You Can't Get There from Here

I am currently writing a story for adults, and everything was going swimmingly until I was almost at the end of the story, but I didn't feel right about it.

This is usually when I go to a brainstorm document and just start talking to myself about the problem, the ideas for the solution and why they wouldn't work. That's when I realized that the reason my ending didn't feel right was because I hadn't set it up right.

In order for the ending to work, I had to plant these seeds earlier in the story, but I hadn't. That's probably why the story felt out of balance. I had building tension and things happening that needed to happen, but it wasn't enough. Although the story was good, the ending wasn't fitting because, basically, I couldn't get there from where I was.

I needed to go back to the beginning and start setting things up so that when this ending happened, it would totally make sense. Instead it was almost as if I had cheated and threw in something off the wall because I'm the writer, and I can do what I want.

Bottom line: the ending has to be set up from the beginning.

The Virtue of Boredom

I'm sure I'm showing my age to say that I came up in the kind of educational setting where you sat still, you listened, and you took notes. Most students today won't listen, can't sit still, and have no idea how to take notes, but it's not their fault.

I was one of the lucky ones. I had a high school teacher who had both chalkboards (again, showing my age here) full when we walked into class. When everyone had finished copying all of the notes on the first board and moved to the second one, he erased the board and continued adding more notes. That's how I really learned to outline.

Five Little Pumpkins

In art class last week, my classmate and teacher mentioned the game Red Rover. I said I hated that game. My art teacher and classmate said they always lost because you had to be big and strong. I said I pretended to have a nose bleed during recess so I wouldn't have to play. If there hadn't been an easel in the back of the kindergarten class, I might not have ever agreed to stay.

So what do Red Rover and kindergarten have to do with Five Little Pumpkins???

Absolutely nothing!

However, I do recall learning the poem Five Little Pumpkins in elementary school, where we also colored the pumpkins sitting on a fence with crayons and then painted the night sky with black tempera paint.

I love fall and ghost stories and cool weather and the holidays. Around fall, my urge to write seems to be stronger than any other time of the year, and I also like to write a scary story around Halloween. This year, inspired by the aforementioned poem, I wrote a middle grade story/e-book called Five Little Pumpkins, which is available on Amazon.

Something strange is going on in Ravenshadow, the exclusive neighborhood where Monica's friend Rusty wants to go on Halloween night. The candy is amazing, but does it come at a price? One thing is for sure in Ravenshadow: the residents are anything but normal. Five Little Pumpkins is a thrilling short story for middle-grade readers.

Growing a Story from a Seed

I was going to write this post about outlining a novel, but, as I am sitting here mulling it over, I realize I am thinking less about how to list things in the order in which you want them to occur and more about where ideas come from and how they evolve into a story. New writers or wannabe writers or people who can't even imagine writing often ask the question of authors: where do you get your ideas? The answers vary. Everywhere. Everything. Prayer and fasting. Magic.

Everything is Hard (or... Managing the Novel-Writing Project)

When it comes to writing, art, anything, I am notorious for biting off more than I can chew. It never fails that, at some point in every project, I am overwhelmed with the scale of the project and have doubts about being able to finish it.

For example, when I made decided to make a quilt for my daughter, like the idiot that I can sometimes be, I chose an intricate quilting pattern that would will take forever to finish.

Is Using a Pseudonym a Bad Idea?

When I decided to publish my books, I had to make a choice whether to use my real name or a pseudonym. I searched all over the Internet for advice to guide me in my decision. In the end, I used both, and I'll tell you why.

Why did I use a pseudonym?

First of all, I wanted to publish books for different age groups. I wanted to be free to try out different genres, and using pseudonyms gave me

Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to my official blog. I'm a writer of children's books. My book Winterborn, recently released on Amazon, is an enchanting middle grade fairy tale about a young girl who is trapped in a mansion and forced to work for the village witch. Inspired by Cinderella, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Snow Queen, the book is set in the days leading up to Christmas. It includes ghosts, witches, wizards, fairies, grimalkins, and more!

I'm also an artist.  Although I did not paint the picture on the cover of Winterborn, I did draw the pictures inside the book.

On this blog, I'll keep you up to date on Winterborn and all of my current projects. I'll also talk about books by other authors, the writing craft, and art. Stick around for a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the life of a writer and artist.