This month, we’re blogging about good things that actually happened with our writing in 2020. Remarkably, I can think of not just one, or two, but three good things that happened in my writing life this year.
The Silver Lining
I have a reoccurring dream where I’m standing in the middle of a shopping mall surrounded by people and suddenly realize I’m not wearing a mask.
Writing During Covid-19
At first, it was like a forty-pound sack of potatoes fell from my shoulders and I was free, even though I was confined to my house.
Distance Learning
When schools all over America closed and they told us to educate our children from home, my mind automatically put large air quotes around the phrase, “distance learning.”
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing a Book But Were Afraid to Ask
This month we’re discussing the secret life of authors or the secrets of writing. I don’t have any burning secrets to share, so instead we’ll call this post Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Writing a Book But Were Afraid to Ask
Another World
This month we’re talking about setting. I was thinking a lot about this on a trip to California where I had the strange experience of walking around inside someone else’s imagination. It was spring break and we were in California to visit family. While there, we stopped at Universal Studios to see Harry Potter World.
My Favorite Character
My favorite character from one of my books is a wise-cracking best friend named Roxanne. The protagonist starts the book as a strait-laced rule follower. She changes on her journey through the story and by the end she’s strong, rebellious and unafraid. But she doesn’t start that way.
Giants in the Earth
This month we’re discussing books that changed our perspective. For me, that book is Giants in the Earth by O.E. Rolvaag. Giants in the Earth is to the northern plains what To Kill a Mockingbird is to southern fiction. It’s a masterpiece.