For my book club, I will be choosing current titles (2019 and 2020 as released) to read, review and recommend. Initially I had picked The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates to launch my book club, but after reading it, I was largely unimpressed. So, I scoured the reviews and selected The Dutch House, by Ann […]
Category Archives: Writing Advice
Clarity
There comes a point in the creative process where you just need to get away from the work. I didn’t realize how important that was until this weekend. Scott and I spent the weekend in New Orleans at Emeril Lagasse’s Carnivale du Vin, a weekend charity event supporting underserved youth. We met new friends and […]
Holed Up in the Tower
I’ve spent the past three days holed up in the Tower. Not that tower! But the Tower at our property on Bald Head Island! When my husband and I decided to build our dream house at the beach four years ago, we had fancied something on the beach. But that soon changed when we considered […]
Mapping the Final Cuts
Last week was spent working with my editor mapping Masque of Honor’s structure against proven story-telling standards that date back to the times of Plato. As we cut material from the book to improve its pacing, we also kept a close eye on the characters’ arcs, ensuring none were compromised. And most importantly, we made […]
Anthony McCarten on Writing
Two years ago, I met Anthony McCarten and the two of us became fast friends. Anthony is a novelist, author, playwright and screenwriter. His novels include Death of a Superhero, Spinners, The English Harem, and Show of Hands among others. His films include The Theory of Everything, The Darkest Hour, and Bohemian Rhapsody, which at […]
Raspberry Plain Manor
“The Great Hall of Raspberry Plain, with its high, white, plastered walls and walnut trim, was alive tonight with the laughter of guests enjoying whiskey and wine.” Masque of Honor In Masque of Honor, Raspberry Plain served as the family seat of the Mason family. In the opening scenes of the book, the manor house […]
Before Writing the First Word
In October 2017, I first started the MASQUE OF HONOR project (in the world of publishing, I’ve learned that the writing of a book is called ‘a project’). In those first months, I focused my efforts on research spending countless hours at the Library of Virginia in Richmond, at Thomas Balch Library in Leesburg, on […]
Musings: I’m Feeling Inspired by Harper Lee
I’m feeling inspired! As I write in this eclectic 1960s hotel room in TriBeCa this afternoon, I’m reminded of Harper Lee who wrote TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD not far from here. In 1964 she said, “I never expected any sort of success with Mockingbird. I was hoping for a quick and merciful death at the […]
Staying True to the Spirit of the Story
The key to keeping “history” in “historical fiction” is staying true to the SPIRIT of the story. I’ve stuck like glue to this principle. And when I say SPIRIT, I truly mean SPIRITS. I walk among them every day. They guide me. They inspire me and they keep me true to the story – their […]
Embarking on the Journey to Tell Stories
When I embarked on this journey to tell the stories of the people who had called Selma home, I had to first figure out how to write a novel! It couldn’t be that hard, right? So I bought a “how to write a novel” guide. A couple of them, in fact. The very first thing […]
