Plot Construction 101: Climax

Well, guys, we’ve come to the climax. What is a climax? It’s the most exciting part of the novel, of course. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for. And now it’s here. And … we’re going to make it a lot less exciting by talking about it. 😉 Essentially, the climax is the coming-together of […]

Back from “Hiatus”

I put it in quotation marks because, though I was technically not blogging for these last couple weeks, I published three posts (all reviews) during that time. 🙂 Well, guys, I’m back, well rested-up now. I’ve finished up school for the year, gotten through the terrors of band concert (which is actually not terrible … and a […]

Plot Construction 101: Rising Action

Well, I’ve skipped two weeks because I was nervous about writing this post. I wasn’t sure what to say! I was thinking, “I’ve gotten myself into this … and now I don’t know how to get myself out!” But now I’m just going to write this post, and if you have anything to add – or […]

Plot Construction 101: Inciting Incident

  Hello, all! Well, it’s time for the next episode in Plot Construction 101, which is basically me summarizing all the stuff you knew, and I didn’t until I started researching it recently because I was having trouble with Ivy Introspective. Today we’ll be talking about the inciting incident. Rising action usually starts with an […]

Plot Construction 101: Exposition

Last week we talked about the basic construction of a plot, The Great Pyramid. This week we’ll be talking about the exposition. To summarize, an exposition is the beginning – the introduction – of a novel. Here is where you hook your readers. Another word for it is “chapter one.” 😉 Note: exposition doesn’t always happen […]

Plot Construction 101: The Great Pyramid

I’m planning to give y’all a course on plot constructing. Today (Day 1), I’ll be introducing you to The Great Pyramid. No, not that Great Pyramid! This Great Pyramid! 😀 As you can see, it’s sort of more of a great triangle. But, as you don’t want a one-dimensional plot (and as “pyramid” sounds better […]

March Character Studies

Morgan Dusky at Studies in Character, a wonderful blog written almost entirely by the author’s fictitious characters, hosts a monthly character study. You can find out more about it here. This month’s theme is Introductions. And yes. I do realize that it’s April. I’ve been having a crazy week … actually, I’ve been having several […]

The Evil Subplot of Doom

Subplots are, essentially, smaller stories that interweave with the main plot of a novel to add to it. A subplot in my novel The Dressmaker’s Secret is … um … come to think of it, The Dressmaker’s Secret doesn’t really have subplots, does it? Or maybe it does and I’ve forgotten. New example! 😛 In The […]

Love Triangles?

Love triangles. They’re everywhere, it seems. In best-selling books. In non-best-selling books. In almost every romance you ever have read. And I have yet to find one that doesn’t drive me wild. What is it with these crazy, indecisive girls?

Sleep Deprivation Hillarities

I know. There are a lot of big words in the title. 😉 Essentially, today I will be sharing you some things I wrote in my novel, Ivy Inquisitive, during NaNoWriMo 2015 that aren’t quite … right. ~ A few of my favorite typos ~ Miss Selle greeted him at the girl. Yep. At Miss […]

Review: The Secret of Pembrooke Park

The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen ~Summary~ Abigail Foster is the practical daughter. She fears she will end up a spinster, especially as she has little dowry, and the one man she thought might marry her seems to have fallen for her younger, prettier sister. Facing financial ruin, Abigail and her father search […]

Ivy Inquisitive (updates and an excerpt)

Well, I’ve finally started editing Ivy Inquisitive.I’ve finished the prologue and part of the chapter one (for the first time; there will be many drafts after this one). As you can see, Makenna Pithey has updated my cover. Thanks, Makenna, it looks awesome! 🙂 I think that’s what gave me the drive to start editing … or, you […]