Tools and Craft

We have quite a collection of books about writing, thinking perhaps someday we might read them and learn something. Thus far, we have determined that they make excellent places to collect dust and cat fur. Not necessarily in that order. So it was to our delight that Cup of Chicha (where the beverage is always steaming) reviewed a longtime resident of our shelves: The Writer’s to Character Traits. We now know we can probably set this one aside until a snowstorm blankets Southern California, knocking out power for several weeks and forcing us to finally face the Leaning Tower of

We are back to our normal self after using technology to solve a time-consuming problem (actually, we’re not even using the technology — such was the conundrum that the husband took an interest and is now busily programming and whatnot while we sit around and accept accolades). We now possess sufficient free time to catch up on our reading and blogging. We can’t stand it when work gets in the way of…well, work. Our friend Deanna Carlyle has finally launched her website, and we’re helping her celebrate by pointing you to an article we particularly enjoyed (yes, we see your

If you stick around long enough, we’ll lay out all our sins. We certainly have enough server space. Today, we recount the great homophone and homonym incident (there is a difference, and we violated both in an ugly manner). A year or so back, we began mixing up our words (in writing — we can’t speak worth a damn). Witch. Which. It’s. Its. Even, we are shamed to say, stationery and stationary. It got to the point where our husband (who sees good spelling as a nuisance — that’s what we’re paid for) was catching our errors. Well-meaning but clueless

There’s no shame in admitting you need help. We all do, at some point or other. Often, the hardest part is taking the first step. Maybe you don’t want to go public; maybe you don’t want to confess to your critique group; maybe you think you can beat this thing on your own. We understand. That’s why we offer this discreet tip to help you in your hour of need: a daily writing prompt. Oh, we know, you need to focus on your novel. No distractions (sure, that’s why you’re the world chamption at Tetris). Think of spending ten minutes

We admit it — the thought of marketing makes us uncomfortable. It seems so…much like sellilng ourselves. Which, unfortunately, is part of the game. Authors cannot rely upon publishers to provide support, like, oh, advertising or prominent mentions in interviews. Forget the publisher-financed book tour. So often it’s up to the author to create buzz, sustain buzz, and reignite buzz when it becomes apparent numbers need bolstering. We keep thinking we’re going to write an article or two on marketing for the marketing averse, but we get sweaty and tense just thinking about it. Surely there is a magical way

This week, we were confronted with an ugly truth: we have slipped into Adverb World. We’ve never been particularly anti-adverb, preferring to think of our relationship as healthy and respectful . Much like our relationship with lo mein. But as with noodles, sometimes our encounters with adverbs grow more frequent and less justified (it’s not like there’s a secret prize in every carton of house special lo mein). Just like our fleeting flirtation with “looked” and on-again, off-again romance with “could see”, we need to re-evaluate our reliance on those lovely “-ly” endings. But we won’t give them up. Ever.