Lynne's Blog
As a science center director in a former life, my job was to show our audiences how science works, not simply to tell them. The Aha! moments made the experience real for the thousands of kids, adults, and young adults that visited. When they left, there was a good chance they would remember the scientific concept behind the hands-on exhibit.
Writing is much the same. Writers need that Aha! encounter to grow and nourish their ideas into a final piece of work. That’s what this blog is all about. It’s about MY “minds-on” adventure with words — one I enjoy sharing with readers. Whether it’s about the research aspect, the craft of writing itself, or the emotional roller coaster of putting myself out there in the public eye . . . my blog is me. Pure and simple.
I welcome your thoughts and hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.
A Writer’s Technique for Moving Back and Forth in Time
First I’d like to send you best wishes for a healthy, happy, and peaceful 2016. As you know I write historical mysteries that are solved by modern technology, so, naturally, readers will find themselves immersed in both the present and in the past in each book. I’d...
Pitching a Book
One of the most difficult tasks for writers, but also one of the most important is the back (jacket) cover text. It must be brief but intriguing, succinct but riveting. For discussion sake, here is the back cover text for my latest book, Pure Lies, a mystery about...
Words, Words, Words
The Washington Post published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. Kind of like the Fictionary game. Too darn funny. Here are the winners: Coffee (n.), the person upon...
A Wish List for the Future
I received this sweet poem in a Christmas card but am having trouble finding the poet. The closest I can come is a similar poem by Helen Steiner Rice. Both poems are lovely but if anyone knows who wrote the one below, please let me know. Thanks and have a wonderful...
War and Peace in a Day
When it started, World War I was predicted to last only a few weeks. (The same was true of the Civil War, by the way.) Instead, by December of 1914, WWI had already claimed nearly a million lives. In fact, over fifteen million died in a war that dragged on for four...
An Irreverent Poem . . . But Fun!
For my blog this week, I thought I’d spotlight one of my favorite humorists, Ogden Nash. For those of you unfamiliar with this witty poet, he is often remembered for his short but clever poems such as: “The trouble with a kitten is that. . . eventually it becomes a...
Turn the Page
Chapter endings are as important as beginnings. Read the endings of your chapters. Go ahead. Are they riveting? Are you anxious to turn the page? Will your readers be? Take a closer look at the ho hum ones and begin to focus on endings that would compel a reader...
Seven Little-Known Facts About Thanksgiving
Here are seven interesting facts about our national holiday. As a history buff, I found these interesting. Hope you do too. Every year on the island of Alcatraz an “Unthanksgiving Day” has been held since 1975. It commemorates the survival of Native Americans...
Characters and Conflict
The dictionary defines conflict as “a struggle or an opposition.” Conflict comes from the Latin word for “striking,” but it isn't always violent. Conflict can arise from opposing ideas. But conflict, in any form, is essential for your story. Characters must struggle...
Movies: A Reflection of Real Life
With the new movie, The Suffragette, now in theaters, I’ve resurrected this blog, which is reminiscent of the time and circumstances of one of the most infamous tragedies in U.S. history. The Triangle Factory fire in 1911 was the deadliest workplace disaster in NYC...
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