Friday fun: what does a name say? Come play!

I've seen a number of posts recently on the topic of character naming. I happen to love researching and choosing names and have built up a little library of name books, including...

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Tic check

Copy-editing for my job has been eye opening this week. Dense and difficult ideas are par for the course in the lit-crit essays that cross my desk, but my current headache is...

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Ideas in the bottoms of our shoes

Years ago I picked up a gem at a used bookstore, Georgia Heard's Writing Toward Home. The title spoke to my identity crisis of the moment: My parents had retired to Florida, overwhelming...

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Poet secrets

I've been hesitant to blog about this topic, because it's one of those things I hide in my writing, there to be found by those who look for it, but I hope not so jarring that...

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Extravagant revision

"A penny saved is a penny earned," says Ben Franklin (or St. Ben as he's usually perceived here in Philly). It's a maxim that our "buy now, pay later" culture would do well to...

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Eleventy-one Winner: Grand Prize

Welcome to the final day of my Eleventy-one awards program, celebrating my 111 followers (plus quite a few more) and their wonderful writing. Day by day, you've had a chance to...

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Eleventy-one Winner: first runner-up

Welcome to day three of my Eleventy-one awards program, celebrating my 111 followers (plus quite a few more!) and their wonderful writing. Day by day, you'll have a chance to...

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Eleventy-one Winner: second runner-up

Welcome to day two of my Eleventy-one awards program, celebrating my 111 followers and their wonderful writing. Day by day, you'll have a chance to see different approaches to...

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Eleventy-one Winner: third runner up

The happy day has arrived to begin announcing the winners of my Eleventy-one Celebration Writing Contest, in honor of making 111 blogging friends.Contest entrants submitted a...

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Gift time

So I'm back, bearing gifts (don't worry, I'm not Greek) after an unplugged week that was medium-productive. I'm all set to announce contest winners beginning Wednesday, and I...

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Unplugging

Thanks to everyone who submitted a story or excerpt to my Eleventy-one Celebration Writing Contest. You should receive a confirmation e-mail from me by 10 a.m. today at the latest....

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Deadline approaching and Easter miracles

The deadline is fast approaching (tomorrow!) to submit your entry to my Eleventy-one Celebration Writing Contest in honor of making 111 blog friends. (For my new readers, the...

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First Page Blogfest

Thanks to Kelly of Kelly's Compositions for hosting today's First Page Blogfest! Stop by her blog to find all the other blogfest participants and links to their offerings.Here's...

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Negotiation toolbox

I use the term "negotiation" the way Sandra Scofield does in The Scene Book. She describes it as "an exchange of character desires and denials and relenting, until some sort...

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