If you’ve read my blog or follow me on social media or heard me speak, you probably know how much I am obsessed with Scotland. It wasn’t always that way, though. But I met Scotland at a pivotal time in my life. I first visited Scotland when I was 13 years old. I was with… Read more »
Scotland
Story Bite 19: Building Character Through Sensory Details
Sensory details—of smell, taste, sight, and sound—make a scene come alive and can also make a character feel real. Thinking about sensory details and how someone reacts to them tells you a lot about that person. So even though this may feel like a post on descriptive writing, it’s really about digging deep into who… Read more »
Story Bite 10: On Finding Your Idea
At a school talk I gave last month, I asked students to tell me their thorniest writing problems. What made writing hard for them? Was there anything I could do to help? One student told me that she loved writing but always had trouble starting: She struggled to find what to write about. She had… Read more »
Now Presenting…Drest’s Next Adventure!
Behold! Drest and her friends and family endure new challenges—with battles, sword fights, and action galore, all while she determines what kind of warrior—and legend—she’ll be. Presenting the trailer to The Hunt for the Mad Wolf’s Daughter:
Drest (and Me) in Scotland: Part 2
One of our first visits in Edinburgh this year was to my favorite museum ever: the National Museum of Scotland. It’s an incredible place. What makes it especially close to my heart are the magnificent exhibits of Scottish history, starting from the forming of the earth, lochs, mountains, and hills (the Borders!!!!) to the modern… Read more »
Drest (and Me) in Scotland: Part 1
Scotland, and Edinburgh and the Borders in particular, are places very close to my heart. Early this summer, I made my third trip in my adult life. As usual, it was a part-research trip and part-family vacation. Because The Mad Wolf’s Daughter is in print, I took along a copy with the idea to pose it at… Read more »
Story Bite 8: On Building Stakes
It’s fairly easy when you start a story or a novel to come up with a basic character and a goal. The next part of building a story—the conflict—is a little bit harder, but not bad. And then comes the hardest part: the stakes. This is what’s missing when a lot of people try to… Read more »
Story Bite 7: On Showing Character Through Dialogue
Maybe you’ve heard the old bit of writing advice that tells you to “show, not tell.” That’s an important adage to keep in mind when you’re working on characters. Readers get their strongest sense of a character through what a character does (action scenes!) or says. In this post, we’re going to work on that… Read more »
News Center Maine
Curious what I’m like in real life? Here’s a taste of it: my appearance on News Center Maine’s 207, wherein I talk about The Mad Wolf’s Daughter and, of course, Scotland!
Musings on Publication
I’m a week out from the publication of my debut novel The Mad Wolf’s Daughter. And I’ve been reflecting on how I got here, and what it’s meant. I’ve been writing novels since I was 14 years old. My early novels were fantasy adventures, and I had my characters do things that I dreamed I could… Read more »
These lilacs have the most glorious scent, but are pretty modest in their way. The former colleague I lost over the weekend to cancer would have liked them for both those reasons.
#flowers #grief #lilacs
It’s been a tough week. A moment with a few flowers can make a difference.
#flowers #azalea #springflowers