Tag: Fiction

Like a challenge? You’ll love this

~ Sahara ~ 7 Comments

Like many of my fellow writers, I enjoy a good prompt.  (Sometimes the ideas swarming around in here are too much to organize, and we need a filter to streamline them!)  I found a blogger who is doing a 52 goals in 52 weeks challenge, and I’m going to copy it, do something like that.

Since we’re in the middle of April, there are 36 weeks left in the year, and I’m going to take on 36 goals in 36 weeks.  I like that number. It’s the square of 6, it has balance. So: 36/36 Challenge.

I like balance

Here are the things I’ll be doing:

Continue reading “Like a challenge? You’ll love this” →

Inspiration Engine 9 – Writing Historical Fiction

~ Sahara ~ Leave a comment

This is a weekly post I do to highlight blogs or bloggers who have inspired me in some way during this week.

It is a short list this week, as this one blog has given me a whole week’s worth of inspiration. Thanks to NaNoWriMo 2013, I began seriously working on writing a work of historical fiction. I have become a ready sponge for information and hints about writing it well.

I stumbled upon the blog  A Writer of History by M.K. Tod and found a wealth of information. Not only insight from the blogger themselves, but also interviews with other writers of historical fiction, and it was awesome to read about their process and what advice for burgeoning authors. The blog also includes as surveys of readers of historical fiction, to learn what they like and why. Finally, in the blogroll and on separate pages are a wealth of resources about writing, historical fiction, and the WWI and WWII era, in particular.

Thank you, M.K. Tod, for the blog, and that you, reader, for reading about it!  What do you think of this choice? Do you know of or have other blogs that specialize in this?

You Don’t Have To Be Pretty – On YA Fiction And Beauty As A Priority

~ Sahara ~ Leave a comment

Excellent analysis and super timely.  This wasn’t something I noticed as I read the book, but I have noticed the pattern as well: The strong heroine needs is really pretty, though she doesn’t know/feel it, and the hero-love interest comes along and validates it for her.

I think a lot of young women identify with that – they don’t feel pretty, either – and then they wait for a hero-love interest to prove it. ‘Cause that’s what happens in books.

What do they do when life doesn’t turn out that way?

You Don’t Have To Be Pretty – On YA Fiction And Beauty As A Priority.

Inspiration Engine Vol. 1 – Healing and Creativity

~ Sahara ~ 3 Comments

A series or round up of the blog posts I find most inspiring this week!

1. My attempt at a fairytale-esque story, from Fairytale Corner. It seems like this is a relatively new blog, but I think it holds a lot of promise and I look forward to what it will come out with.  This post, according to the writer, is their first attempt at adapting a fairy tale, and I think it’s brilliant. Simple, well written and well paced, and inspiring to me as I think about writing fiction.

2.  Inspire Your Creativity, (almost made for this round-up, eh? 🙂 ) from MisBehaved Woman. In this particular post, the author posts a link from NPR’s Ira Glass about fostering your creativity and getting to it, that valuable stuff we’re looking to get to. Sometimes I fear it’s not there in me, so this kind of positive affirmation helps.

3. Healing Touch, from One Day at a Time: Thoughts on Getting Out of B.E.D. I am really struggling at work right now. “Fake it till you make it” is an old adage that has been working well for me in the last few years of my practice. I may not be as into something as I think I should be, but I can pretend I am and then I get there. Right now, it’s too much work to even pretend. I am mad that I have to pretend. I resent pretending, and I’m miserable right now. This blog post reminds me to not give my “feelings” too much power – they are only feelings, and those can be fleeting.  Feelings change, and I won’t be in this position forever.

What do you think of these picks?!  Are there any posts you’ve found this week that have inspired you? And check out the next installation next week!

“As I See It” – NaNoWriMoS start

~ Sahara ~ Leave a comment

This is the beginning to my NaNoWriMoS project, and I would love to get your thoughts on it! 

“Good morning, ma’am,” a girl’s young voice awoke Blanche.  Blanche opened her eyes, confused, as this was a voice she didn’t recognize.  “Who is that?” she asked.  “Jolen, ma’am, I’m new to the house.” Blanche became frustrated, “Why didn’t anyone tell me I was getting a new girl?”

“I don’t know, ma’am. I only answered the notice a few days ago. I don’t know how long it was out.”  Annoyed by this new upset, Blanche flung her sheets back off her body and put her feet on the floor.

Continue reading ““As I See It” – NaNoWriMoS start” →

Bulleted Books

~ Sahara ~ Leave a comment

Jeananne knew she was ready for a change.  She left the Pennsylvania farming community where she had taught for three years to return to her native Missouri, hoping to find a way to indulge her passion for food into something that would also feed her soul. She grew up in the dusty musky back room of her mother’s thrift shop, her vivid imagination nurtured among the fabric colors and textures as she found and made treasure out of things that seemed to have no value.

She began to nurse the idea of having a food truck, and did research into the possibility of it.  She also scoured craigslist and looked at several trucks.  One day, she found a house in a cool part of town, pretty affordable.  Still indulging her imagination, on a lark, she checked it out.  It was a small brick bungalow by a beautiful park and a fantastic Thai restaurant. On a lark, she talked to the bank about getting a loan. Just to see. She realized how much she would save by purchasing a home rather than paying rent. On a lark, she asked a friend to inspect the unit, then had it inspected professionally.  She talked with friends and other trusted homeowners; making sure she did all she needed to do, crossed every T. She could barely sleep she was so nervous, so surprise by her own chutzpah.

Continue reading “Bulleted Books” →