Writing fantasy. Probably drinking tea.
That got your attention, didn't it? I like poetry. That dazzle-me line opens Alfred Noyes's poem The Highwayman. And a poet's gotta dazzle. Fiction writers, too. Especially in that blasted-hard first line. Yes, the last chapter of your book sells your next book. The first chapter though...*shudders* I'm not going to write about how to… Continue reading The Wind Was a Torrent of Darkness
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...It's the battle of the ages! In one corner we have thhhhhheeeeee NOVEL! In the other thhhhhhheeeee MOVIE!" CUT TO: men placing bets, popcorn salespeople hawking their popcorn, as they do. "Our first contenders: Book Legolas vs. Movie Legolas. Let the match begin, and things!" *bell dings* Book Legolas notches… Continue reading Book vs. Movie: Lord of the Rings
Okay, that title is a little melodramatic, yes? Yes. But what in the name of Asgard am I talking about? Glad you asked... I have mentioned that I hate waiting. I hate waiting for the mail-carrier to come in the afternoon or early morning or late evening or WHENEVER SHE FREAKING DECIDES TO SHOW UP… Continue reading A Watched Pot BURNS!
I hate waiting. I need to be patient, but...as the old saying goes: I want patience...NOW! I feel like half the writing game is waiting. Well, maybe a third. I let an idea percolate in my brain and WAIT 'til it's better developed before I write it. Once I've written the crappy first draft, I… Continue reading Waiting
In honor of this fairly bad day, I offer up this little vignette. Enjoy. # The city, in all its infamy, loomed before Cindy, the one, the only, the fabulous...But it mattered no more. Cindy was a has-been, a washed-up star of the moving pictures before they became talking pictures. Where there ought to have… Continue reading The City: A Slice of Life
This is where a joke could possibly be inserted. But this isn't funny. This is serious. I'm serious: my nerves = frayed. You see, one of the sad truths about being a writer is that we take things too lightly and too seriously at the same time--at least, I do. "What is she taking seriously… Continue reading A Frayed Knot and a Short Story
No one likes to hear no...unless they're a masochist. Writers, artists, actors, poets, etc. must hear no way more than the average human being (had to differentiate between us and cats: "NO, TIGGER! Get off the table!") But how to handle no? It feels like rejection. It feels personal, when someone rejects our "children" aka… Continue reading The Art of Hearing “No!”
Yes, I am still alive, just very busy writing and reading (big surprise, eh?) A lot of what's on my TBR pile is non-fiction, and I have instructional videos I've been watching. All of this is research for my work-in-progress, which is a mere 23,000 words away from completion. Huzzah! I have squeezed in some… Continue reading Still here!
The weird truth about me that may or may not be genetic: I cannot hear meter. I cannot hear stressed syllables. Neither can my dad. Inherited? I don't know, but I do know that all I can write is blank verse (or is it free verse? I'm forever confusing the two.) Here's a stab I… Continue reading Throwback Thursday: Poetry’s Darkness and Light
So... I just remembered that I have an unfinished fantasy novel sitting in my virtual sock drawer. I pulled it up, and behold!: the word count was over 104,000 (remember: unfinished.) I used to be a lot wordier with my projects when I was in my teens. I wrote a big hunk of One Was… Continue reading Throwback Thursday: The Forgotten Novel
Beth Overmyer 