What a Flower Will Tell You

I came across this interpretive list of flower meanings on Yahoo buzz. Rose (Love) Orchid (A Belle) Iris (My Compliments) Calla Lily (?) Sunflower (Pure thoughts) Amaryllis (Splendid beauty) Tulip (Declaration of love) Carnation (Pride and beauty) Hydrangea (Heartfelt) Bird of Paradise (Joyfulness) Chrysanthemum (Fidelity) Daffodil (Chivalry) Tiger Lily (I dare you to love me)

Wake-up Call

Have you noticed how often in books (especially serial style ‘B’ books) the characters doesn’t know where they are when they wake up?  It seems like it crops up a lot, probably as a gimmick of the writer to bring the reader back into the picture, I’m guessing.  But how often in real life do

Top Ten Reasons to Love Valentines Day

10 – Your darling might buy you something pink and sweet. 9 – You have a chance to revisit the weight you worked off since Christmas. 8 – You have a wider selection of cheap chocolate than any other time of the year. 7 – If you’re really lucky and really charming, you might get a heart pillow or a stuffed monkey. 6 –

Craft – Jealousy

Issret raised her head and pointed her ears down the hall.  Dust motes drifted in the sunlight which picked out the faded colors of the tapestries. Nothing stirred. Issret lay her head on a pillow of spun silver.  Her eyes were slits of gold.  Her body was still on her hoard. Her ears caught a tiny sound, no

Geography for Fiction Writers

Everywhere I look there are writing classes offered . . . where’s the one in geography?  In my world creation I try to ‘grow’ a people as naturally as possible, paying careful attention to what their language illustrates about them and allowing for the influence that the terrain would have upon them. For intsance, it

Rejection number . . . 11? 16? 24?

The Ghost Spider has been sent spinning out of Shadowed Realms.  The editor, Angela Challis, was reasonably positive though, which is always nice. I’ve also discovered the up side to recieving a growing number of rejection letters–they start to lose their sting.  I know I’m not the first writer (or the last) to discover this, but

A Blogging Landmark

According to my blog stats this is my two hundredth blog–either that or my two hundredth and tenth, it doesn’t seem sure which. At any rate, I thought two hundred deserved some kind of notice.  Apparently I passed up one hundred without noting it flying by.  A good omen, that.  So here’s to the blogging

Fun Reading vs. Editing

I’ve noticed that I have a hard time editing a story if I’m enjoying it.  I’ve even caught myself referring to stories as ‘fun’ reads, as separate from material I’m editing, but often they can be of comparable skill and even by the same author, so the distinction must be in my approach. For example,