a guest post by Nancy McDonald Look on the shelves of any bookstore and you’ll see plenty of fiction set during the Second World War for adults. But you won’t find nearly as much for the 8-12-year-old reader. Let’s face it, the Second World War was a terrible time in history, full of unspeakable horror, unrelenting…
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Find Your Fictional Character’s Energy Motivators – Part 1: Earth
Using an ancient philosophy of energy to help you create better characters The Earth Energyis associated with our survival instinct, our sense of security and well-being. Think of the foundation tier of Maslow’s Hierarchy. When our basic needs are met and our base is balanced, we feel secure, physically and mentally healthy, and we are…
3 Questions & a Pose ~ Christine Boucher
Wherein my guest, a yoga instructor and writer, answers three questions and shares one (sometimes more than one) pose that yogis and writers will find informative, intriguing, and entertaining. Question 1 Which came first, your yoga or your writing? Writing came first. My neighbor and I decided that we were going to write a book…
Linking Warming & Weather
Dear EarthTalk: Have scientists been able to definitively prove links between global warming and more extreme weather phenomena in recent years, or is this still just a theory? – T.C., Chicago, IL The question of whether science has been able to prove, let alone prove definitively, the connection between climate change and extreme weather is…
Erica Goss ~ 3 Questions & a Poem
3 Questions and a Poem–in which one of my favorite poets is interviewed and shares a poem. QUESTION 1 What do you consider the three most important elements of a poem? Weirdness, honesty, and feeling. For me, good poetry has some of the qualities of a dream. Using the activities and experiences that make up…
b.read.crumbs: Julie Wray Herman
National Poetry Month This month’s b.read.crumbs post by Julie Herman, which you may find in the original on her website. Which some of us have taken to mean NaPoWriMo, or let’s try a poem day. I got this idea first from Liz Garton Scanlon, (see her lovely website here) Liz has been doing a haiku a…
b.read.crumbs : Poeting
Back in December 2021, I noticed that it was Pretend to Be a Time Traveler Day. That’s charming, don’t you think? So I whipped out an email to a few of my Whovian friends (including Julie Herman) with that holiday as the subject. The message is long gone from my Sent folder, but it went…
Deborah Bogen ~ 3 Questions & a Poem
Deborah Bogen is one of my all-time favorite poets, and I’m thrilled to have her as my guest for 3 Questions & a Poem. QUESTION 1 What do you consider the three most important elements of a poem? Looking up “elements” I’m going to go with the “basics, fundamentals, essentials” part of its many definitions….
How to Unlock the Best Writer Inside You
a guest post by S. S. Turner There are many great books available on how to write well. It’s one of those subjects most authors like to believe they’re an expert about. There’s also a marketing angle behind it for many of these self-proclaimed writing experts with the underlying message being: if you want to…
Allison K Williams ~ Three Questions & a Cover
A short interview wherein my guest, one of my favorite authors, answers three questions about the writing life. Question 1 What books do you recommend for an aspiring writer? More than anything, read who you want to be shelved next to. And read the most recent ones—one of the challenges of publication is that most…