There I was, looking for information on climate-related science projects for an article, when I happened on several very interesting – but not for the article, which turned out to focus on variations on creating a greenhouse effect. Items found include: • Yale F&ES Project on Climate Change, which offers a number of downloadable reports and [...]
Archive for May, 2009
Found by Accident 2 – Climate Change Information
Posted in Online Research on May 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 4
Posted in Book Proposal on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Another audience is crucial to consider as you compose your book proposal—the editor(s), agent(s), and marketing staff who may read the proposal. You may be so fortunate as to actually know the person or people for whom you are writing. If so, your task will be easier. If you are writing for an audience you [...]
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 3
Posted in Book Proposal on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Who’s your audience? Especially during an economic downturn and at a time when print publishers are trying to figure out what’s next, conceiving and presenting a book proposal that is likely to garner a large audience could be the difference between being published or not. I think about this in two ways: 1) Writing for [...]
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 2
Posted in Book Proposal on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Easley Blackwood, Jr., pianist and composer, was my instructor for an independent study course in composition when I was in college. He once told me that there were two ways to approach any art: one was having made as full a study as possible of all of the details, including what others in the field [...]
Writing a Book Proposal Pt 1
Posted in Book Proposal on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Of my published books, some have been proposed by the publisher, and I competed with other authors for the opportunity to write them; some have been proposed directly to me with no other authors competing; and some have been based on original ideas of my own, written up in convincing proposals that led publishers to [...]
The Art of the List
Posted in Writing Techniques on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The general concept of a list, I think, connects it with the mundane and a style that is art-less. To-do lists, laundry lists, shopping lists, and wish lists are useful, but not something that we usually invest any craft in—they’re functional, not artful. Yesterday evening, lists came to my attention because of the incessant posting [...]
Children’s Books and Beauty
Posted in Children's Books on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It’s impossible to assess the impact of childhood experience, of course. But one of the bits of childhood that made a strong impression on me (which I can judge by my strong memories) was not only having children’s books but having children’s books that were exquisite. This is partly by way of contrast:
Building Character 2
Posted in Character, Inspiration on May 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »
We call it waiting because we don’t find it valuable in and of itself (if we did, we’d assign a different name): it’s time that doesn’t have its own meaning—a holding place until the real event starts. These days it’s often possible to avoid waiting—we carry cell phones and lap tops and PDAs to chase [...]
Building Character
Posted in Character, Inspiration on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Authors of fiction start their creative process in various ways. Some tout character, some setting, some plot, as the jumping off point for their writing. In this regard, I suppose that I am of the “eclectic” school, because my creations grow from different starting points at different times. And inspiration comes from a variety of [...]
Welcome!
Posted in Uncategorized on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Writing in a wide range of genres shapes my reading. I’ve written trade books, textbooks, a children’s opera libretto, poetry, search engine optimized articles, software content, picture books, and am planning a fantasy quintology. Or pentology. We’ll see. I’m also a reading clinician, which has led me to give a lot of thought to how [...]
