Samhain Publishing Ltd. Weblog

Mixed Emotions

Well, it’s that back to school time again for us young mother writers. You know the time—when we can actually have our house stay clean for more than 22 minutes straight. That time when other people’s children stop raiding our refrigerator. And when that Andy Williams song,” The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” pulls that unfathomably joy chord in our summer-beaten- down hearts.

What's Your "How To" of Choice?

At least once a year—maybe twice—I go through a writing phase. Well, more like… an un-writing phase where I feel the need to step back and brush up on some of the finer details of fiction writing. (Kind of like continuing education for writers)

I’ve acquired quite a few ‘how to’ writing books over the years—some good some eh. But Noah Lukeman’s books are definitely on my top ten list. When I go back and reread them, I always find new information that I can use, almost as if I’m reading them for the first time.

Right now I’ve decided to pick up and reread: The Plot Thickens. The reason? I’m struggling with plot (duh) with a story I’m mapping out. You see, I have a story idea but no real theme or plot to go with it. I’m about halfway through the book, but I think it’s been a great help to me already.

How often do you take the time to read “how to” writing books? And what are some that you’ve read more than once?

THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME available today!

Wow, you can’t imagine how excited I am! (Uh, unless you’re having a book released today too)

Everyone involved in the whole process has been so super, and, of course, I must send out a special cyber hug today to my editor, Laurie. THANK YOU so much for all your help!

When I wrote The Role of a Lifetime, I started with one simple scene in my head. It came to me when I was at the playground with my daughter. There were kids going down this big tube slide and one of the mothers was having trouble showing her two year old how to slide down and not to be frightened. So she put her legs in (trying to demonstrate), then quickly turned to me and said, “Watch me get stuck.”

Well, I laughed, and then I thought it’d be even funnier if a father got stuck in the slide. Even funnier if he was single father, trying to “show off” to a woman. Even funnier if he wasn’t a father but a single man, with a large ego, trying to “show off” and got stuck in a slide. Even funnier if—uh, well, you get the idea.

Anyway, that simple encounter stuck with me—no pun intended. So I decided to work with it. I got out my handy GMC (Goal, Motivation, Conflict) book and began to play “what if” and then finally came up with Ben Capshaw, my hero. And the rest wrote itself. (Sort of)

I hope you love Ben as much as I do. :)

If you’d like a chance to win a free copy, please check out my website: HERE

Unexpected Directions

When I first started writing, I had some pretty high hopes of becoming the next Nora Roberts. (Hey, let’s face it, what beginning writer didn’t want to be the next Nora?)

Stress and Nostalgia Saturday

Hi! I’m newbie author Jennifer Shirk, and I’m a first time blogger, long time reader here at the Samhain blog. Unfortunately, I’m also a little neurotic. Bear with me as I explain…