Category: StoryTelling

The Long Journey of The Wounded Healers

I last posted about The Book of the Wounded Healers (a Study in Perception), a work-in-near continual-progress, on 25 July 2022. There were two other more recent mentions and not about reworking the novel for publication.

As you can read in The Book of The Wounded Healers
(a study in perception): Frame and Chapter 1 – The First Communication, the novel had an arduous ride to that point.

Well, not one to let a good story go and also recognizing it wasn’t getting any better, I once again shelved the novel.

Until now.

I did some minor edits and invited folks to be first readers in my July 2024 Newsletter.

Some brave folks agreed.

That’s when the painful fun began.
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RoundTable 360° May 2024 – Creative Blocks

Creative blocks.

Every creative’s been there…

…that dreaded feeling of hitting a wall, not knowing what to create next or even how to do it, wracking your brain for some kind of answer, direction, or inspiration.

You have to go after inspiration with a club. – Jack London

 
Creative blocks can be frustrating, but they are universal, and creatives have found various ways of dealing with them. In this RoundTable 360&deg: session, a panel of writers, artists, actors, and other creatives discussed the different ways creative blocks present themselves, strategies for working through them, and tips and tricks to keep your creativity flowing.

This episode was moderated by award-winning poet, publisher, and editor Clarabelle Miray Fields of Carmina Magazine.

Want to take part in future RoundTable 360°? Reserve your space at Eventbrite

 

Fiction Editor, Wilderness House Literary Review

In a new and somewhat surprising development, I’ve become the Fiction Editor of the Wilderness House Literary Review.

Steve Glines, EIC, asked me to take on the role and I, of course, replied, “You’re kidding, right?”

I think Steve chose me based as much on the similarity of our ages and life-experiences as on our reading and writing preferences.

I’ve often wondered what makes an editor say yes to story A and no to story B.

Well, in my case, the wondering is over. At least as far as Wilderness House is concerned.

The View from This Side of the Desk
There’s a staff of first readers I work with and the final decisions are mine. I agree with their evaluations, usually. On some occasions I’ll ask the basis for their yay/nay/neutral decision, more to educate myself than question them.

Sometimes I’m completely lost why they rejected/accepted something. That’s when the real learning begins.

Mine, not theirs.

But for anyone wondering what I’ll accept above and beyond all else?

Easy.
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Great Opening Lines – and Why! (August 2023’s Great Opening Lines)

I wrote in Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Part 3 – Some Great Opening Lines) that I’d share more great opening lines as I found them.

My last entry in this category was January 2023’s Great Opening Lines – and Why! (January 2023’s Great Opening Lines) which covered Lidia Yuknavitch’s‘s The Chronology of Water. This entry in the Great Opening Lines – And Why! posts is Angela Panayotopulos‘ The Wake Up.
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Cozy Author Donna Huston Murray and I Have a Lively Discussion (Part I)

[[Cozy Author Donna Huston Murray and I Have a Lively Discussion (Part I)]]
Long ago I interviewed Donna Huston Murray and we remained friends ever since. Donna helped me with some troublesome characters, plotting, and some marketing, and I sent her flowers and chocolate.

Okay, not really but I wanted to.

We stayed in touch and recently came up with an idea for an non-interview; just sitting and talking with each other. Minimal selling, lots of sharing.

 
By the way, you can find her via her website, on Amazon, and lots of other nifty places.