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Photo of the Day – 1/25/2023
Today, we had the perfect snow. It was pretty, it didn’t muck up the roads, and it didn’t stick around very long.
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2023 Writing and Publishing Goals
One of the things I have learned about myself over this journey to self-publishing is that I am a perfectionist. And it’s terrible. It took me a little over a year to write the first draft of Harbinger. It’s taken me another five to revise it— and I’m not done! Part of the challenge is…
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Writing Prompt: Write a Summer Memory
I remember muscadines: the leathery toughness of their skin, the green gelatin that was so sweet and had to be sucked away from that central cluster of seeds. Climbing through the brambles along the side of the dirt road, rutted and pitted by traffic, getting scratched and bitten as we wormed closer to those muscadine…
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Harbinger: A Progress Report and 4 Non-Useful Lessons Learned
Revising is hard. Have I mentioned that revising is hard? Revising is hard, y’all! But I’m continuing to plug away and celebrate the little victories (like finally finishing the revisions on the first part of my manuscript —- woot!). Here’s a few things I’ve learned as I’ve revised (none of which are particularly useful!): First…
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Writing Prompt: “So it has come to this.”
“So it has come to this.” His voice was implacable. “You must choose. I will not accept your divided loyalties; they work against my plans. This is your choice: abandon your other masters, or die.” Dennis grinned, a feral thing that should have made Iago flinch, but didn’t. It appeared the pup had grown up.…
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Writing Prompt: You See a Shooting Star
He sat out on the balcony, watching the night sky for the fleeting stab of the falling stars. Normally, this was his favorite time of year, watching the heavens put on their show, but tonight he felt nothing but bitterness at each brief, flaring light. Brief. So brief, just like his life would be, now…
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Character Sketch: A Weak King
The Cooling was being refreshed hourly, but it wasn’t enough. A trickle of sweat tickled through his hairline. The drop wasn’t large — tiny, in fact — but it was enough. The words swam on the page as the memory engulfed him. That fluttery, heavy feeling in his chest — needing to breathe, to gasp,…
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Revising Is Hard, Y’all
I thought finishing my first draft of Harbinger was hard. And it was! I spent years dreaming, drafting, ignoring the insane urge to spend more time copy-editing than writing … but I persevered and finally — FINALLY — got to that finished first draft. Woo-hoo! I was on to the revising portion. I knew this…
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Writing Prompt Exercise
“Remember a sound.” Rain on a skylight doesn’t sound the same as rain on a roof or window. It’s mellower, as if the raindrops were fatter or the skylight more resonant. I remember being lulled to sleep by the sound. The skies could torrent, but we were safe there, snug and dry in our rooms…
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Slow but Steady …
In April of 2017, I started writing a YA fantasy novel (Harbinger). In December of 2018, I finished my first draft — all 75,538 words of it. Today, looking down the barrel of December 2019, my first revision is 97,307 words long, and I’m beginning to chisel my way into an almost-final version. Back in…
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Sarah Z. Creates 