Skip to content

Category Archives: Writing

And we’re off!

Posted 01 November 2009 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) °

Writing in the present tense

So, in clearing the decks for National Novel Writing Month, I’m crash-reading NORTH AND SOUTH by Elizabeth Gaskell, and, no surprise, it’s not working. Gaskell’s writing demands a slow read, tasting all her clear phrases and cogent observations. And I know I said this earlier about MARY BARTON, but it reads so darn modern, I [...]

Posted 31 October 2009 † nickyp § Books § Reading ‡ Comments (1) °

Revving the NaNo engine

Less than a week until National Novel Writing Month! I have my characters, motivations, some shreds of plot and high hopes I can spew out far more than the minimum 50,000 words in November. And you?

Posted 26 October 2009 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

William Safire, 1929-2009

My boss at the Dana Foundation died today. The New York Times obit sketches his personality pretty well. He kept us here on our toes, for sure, and was correcting proof pages for one of our publications not even two weeks ago. During my interview with him in 2003 to get the Web reporter job, [...]

Posted 27 September 2009 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) °

The Colorform period

I’m working up the characters for the new story, and they are a slippery bunch this time. This story started in my head with a visual, a moment of shared realization that the other was the most important person in the world to them. But that leaves a lot of wiggle room—like what, when, why, [...]

Posted 23 August 2009 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) °

Seeing parallels

So I’m working up a new story, and thinking I’ll do a big scene around Peterloo, a mass meeting in Manchester, England, in 1819 that was bloodily dispersed by ill-trained, sabre-wielding near-vigilantes. I don’t usually think much about protesting for social change, beyond the latest march on Washington, but lately it seems like that’s all [...]

Posted 17 August 2009 † nickyp § Reading § Thinking ‡ Comments (0) °

At RWA: ‘Readers for life’

On Wednesday, the Romance Writers of America national conference opens its doors to the public from 5:30 to 7:30 pm for its annual “Readers for Life” mega-autographing session. Buy books! Get them signed by one of 500 romance-loving authors! The money goes to ProLiteracy Worldwide. It is free (except for the books you buy, of [...]

Posted 14 July 2009 † nickyp § Books § Learning § Marketing § Reading ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

RWA: Nationals is local

This year, the Romance Writers of America holds its national convention in my own back yard. In less than two weeks, July 15 through 18, the happy horde will land in Washington at the Wardman Marriott Park Hotel for workshops, parties, industry panels and the big awards ceremony. First, there’s a huge public booksigning event, [...]

Posted 03 July 2009 † nickyp § Books § Learning § Marketing § Reading ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Title-storming, part four

Truth be Told A Proper Scandal The Deceitful Truth A Lady’s Lies A Lady’s Truth Story of a Lady Tales of a Lady

Posted 30 May 2009 † nickyp § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: , , , ,

Update

Very busy fortnight at the daytime job, so I haven’t done much new writing. But alpha-reader has just returned the MS with notes, so that’s a kick in the [deleted] to get moving again. Today, I’ve been rereading my research notes, trying to catch the cadences of newspapers of the time. I wanted to quote [...]

Posted 23 May 2009 † nickyp § Reading ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Facebook

Twitter