Distinctive dialogue does more than tell readers what characters are thinking. It helps them recognize who’s speaking—even without a dialogue tag. The key isn’t giving every character a collection of quirky catchphrases. It’s shaping each voice around that character’s personality, background, priorities, and way of seeing the world. Start with what each character notices. A… Continue reading A – Z Challenge – Developing Distinctive Dialogue
We have been a little off-key recently. I hope this will be a good thing. Today, after nearly a week without writing on this story. I began Chapter Ten on my second book. I’m not sure we will write anything after book five is written. We are writing on our other story when we’re not… Continue reading First Series of the Patchwork Family – Update
We have been dealing with our certified account of our mental health diagnoses. We have learned over the seven years since being diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder. During the past seven years, we have learned about that mental health issue. We started a new blog to explain to allies and friends what DID/MPD is all… Continue reading Mental Health (ranting)
The A–Z Character Challenge: Building a Memorable Story Character Creating a strong character is one of the most important parts of writing a story. Readers may enjoy an exciting plot, but they remember the characters who made them laugh, cry, struggle, and change. The A–Z Character Challenge is a creative way to explore a character’s… Continue reading A-Z Challenge – Character
What is a glue word? Glue words are also sometimes called ‘sticky words’. A glue word is a word that tends to be essential to a sentence. That is, many glue words are the connectives that hold it together, make it make sense. However, an overabundance can make the sentence slow and gloopy – in… Continue reading Glue and Sticky Words
It recently occurred to me that I never thought of writing a teen gay romance. Our partner suggested we write one. Being gay ourselves and I’d never written a teen romance anything. I knew this would be best written in 1st pov. I had never written any stories from the 1st person pov. I intend… Continue reading New Story – LGBT Theme
My current story is Patchwork Family. I have come up with four more books in the series. Yes, I’m making it a series of five books. I’m inspired at the moment, over the last five to six days. I have written four chapters. I’m on chapter nineteen. I’m finding this current chapter is one of… Continue reading Inspiration – Where It Comes From
There are several things we have to think about when we talk about LGBT. We are LGBT in our lives. Our partner is also LGBT. They will never admit it to their family; not sure why that is. We have friends who accept who we are and know what we are about. We are also… Continue reading Rebel Against the System – LGBT
Part of my A to Z Challenge series Every character walks into your story already carrying a life. They have a childhood, a first heartbreak, a job they hated, a secret they’ve never told anyone. That invisible weight is backstory — and how you handle it can make or break your story. What Backstory Actually… Continue reading A – Z Challenge – Backstory
Grief is an ocean,Endless and vast,It swallows you whole,And the pain seems to last. It crashes and tumbles,And pulls you under,You struggle and fight,But it’s just getting stronger. It hits you in waves,With no warning or sign,And you find yourself drowning,In a sea of lost time. Your heart is heavy,And your soul is worn,The weight… Continue reading Poem – Grief