Teen Mystery
An agent recommended Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart trilogy as an example of a fun YA mystery series to be emulated.  So I read the first one, The Ruby in the Smoke.  And was impressed.  Pullman is more recently known for the His Dark Materials trilogy, including The Golden Compass. The Sally Lockhart trilogy is a whole other kettle of fish.  The Ruby in the Smoke is set in1872 London and features a diverse cast of characters of all walks of life.  And back in 1872, people cared about such things. Vivid characters, evocative language, an unusual heroine, and a multi-faceted mystery, all come together to make a great read.  This

#1 Piece of Advice for Writers
Okay, all you new and aspiring writers out there:  If you really want to write for public consumption, you need to be part of a critique group.  At least one. My critiquing friends keep me motivated, help me write to a deadline, and point out those errors that I’m too close to the manuscript to see for myself.  Sometimes they point out things I know are a problem and just haven’t fixed.  They nudge me in the right direction.  The insight of others is such a help. And reading the work of others is a great way to learn the necessary skills.  Learning to look for pacing issues or plot holes or rhythm, grammar, dialogue, emotional impact, etc., has made me

Teen Fantasy
In my latest research of agents, I have read a number of fantasy novels for teen girls.  This is not a genre I would choose to read.  I’m more of a mystery and suspense gal.  But, I really enjoyed these: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Graceling by Kristin Cashore Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston Evermore by Alyson Noel And not a vampire in the bunch!  In fact, the only one of these that would classify as a paranormal romance is Evermore.  Graceling and The Hunger Games take place in fictional worlds, one a facsimile of old-world Europe, one more like a post-apoca

Kwizera Inspirations: Telephone
This is part of a series of posts discussing the real-life places, people and events that inspired scenes and characters in my young adult manuscript, “Kwizera Means Hope”. A far off tinkling floated in.  “What’s that?” I asked. “A telephone,” Louise answered.  “Installed last week.  It took a couple of months.”  She looked up from her carrots.  “Mm.  Months.  Then we had to find five men to dig the trench for the telephone lines.  Then it took another five or six weeks.” Goodness!  These people even have a telephone?  I wondered how many telephones existed in all of Byumba Town, in all of Byumba Prefect

New WIP Week
It has a beginning and an end and a dreaded middle, in theory, at least.  A working synopsis with lots of details and exciting stuff planned. Eight chapters written and counting (about eight thousand words out of a target 50,000).  I just rewrote the beginning, again, but I’ll probably do that several more times anyway.  Such is the beginning of a novel.  And in some ways your first sentence, paragraph, page, is the most important.  It has to grab the reader and keep them reading.  Of course, the dreaded middle has to keep them reading, too.  That’s next on my to-do list. And hopefully I can sustain the enthusiasm I’m learning from my l