When I was in third or fourth grade, I checked a book out of my school's library. The story was about a monkey and a bookstore. That's all I remember about the story except that I loved it so much, and when I returned it to the library, I asked the librarian if the author …
Learning the craft…
Writing is an art and a craft just like playing the piano, designing a building, knitting a sweater, painting a mural or composing a symphony. It takes knowledge, practice, education and gobs of experience. As Stephen King says so eloquently in his book, On Writing: "I don't believe writers can be made, either by circumstances …
Favorite beginnings, endings, and the stuff between
I love to read and I am always drawn to beautiful writing. Most every book has something good about it, something that I can remark about. Those that don't, well, I generally don't finish reading them. But that's not often. Usually, like most savvy readers, I choose carefully, and once I get into a book, …
Continue reading Favorite beginnings, endings, and the stuff between
About that name…
I've always loved naming things. Children, houses, cars, even special days. So naming a book was a special treat. I started with a working title, but when I discovered it was the name of John Adam's (the president J.A.) home place, I had to find something else. My next choice stood for a long time, …
Step 3,065 …
There is no step one when you write a book, unless you consider being born that initiation. My personal love affair with words began as a child. My mother, an avid reader, did what good moms do. She read to us. There was one requested book, Rudyard Kiplings' "How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin," that …
Where CAIRNAERIE came from …
For Christmas some two decades ago, a good friend gave me a book. It was a popular novel at the time by a bestselling author. I read it over the holidays. I hated it. And I remember thinking, "I can do better." Driving home after visiting relatives that weekend, I saw a small sign—the name …
A few words or more … about writing
Writing is a craft every bit as much as woodworking or painting or knitting. It requires one to learn the basic techniques and then move beyond to the nuances and subtleties. To begin to master the craft. Yet writing cannot be mastered, at least in the same way that woodworking or sewing might be mastered. …
