Brilliant

Box Office

Bella

I love movies, but because I’m on a budget, I have to be picky about my viewing habits. I watch movie trailers, but unless it really grabs me, I won’t invest my money in going to the theater. The litmus test is this: If the preview makes me cry, I’ll find the money to go. Otherwise, I’ll wait for the movie to come on television in that “compressed for time and space” format. As soon as I saw the...

Author By Night

It’s Not a Juggling Act

Have you ever tried to juggle? I tried a few times. I did well just tossing one or even two balls from one hand to the other. But forget keeping a third ball in motion. To juggle successfully, I’d have to keep track of at least one ball constantly in midair. No way am I coordinated enough to do that.

I’ve come to believe that the idea of juggling everything in our...

Write Real

The Elephant in the Publishing Business

I’m deviating a bit this month to share something important for those of you on the journey toward publication. It’s a central truth folks don’t warn you about: In the writing world you will meet people of the opposite sex.

You’d think I would’ve figured that out! But I seriously hadn’t even thought of it. The only men I’d consistently met in my early years of writing in obscurity were the UPS man and my diapered son.

Making A Scene

Symbolism In Fiction - Part II

This month we’re looking at ways to study the use of symbolism in others’ works so we can better employ it in our own. How best to study symbolism? This is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem, I’ll admit. You have to understand symbolism to study it in stories; you have to able to find symbolism in stories to study it. Give yourself time; understanding of the concept doesn’t come overnight.

For Writers

Writer…Interrupted

Writing is a lonely profession. We hear it all the time, but for most of us traveling this deserted, maddening path, it’s not a profession at all. We struggle to find time to write, juggling all the chaos and responsibilities in our homes, at our work, and in our lives. When we do find time to write, we battle guilt that we should be tending to some other tasks, and we fight interruptions.

Short Stories

“Thanks for shopping at Dress Palace, Mrs. Winters.” I smile at our customer and hand over her package. “See you next time.”

I love my job.

Today of all days, couldn’t God have seen fit to give her a break? All Maggie wanted was to have the old park bench—her sanctuary—to herself.