or at least, that’s what the living would say.”
“Yes, but they never get anything right.” Belinda grumbled. She wound a strand of curly blonde hair around her finger, and crossed and uncrossed her ankles impatiently, as though she couldn’t sit still. “It’s so overly dramatic, with the stroke of midnight and the screeching of the owls and the thunder and all that.” Read more
Getting inspired with a plot is wonderful, outlining is fun, beginning is exciting, but one thing that’s important to know before you get too far into the writing process is how long should your novel be? While of course some rules are just begging to be broken, you might find these guidelines helpful to know.
Let’s break it down.
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