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Without Lying Down: Screenwriter Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood - Review

Without Lying Down: Screenwriter Frances Marion and the Powerful Women of Early Hollywood by Cari Beauchamp My rating: 5 of 5 stars Deeply engaging and very well-written book about Frances Marion (and some other fascinating women in her circle of friends) who blazed an impressive trail in screenwriting in fledgling Hollywood. It's a literal crying shame that more isn't known of these women, their interesting lives, and their brilliant contributions to storytelling and film. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in early Hollywood history, filmmaking, screenwriting, women writers, working women in the early 20th century, etc., etc. My major takeaways from the book are: writing may be a solitary endeavor, but creating a community of artists and uplifting other women aren't; the boldness of claiming your own worth, and expecting others to respect that, can change your life; and above all - writers save your papers! Apparently, the little which is known of France

Goodreads Giveaway!

Enter the Giveaway for a chance to win one of 100 free Kindle editions of Kathy Shearer's Second Act the first book in the Kat Steals Life Series   GIVEAWAY RUNS 8/23/2020 - 9/21/2020 Goodreads Book Giveaway Kathy Shearer's Second Act by Kayt Ludi Giveaway ends September 21, 2020. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway   About the book:  Kathy Shearer is a woman turning 40 - divorced, no kids, no family besides her cat, and in a dead-end job that sucks the life out of her daily. She's always loved crime/heist/police procedural books and shows, so in the midst of a slight midlife crisis she works up the nerve to see if she can pull off a heist herself. The answer is that she can, and she does, and Kathy's second act, as Kat Steele, is where her l

Book Review - Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative

Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon My rating: 5 of 5 stars Overall, "Steal Like An Artist" is like having a pep talk at the ready for days when you need it. The general theme of the book is a sometimes gentle, sometimes blunt, reminder that there is nothing new under the sun and that's not a bad thing. We don't live in vacuums, and art (of any variety) isn't ever going to be a virgin birth. We are all products of everything we come across, and so is what we make, and THAT IS OK. And even if you know that intellectually, you can still manage to forget it on occasion. So on days, when you feel like every idea you have is unforgivably derivative - this is a great read! The book also offers valuable practical advice about things like not waiting until you think you're ready (you will never think you're ready) - just make things and see how it goes; keeping some kind of notebook/log of things as diverse as t

Review: Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway My rating: 4 of 5 stars I was assigned this book in my latest creative writing course. And, overall, it's a good read and a mostly helpful book. I admit some of it is redundant for anyone who has ever taken a previous course, or written anything of their own. But even when the subject being discussed was boring, the book often found a fresher take on it. We jumped around in the book, and didn't read the entire think in our 7.5 week course. I so liked what I read during the class that I went ahead and read the rest. Having done that, though, I can see why we skipped those parts. They didn't add much really. However, the parts we covered in class made up for that, I think, so I'm still giving this 4 stars. View all my reviews