Quote of the day

"If you would be a writer, first be a reader. Only through the assimilation of ideas, thoughts and philosophies can one begin to focus his own ideas, thoughts and philosophies."

--Allan W. Eckert

Quote of the day

"However great a man's natural talent may be, the act of writing cannot be learned all at once."

--Jean Jacques Rousseau

Quote of the day

"If a book is not alive in the writer's mind, it is as dead as year-old horse-shit."

--Stephen King

A Black Friday tale

 I stopped at a store (I won’t mention the name but it’s one of my favs) on my way to work this morning, thinking that I could dash in, grab what I wanted, and dash out. WRONG! Wasn’t going to happen. The store was an absolute zoo. The lines were crazy and the people were crazy and I was crazy for even thinking this was a good idea.
NOT!
So I left without anything except for the bruise I got when I tried to maneuver around a moving mass of madness and ran into a shelf. Ugh! But it got me thinking how writing can be this way. We think it’s going to be easy but it ends up being damn difficult. There are obstacles to overcome, we spend what seems like eternity waiting for news (good or bad) and even when we get what we want, we wonder if the reader will even like it.
BUT, despite the difficulty and the obstacles and the wait times and the doubts we keep on writing because we have dreams. And a life without dreams is no life at all. So, I guess at lunch I’ll go back to the store and see if what I want is still there. If it is, great. If not, onward to the next great chapter in my life. (Smiles)
  

Quote of the day

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great."

--Mark Twain

My Thanksgiving wish

Today is Thanksgiving, a time to gather with loved ones. And yet, I can’t help but remember all of the loved ones I’ve lost, the holidays we’ve shared when we thought that tomorrows were forever. Holidays are difficult when you’ve said as many goodbyes as I have. But I am thankful that each loved one was a part of my life. They’ve touched it in ways they will never know and helped shape the person I’ve become. So today, when I gather with family and friends, I will say thank you for all the important people in my life, past and present, who made my world better by being a part of it. I wish each of you a blessed day full of love and fellowship and fun. Peace be with you, B.

Quote of the day

"Becoming the reader is the essence of becoming a writer."

--John O'Hara

Quote of the day

"Start early and work hard. A writer's apprenticeship usually involves writing a million words (which are then discarded) before he's almost ready to begin. That takes a while."

--David Eddings

Quote of the day

"Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the most. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out the window."

--William Faulkner

Quote of the day

"When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away even if it's only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time."

--Kurt Vonnegut

Writing is like riding a rollercoaster

Writing is like riding a rollercoaster. There are highs and lows, twists and turns and seconds when you wonder why you ever wanted to ride such a stomach-churning, headache-inducing, heart-pumping mass of mean steel. I mean, the ride’s not forgiving and there certainly seems to be more downs than ups. But here’s the thing. We’re on this ride together. I’m sitting right beside you (in the front seat) and we’re going to ride this damn rollercoaster until we can’t ride it anymore. So, are you with me? I know that it seems intimidating, but guess what, we can handle the metal monster because we are writers. So let’s board this baby and go for the ride of our lives. Hang on!

Another great contest to check out

This one's for YA writers. Good luck to everyone:)

http://www.writingclasses.com/ContestPages/YAPitch.php