A friend once asked if I read more than one book at the same time. I quickly said, “No, of course not!” A second later, I had to amend that. “Well… not two novels at the same time.” Because in my mind, reading fiction and non-fiction are different hobbies. I typically have a novel that […]
When writing, clarity is key. Yet some sentences can lead us down the garden path, so to speak. They seem to promise one idea but end up in another place, leaving us lost and confused. In writing circles, these missteps are known as garden path sentences. Luckily, there are many ways to quickly fix these
Author commentary on stories featured on my Freely Written podcast in May 2024: Birds of a Feather and Reusable Straws. At the end of each month, I’ll shed some light on my writing adventures. If you’re new to Freely Written, this podcast offers very short stories written from a chosen prompt with no planning and
Writers can be a bit persnickety about word choice. My search history is full of definitions to words I looked up just to sure of their full, actual meaning. Sometimes, I’m surprised to learn a word has a connotation I’d never considered. Which makes me rethink how I want to use it. At the moment,
Man vs. Bear Women choose the bear and (some) men react with derision or rage. #NotAllMen (sigh) If you’ve seen the memes and fallout on social media but don’t know what’s happening, it began with a thought experiment: If you’re alone in the woods, would you rather encounter a bear or a man? There are
