“What’s the deal between Sara and her mother-in-law? She appears to be a little snot, which has certainly not been the case in the previous book.” One Beta reader commented. I certainly didn’t want one of my major characters coming off like a snot, but I also didn’t want to spend too much time developing […]
Read MoreBack story – the bane of many beginning writers! How do I get all of the essential background about my character into the story as quickly as possible, they ask. And so they do what is a called a “back story dump,” filling you in on all the minute details of the character’s life before […]
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Above is the stack of books I’ve pulled off of my shelves and have sitting on a chair within easy reach to assist me as I write! Thomas Cahill’s book, How the Irish Saved Civilization, is a fascinating read. Cahill relates how, during the Dark Ages after the fall of Rome, the monks in […]
Read MoreI just finished reading the 480 page book, Voices from the Grave: Two Men’s War in Ireland, by Ed Moloney. This book includes extensive interviews of two key players during the troubles in Northern Ireland from 1969 to the peace agreement: Brendan Hughes of the Irish Republican Army and David Ervine, member of the Ulster […]
Read MoreI admit it. I’m one of those people. I love to plan. One month, one year, five year, ten year plans. I do them all. I love it when a plan comes to together. And when one falls apart, I see it as an opportunity to plan some more. When I originally started to blog […]
Read More“I spent the morning putting in a comma and the afternoon removing it.” Gustave Flaubert Or in my case, I spent the morning peering at my back cover and deciding to change one word in a quote from my book. I sent this request to my cover designer in the morning, then looked again at […]
Read More“The Irish aren’t happy unless they are fighting someone,” my future brother-in-law had told me several years ago in reference to his mother’s penchant for stirring up trouble. While I could see this was true for his mother, I didn’t suspect that was the case for the Irish in general. I’ve known other people who […]
Read MoreWhat is it about Irish Step Dance that has grabbed the world’s attention? Is it the high energy dancing, the Irish music or the costumes, replete with Shirley Temple curls? Have you wondered where this phenomena got its start? 22 years ago, a filler act for an interval during the Eurovision song contest lit up […]
Read More“Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” Winston Churchill It was just an off day. You know the kind, where everything is a little bit off center. Tired from a weekend of yard work and family, I kept misplacing items and making mistakes. Not major ones, just annoying ones. I spent […]
Read More“It’s a God thing,” she stated as she shared her success with her book series. I nodded and smiled. After being in ministry all my life, I think I knew a little something about “God things.” However a voice inside of me wanted to scream: “What about me? Why isn’t God rewarding my efforts?” It’s […]
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