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4 Character Tips from Anne Cleeland

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O.C. Sisters in Crime

Anne Cleeland has some great tips on how to create memorable characters. 

Author Anne Cleeland
Anne Cleeland

One of the things I love about writing fiction is how much I learn about life as I work to improve my craft. For instance, at the April meeting of the Orange County chapter of Sisters in Crime, mystery writer Anne Cleeland gave us tips on how to create memorable characters for our stories. I wrote an article about it for writers on Lit Central OC. 

For my blog, I thought I’d take a look at the same character tips and how we can apply them to becoming memorable characters ourselves. Here’s my snippet of encouragement.  [Read more…] about 4 Character Tips from Anne Cleeland

Wine, Jesus’ First Miracle

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Wine was Jesus' first miracle

I’m very glad turning water to wine was Jesus’ first miracle, but even happier it wasn’t His last. 

The wine was running out at a wedding in Cana. Mary asked her Son to do something about it. 

Jesus’ first response was less than inspiring. He said something along the lines of, “Why is that my problem?”

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Joanna Penn’s Life Rewrite

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JoannaPennAboutMe-e1394106379142

Joanna Penn, successful thriller writer, international speaker, and popular podcaster had a job that was crushing her. Then she decided to rewrite her life. 

A number of years ago I interviewed Joanna Penn, of the popular podcast and blog The Creative Penn, for an online magazine. I was interested in all the things she does—self-publishing, blogging, speaking, fiction writing—but I was really after something else.  At the time, I was on a quest for a new life trajectory. Joanna Penn had found hers. She’d changed her life dramatically. I wanted to know how she did it. 

If you’re searching for your shiny, new future, you’re going to find Joanna’s story both hopeful and practical. Here’s what I learned. 

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Memories of my Mother

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Momframed

My mother flew away on Friday night. I think the cage door had been open for a while, but whether she hadn’t noticed or had her own reasons, she waited until Friday, February 20, 2015. After my father left her side and went home to his bed, she slipped out.

I believe she circled the globe a time or two, flitted past the moon, dodged a few stars and came to rest on the outstretched finger of her Maker. She’s always been His songbird.

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How to Avoid the Dreaded Saggy Middle

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Saggy middle

 February is here and that means most people have already given up on their New Year’s resolutions. I have.

Well, at least one resolution, and it’s a good thing. One of my goals for 2015 was to write a scene a day in the new novel I’m working on.

I signed up for an on-line plotting course that began on January 2nd and started happily typing away. I was excited about the beginning of the story and I knew, more or less, where I wanted the characters to end up. The middle was a bit vague, but I was sure the class would help solve all my pesky problems.

It didn’t. 

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