Scenes of storm-crushed daffodils
You have probably heard the saying that Ireland often has all four seasons in any one day. This is often true, and it certainly has been true this week. To a point. The problem, this week, is that three out…
The secrets we keep
First! Exciting news: The cover for Dear Isobel is done!! Following on from last week, everything came together so well, and with the combined efforts of people in four different countries across the globe, we have the most beautiful cover…
Judge the book
Things have been moving along quickly this week. We’ve been giving serious thought to the cover of Dear Isobel. Some parts of it are easy – I have a friend who is a photographer, and he, being a photographer, knows…
A Tough Edit
We had some more tree work done yesterday. One of the reasons we fell in love with our property is that is has lots of huge and very mature trees. However, over the years, we have learned that old trees…
Losing Wilf
I’ve had a mad morning. My Friday lessons are usually smooth and easy and fun, but this week sees the culmination of the Chinese New Year celebrations and many of my students are either back in school, or about to…
A Flash of Inspiration
Hello! Happy Friday! (I have to admit, Fridays aren’t too special for me, as I work over the weekend at my teaching job, but hopefully you are all enjoying a Friday feeling.) I’ve been thinking a bit more about where…
Happy Chinese New Year
Today is the first day of the Chinese New Year, or the lunar year. It seems like a nice opportunity to talk about my other job – the one where I am not primarily a writer, but a teacher –…
Choices and Rules
I’ve been having some discussions lately about rules in writing. Do this; do that. Don’t do this; don’t do that. Some exampls include: Should a writer always use ‘said’ for dialogue? Never use ‘said’? Describe their characters? Let the readers…
Say ‘Cheese’
One of my dogs is sulking. I told my husband this and he replied, “Say ‘cheese’ to him.” He’s got a point. But I should back up a bit. Today (Thursday, which will be tomorrow by the time I publish…
Big fish, little fish
Since signing my book deal, I’ve been asked by a few other writers why I decided to go with a small publisher rather than one of the biggies. Before I address that, let me ask you a favour – it…
