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First, line up with the parents and the strollers outside the doors, wondering what’s going on. A mass of parents is milling because none of them know what to do about the sign in sheets. Sign in to show your support as well as your perspicacity. Then sign up for the Star Lab, because your […]

6:45 a.m. Made cup of tea, grabbed two muffins and a slather of butter. Disappeared into office (!!!) to write. 7:30 a.m. Made second cup of tea. Snagged some Sun Chips that Lee had purchased yesterday to go with the raspberry-chipotle ribs, because I mentioned that I really like them a few weeks ago. Checked

Working on: Integrating Richard’s comments (writer group). Not giving away suspense for free. Removing wordy “intros” to sections (Eric’s comments, writer group). Rewriting Dr. Heck. I just finished clarifying some motives, both Bill’s and Jack’s. Favorite line so far: “Julian came back with another pitcher. Dinah looked up at him. I looked up at him,

I’ve been thinking a lot about faces lately, not so much physical faces as the “faces” we wear. Not a new theme, I think, but something I ran into a lot lately, between the writer’s conference and looking up people online afterwards–the difference between the face one presents to other people, in person, versus the

What do you want in a diner? A place to eat, and decent (if heavy) food to eat. Hm…decent service? Pfft. I didn’t ask, “What’s reasonable in a diner?” What do you really want? Fine. I want basic comfort food so good it puts most restaurants to shame. Plus some weird stuff. I want to

One of the speakers at PPWC was talking about using photo references for facial expressions. Just for fun, I’ve found some for Alien Blue: Martie Washington. Caveman exterior (but without a basement or steps up). The look on Bill’s face after Nina comes in. Nina, when she smiles. When she doesn’t.

So on Friday I’m in a read-and-critique session, one where a reader reads the first page and three people give their first impressions. I have Ginger Clark, Jeffrey Deaver, and Rose Hilliard (editor at St. Martin’s). I have (yet again) rewritten the first page, based on Miss Snark’s First Victims Secret Agent first page contest

PPWC Thursday, we performed mock interviews for our current book projects. Margaret Brettschneider’s interview, for her true-life account of taking a 29-year-old virgin around Europe decades ago, called Mama Told Me not to Come, had tears running out of my eyes. True love and slapstick comedy.

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg borborygmus MEANING: noun: A rumbling noise caused by the movement of gas through the intestines. ETYMOLOGY: From Greek borborygmos (intestinal rumbling), an onomatopoeiac word to describe the sound. NOTES: Borborygmi are usually harmless, they are simply a result of gas movement around the stomach. And the rumbling sound doesn’t mean one

This might be it: A barkeep tries to save his town from alien invasion using a mysterious blue beer. I talked to someone at the conference about it yesterday. She was a very good listener – I don’t say that often.