Please meet Kathleen Pooler

I'm so happy to introduce my guest today, Kathleen Pooler. Her discussion of the sensory details needed to bring readers into our scenes is spot on. Please click on all the links Kathy provides for very powerful examples. The Power of Sensory Details in Memoir Writing by Kathleen Pooler "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." William Wordsworth It's a well-known expectation in writing circles that the key to a compelling read is to use the five senses sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste to invite the reader into the scene. What better way to evoke emotions than to enable the reader to see the setting sun behind the snow-laced trees or to see a character's facial expression and the color of his eyes, to hear the calmness in his voice, to feel the softness of his skin, to smell the aroma of baking bread then to taste the steaming bread as the butter melts into it... When I have an idea for a story, I'll admit, I begin recounting the scene as I remember … [Read more...]

Do I recommend a virtual book tour – you bet!

I'm so pleased to have had six hosts for my virtual book tour this month. It has been a wonderful challenge to create the content and interact with other book bloggers generously willing to promote my memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On. When my Dream of Things publisher, Mike O'Mary and I, created the tour to coincide with the release of the paperback and eBook editions, we offered tour hosts three options: 1. Post a review of the book on your blog 2. Post a Q & A with me using up to six of the twelve questions we provided 3. Post a description of my book and conduct a contest to give away a free copy to one of the host's followers. We also suggested the hosts pick any tour date between October 1 and December 31 of this year. I'm very pleased that during my virtual book tour stops my tour hosts have selected various versions of the options, including asking me to write blog posts to meet their own requirements. Stop One: Angela Felsted's My Poetry Place. Angela … [Read more...]