The Write Tools for the Job (with TEASER)

I’m a vagabond these days. I bought a project house that I’ve been working on since August, but with the bathroom gutted, I can’t live there. As a result, I’ve been wandering from spare room to spare room among friends and acquaintances. This means I don’t have most of my usual writing tools at hand. [...]

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Teaser Tuesday: THIRTEEN (Junior)

Here is what’s likely to be my last teaser for THIRTEEN and it’s one of those sections that’s all about breaking with the received wisdom of writing.  Show, don’t tell is the mantra, but the truth is: sometimes telling works better.  Or at least it has its advantages.  The narrator of this scene is the [...]

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Teaser Tuesday: THIRTEEN (Make-up)

I finally finished a solid first draft of the new project, so here’s another excerpt from it. This is a bit further into the story. Wavy is twelve here, and in case it’s not obvious, Ewan is her father and Sandy is Ewan’s girlfriend. *** “You can pick out the make-up you like and I’ll [...]

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Teaser Tuesday: THIRTEEN (Being Disrespectful)

Mrs. Naughton said, “I want each of you to stand up and say your name and one thing you did this summer.” Wavy felt it building all around her. The curiosity, the watching, like butter bubbling on the skillet before she poured Kellen’s eggs in. Down the rows they went, following the alphabet. That was [...]

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Teaser Tuesday: THIRTEEN (Good Mama)

Another little excerpt from the same project I posted last week.  This is six months after her encounter with the Giant in the road. Which Giant turns out to be named Kellen and very nice. *** Why did Mama have to be so mean when she was being Good Mama? The day was so nice [...]

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Teaser Tuesday: THIRTEEN (The Giant)

I’m doing something a little strange for me: posting a teaser from something that is very much a work in progress. Something I wrote last night, in fact. The narrator here is an 8-year-old girl. She’s spent the night hiding in the meadow, and as the sun is coming up, she’s hiking back to her [...]

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