Writer Unboxed

Just when we get our first review at Cobwebs of the Mind (check it HERE) and we’re labeled ”a serious, no nonsense blog,” I pull out a bit o’ nonsense from the WU hat. But it’s a holiday, so I insist that I’m entitled to my fun.
Thought I’d share a story I wrote eons ago when I was dabbling […]

‘Twas the day before NaNo, and writers everywhere
Are cracking their knuckles and pulling out their hair . . . .
As you can see, poetry’s not my bag, that’s more Therese’s forte.  Still, the anticipation in the air lends itself to flowery language.  Motors are revving for the big NaNo race to . . . . what end?
Ah […]

USA TODAY recently wrote a piece called The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived. Here are the top ten:
1. The Marlboro Man
2. Big Brother
3. King Arthur
4. Santa Claus (St. Nick)
5. Hamlet
6. Dr. Frankenstein’s Monster
7. Siegfried
8. Sherlock Holmes
9. Romeo and Juliet
10. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
So I started thinking about it: Which fictional characters have […]

If you missed part 1 of our interview with Juliet Marillier, you can access it by clicking HERE. Marillier’s unique plotlines, strong characterizations, word painting and the scope of her world building set her apart from others in the historical fantasy genre. Below, we get a behind-the-scenes look at her complex storyweaving skills and learn […]

Surfing the best of the writers’ blogs so you don’t have to.
Well, let’s all do the happy dance, for this comes as welcome news (NYT, free reg. required).  After two years of hearing about publishers bemoaning their plummeting sales, the forecast for this fall is improving due to a crop of reliable big name authors and a […]

This time last week, I was standing in the middle of Times Square in New York, screaming into a cell phone at my brother back in Austin as neon flashed and horns blared and tourists surged around me. The trip was both more stressful and more rewarding than I expected. Finding myself in a room […]

One of the great things about having this blog is sharing ideas and tips for, and the miseries and joys of crafting novels.  A few weeks back, Marsha Moyer mentioned a book that’s helping her work through her birthing pangs, Ralph Keyes’ THE COURAGE TO WRITE.  (We feature Keyes’ book in Craft Corner under the title […]

I love the Absolute Write Water Cooler site and its fabulous forum HERE, where you can connect with writers whose interests range from nonfiction to any genre of fiction you can imagine. There are fun writerly opportunities, too; I especially enjoy chiming in on Chain Chain Chain of Haiku Fools.
Recently, I was reading through the […]

Internationally acclaimed Australian author Juliet Marillier writes epic fantasy novels with true-to-life characters, singular plots, vivid weavings of myth and magic, and buttery prose. Her meticulous research of unique settings–Norse Orkney, ancient Ireland and Pictish Scotland–put her on the cutting edge of historical fiction as well.
But don’t believe me. Here’s what the reviewers have to […]

Surfing the best of the writers’ blogs so you don’t have to. 
Forget nuclear fallout in North Vietnam.  The bomb dropped last night when Jeffrey won this season’s Project Runway.  The judges went gaga over his zippered confection which I thought looked like the awning of a Pizza Hut, but what do I know.  I’m a Laura fan, which means I […]

My husband has decided that he wants to write a play, which is of course very cool (and what home wouldn’t benefit from having two neurotic writers under its roof?). Because of this, our coffee table is now sporting several new tomes, including The Collected Plays of Neil Simon Volume IV.
Meanwhile, I’ve been going […]

The girls have been asking me to write a post about HTML, so instead of talking about writing prose this week, I’m going to see if I can come up with some HTML basics for those of you who don’t already know them.
A bit of background
HTML means hypertext markup language. A HTML document is a […]