-
My novel, Everybody's Fool
CHAPTER ONE
When we escaped Castro’s Cuba, the moon didn’t come out to say good-bye. I know my father and the smuggler had planned it that way, but to me, it was like the goddess of the night was head cheerleader on Team Maya. I missed her light, though. Every night those last few months on the island, as the world around me fell apart, it was her I ( Read more... ) -
Life Plan
She cried when he held her. She remembered all the promises made and the plans they had plotted. But life doesn't follow directions. She wasn't supposed to be here right now. She should have been somewhere else. His arms tightened around her and the tears wouldn't stop.
"What have I done?" she cried. "Where should I have been? Is it too ( Read more... ) -
My inner turmoil
One of the songs on my soundtrack tells about "the secret side of me ... I keep it caged but I can't control it." This song is on my soundtrack because this is my Monster, my antagonist. But it's more than my antagonist -- it feels like it's part of me. I'm fighting something inside of me that I can't understand. It's not that I feel like this ( Read more... ) -
Some things are just meant to be ...
See, here's the thing. I want to be a published writer. I want my students to read my books. I want to tell the stories screaming to come out of my story-telling head. But I must not be ready.
I believe I will not become a published author until I am ready to move from the wanna-be ranks. But the road out of the depths of wish-dom is long and hard ( Read more... ) -
A Memory Replaced
Janie had a charmed life. That’s not to say nothing bad ever happened. The fact that as a teen-ager she and the egg-shaped funeral home director were on a first-name basis is proof enough of that. Her life was charmed because each time something bad happened, she was able to find something positive to counteract its effect. There was her Sophomore ( Read more... ) -
Descriptive Writing
It's not so hard, when you close your eyes and remember. What am I describing?
Can you hear the click, click, click?
The wind is blowing your hair on your face, making what's in front of you look like a puzzle.
You lean into sturdy cushions and grab hold of the bars next to your face.
The clicks have ended, but you're not done ( Read more... ) -
My antagonist is just a man betrayed
I have a song list on my iPhone that i've titled "The Betrayer". It is composed of songs that I would not normally have listened to in the past. They tell the story of a man in pain, a man who has been betrayed who had no one there to help him so he became what hurt him most. He is the antagonist of the novel I am revising now, but I keep wanting ( Read more... ) -
Um ... so about the critique
After that painful critique, I fumed for a weekend and asked for read-throughs from people I knew would say it was great. Then I went back into revision mode. I asked for clarification from my teacher and then something clicked. Like a rabid squirrel, I went from section to section, moving things I liked to places where they fit better and chewing ( Read more... ) -
The magic of books
Recently, a few of my students have handed me books I absolutely, positively had to read or my life would be meaningless and useless. Usually, I'm the one doing this to you guys ( Read more... )
