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Showing posts with the label writing

Long-winded update

Well, that was a way longer hiatus than I ever intended. Things got chaotic at the end of the Fall semester (as usual), but "thanks" to Covid it ended early (before Thanksgiving!). So, I had the entirety of December off from school, and I think I slept, watched TV, and ate for most of the month, lol. But Spring semester started up in January and by Feb I was flattened by a flare up of my probable Rheumatoid Arthritis (didn't make it into a Rheumatologist for the official diagnosis before Covid made that an impossibility - currently waiting for my new referral to come through). I am still in the throws of whatever this is, though it is improving slightly and slowly with the meds I've been on for almost a month now. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Spring was not kind. It included putting two of our dogs to sleep (old age). Because I was a wreck all the way around, I dropped down from 4 classes to 2 (bumping my graduation from May to Dec in the process), and

The Truth About Writing Advice

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash   I saw a tweet the other day that said: Ask 10 writers how to write, and you’ll get 13 different answers. As much as that did produce a chuckle from me, it’s also the truth. In fact, that might be an understatement. The amount of writing produced about writing is almost insane. Write every day, inspiration is for amateurs. Have a set word-count goal. Treat it like a 9–5 job. Churn out content like a machine. You can’t edit a blank page. Plot every syllable. Go with the flow, follow your muse. Pantsing is just as valid as plotting. It’s OK to write one great novel and then retire. Take 15 years to write a pamphlet, slow and steady wins the race. You do you. Be a reclusive artiste . Get out there in the real world. Write what you know. Don’t write about your real life, be creative. This famous writer wrote first thing in the morning on a laptop, with a huge amount of caffeine at hand. That famous writer wrote in the middle of the night by cand

I'm Posting on YouTube Now

I have been thinking about getting back on YouTube for a while now (a friend and I used to have a fledgling lifestyle channel together), but with a more writing/reading-related focus.  Since I am still between homes (sold old place and new one is still not fixed up en ough to move into) I haven't felt able to start back up on YouTube. I figured no one wants to see me and five small noisy dogs cramped into a tiny bedroom (with all but current schoolbooks still in boxes). Not quite the background I would like to present. But then I thought, I could always try recording and posting my real time random word poem writing sessions. They're short, and hopefully/possibly interesting. Now I admit this first video needs to be improved upon greatly when it comes to camerawork. But it's a first attempt, so cut me some slack. I'll work out the kinks as I go.  

Short Story Published on Literary Heist

Rape Culture is a short story about a brief exchange in a police interrogation room - somewhere in a post-patriarchal future - where the onus is placed on men to be sure they have consent, and all allegations of rape are automatically believed.   https://www.literaryheist.com/short-stories/rape-culture/ I also posted my first Medium article the other day. I've added an icon here on the site to my Medium profile because I think I'll keep posting there sometimes.

6 Random Word Poem 9/12/2020

Words I had to use: apparatus, listen, eye, son, drunk, women. Words I didn't have to use (but did): in.

Blackout Poem 9/10/2020

This came from a NYT piece found HERE , by Michelle Goldberg .

Blackout Poem 8/24/2020

This is from a Washington Post opinion piece by Max Boot , found HERE .

Final Book Cover Design and Tentative Release Date!

I did it, I finally settled on a cover design for the first novel in the K at Steals Life series; Kathy Shearer's Second Act. I spent months going back and forth between two, unable to decide. But just like in most areas of life, if something doesn't jump out at you immediately, it's probably not right for you. The moment I saw this one I knew this was it. Now that this is settled, I'm fairly certain I can publish next month. And just because I like the look of the repetition in 8/8/2020, that's the date for which I am now aiming. Hope I can finish the edits/proofing in time! EDIT: REVISED RELEASE DATE NOW 8/18/2020! The Kat Steals Life series is about 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 this slight midlife crisis she works up the nerve to see if she can pull off a heist herself. The an

6 Random Word Poem for 7/29/2020

Words I had to use: smoke, picture, perfume, morning, together, broken. Words I didn't have to use (but did): be.

Cat herding progress

Not only is the reference to herding cats accurate in the sense that my characters (or more precisely my MC) where being unruly, but I also find it a slightly funny (though completely inside) joke since my MC is called Kat. But I decided to suck it up and put on my big girl pants and let her do what she wants. In the process of letting go of who or what I thought my MC should be the strangest thing happened. I am not only probably just one more editorial pass away from publishing book one in the series, I got about 1300 words into book two in about an hour and have sketched out the general path of a 5 book series in the little notebook I call my brain. I say sketched out because I am not by any stretch of the imagination a person who likes or ever uses the word outline.  So I am calling my quickly scribbled notes anything but an outline. They are just brief paragraphs of things I don't want to forget to include in each book. Please don't be pedantic (aka accurate) and insist I

Blackout Poem for 7/27/2020

Today's offering is from an article by Apoorva Mandavilli from the NYT, found HERE .

Blackout Poem for 7/21/2020

I made another blackout poem. This one is based on NYT opinion piece by Jemelle Bouie about what's happening in Portland. The entire article can be found here .

Another O Bheal poem 7/20/2020

Based on the O Bheal 5 words for July 14-21: lace lip steal ice familiar

6 Random Word Poem 7/18/2020

Finished Poem: How I got there:

Random Word Poetry

For a long time now I have been doing daily (or almost daily) poems based on random words. I got the idea originally from a poetry contest which offered 5 random words for you to use. I found it on twitter so I turned it onto a personal challenge to write a poem based on those 5 words that would fit in a tweet (back when they were 140 characters long). I'm so weird I found the challenge to be loads of fun. Eventually I moved to using an app which generated 6 random words, and I would handwrite a poem (of any length) in a journal I kept just for this purpose. That worked fine for years, but I found the writing/revising process rather messy when done with regular pen and paper - as a result my poetry journal became a lot of crossed out words, words written over other words, and arrows indicating how something should be moved from point A to B. There was also the added factor of wanting to post said poems online (instagram, twitter, a blog???) but in a photo/word art format. Since th

Blackout Poem for 7/13/2020

My blackout poem for the day, based on a Washington Post article found HERE by Eli Rosenberg

First O Bheal poem in awhile

I used to do this years ago, but just fell out of practice I guess. Anyway, I thought it'd be fun to do again.

Blackout Poem for 7/10/2020

My blackout poem for the day, based on a New York Times piece by Michelle Goldberg, found HERE .

Blackout Poem for 7/3/2020

My blackout poem for the day based on a New York Times piece by Nicholas Kristof found HERE .

Blackout Poem for 6/29/2020

My blackout poem for the day based on a Washington Post piece by Catherine Rampell found HERE .