This is probably the third or fourth time I’ve whined about my characters, but I truly do wish they would behave. It’s extremely rude, I think, that while being intricately painted, they should snatch the brush out of my hand and proceed to paint themselves. I’ve even had a few paint themselves out of the […]
Any author who wants their stories to be read has to write good ones. Here’s the dilemma – how does one know what makes a good story? I doubt that anyone sets out to write a bad story, but on the other hand, I bet there are few – experts included – who can unimpeachably say […]
Hmmm… I’m having a hard time choosing the fate of a particular character. It isn’t that I’m overly fond of him; it’s just that I’m unsure which scenario best suits the story. If I murder him, then the heroine is left with an item she’s never seen before and a quest to unlock the mystery. […]
After struggling with the structure for my new book, I gave up. Yep – I did. Me, the incurable optimist. I waved the white flag, threw in the towel, and then I red read. Lots. And I’m the better for it. I have learned that I was having so much trouble with this new novel because […]
‘Snippet’. Snip pet. Such a funny word. I could have used ‘fragment’, but it’s not nearly as much fun, and ‘scrap’ is just plain boring. My snip pets are the paragraphs and pages of unconnected writing I’ve been accumulating over the past couple of months. They all relate to the new novel, but don’t form a […]
I am now a stalker.That’s a great opening line. Maybe I’ll use it in one of my next novels. But on second thought, it’s probably already been used. In this case, though dramatic, it’s not nearly the truth. I have, though, become an observer. Instead of sitting in a dark, isolated coffee shop, I now […]
Time to share how well I’ve stuck to the project list I made last November. The good news is that I haven’t added any more projects. Yay! The bad news is that I had to drop one. Ouch… Updating my web presence: Cathrynlouis.com is live on Posterous, and all the links (yes, even on cathrynlouis.blogspot.com) are […]
Simplicity. That’s what it came down to. In the end, my love of writing won out over my love of tinkering. I threw out all the wow-look-at-me colors, fancy widgets, and look-what-I-can-do ego boosters that I started with and went for the high-contrast look of a book. After all, I am an author. When I […]
It’s here! The end of the year. Next up – 2012. An amazing time to be on the planet. I can’t believe 2011 went by so quickly. I need two more months! Of course, I’ve compared to where I was last year. I have much to be grateful for: Sparks: I had expected to be done […]
There’s no other word for it. But after all, that’s what an antagonist is supposed to be. The one in my new novel certainly lives up to his label. Naturally, by the end of the book, he is to be found out and get his comeuppance. But so far, he isn’t cooperating. Taking him down isn’t supposed […]
