We are excited to announce the WOW! Women on Writing book blog tour with author Elizabeth Maria Naranjo and her book The House on Linden Way. The book is a ghost story with elements of horror and Gothic suspense - a perfect October read. Author Naranjo has shared her thoughts on novel writing. Here's her essay: 5 Tips for Getting Unstuck When Writing Your Novel by Elizabeth Maria Naranjo Writing a novel is a huge undertaking—it requires discipline, dedication, and heart. Yet no matter how much you prepare and how driven you are to succeed, at some point you’re going to get stuck. Here are five tips to jumpstart your creativity and get you through to the end Write by hand Facing a blank page is different from staring at a blank screen. On a page you can at least pretend you’re writing by scribbling, doodling, or drawing until your brain gets tricked into the process. With a screen you can’t do this, and there’s something about that blinking cursor that’s just … [Read more...]
The Yiddish language is making a come back
An October 2013 article in the Huffington Post discusses the revival of training in Yiddish that is helping to keep the language alive for the next generation. This is of great interest to me since I chose to use Yiddish words in my novel, Papa's Shoes. My resources were online Yiddish to English dictionaries and a wonderful old book called The Joys of Yiddish by Leo Rosten. My mother gave my husband a copy back in 1970 when we got married. I think she was trying to entice him to convert. One of my novel's beta readers, who is also not Jewish, did a study of the words I used in the book, dividing them into three categories: Words he uses in his own vocabulary, for example: Goy a person who is not Jewish Kibitz to offer unsolicited advice as a spectator Mazel tov good luck Mensch a special man or person, someone respected Nebbish a nobody, simpleton, weakling Schmooze talk, conversation, chat Shtup push, vulgarism for sexual intercourse Tokhter … [Read more...]
Introducing Shirley Loeb and her debut novel
I'm so happy to welcome Shirley Loeb today as she tells us how she created her debut coming-of-age novel, The Y Sapphires. First a brief synopsis of The Y Sapphires: It is a coming-of-age story that will satisfy adolescents and adults. The 12-year-old protagonist, too tall and too fat, is lost in the new world of high school. She's funny, lovable, and reads people accurately. She joins the Y Sapphires, a club of the "not-so-popular" and begins a friendship with a sophisticated but troubled classmate. Can she remain true to herself and still fit in the club she loves? Here's Shirley: "The process was lengthy. I started writing this book about 25 years ago. I always loved the protagonist but somehow could not sit down long enough to complete it. It was left languishing for years at a time. Funny as it might sound, I felt I had abandoned Sylvie, the 12-year-old protagonist, and that I owed her the debt of completing her story. I was in a writing class where the members … [Read more...]
Overcome by writing
I've really been working away at my novel at least the first three chapters. I'm getting them ready for a First Three Chapter Strongest Start competition that I plan to enter by June 22. I actually printed out a copy of the first 35 pages in no time at all with our brand new Epsom Artisan printer and did a line-by-line edit on the hard copy. Like back in the good old days. But even after reading it through, I still wasn't satisfied with the opening which I think is the most important part of the book. Well, I had an epiphany while I was on the elliptical this morning even through the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee on the TV, the article I was reading in The New Yorker about the artist Christian Marclay who created a digital piece of art called The Clock, which I'm dying to see, and the mix of music on my iPhone I was able to think about writing. That's how it has totally taken over my life. It's on my mind constantly. I'm never bored with it. There's always something to … [Read more...]
