by toby | Dec 8, 2011 | The Writing Life
1. Notice everything. The world is filled with sounds, smells, textures, and fabulous stories unfolding all around you. Take the time to notice, and keep something handy to jot down new thoughts/ways to describe that sensory input as it comes to you. Sometimes,...
by toby | Dec 4, 2011 | The Writing Life
How did this happen to me? I’m studying Forensics for Dummies with a pack of Post-its. I’m cutting up a chicken in the kitchen with a butcher knife as “research” for a paragraph on dismemberment, leaning in close to listen to the wet thunk and gristly snick of the...
by toby | Nov 24, 2011 | Life
Doing the grateful thing- and right now, I have a whole new appreciation for HEALTH. If you don't have health, you really don't have anything. My husband of 25 years, Mike Neal, is an amazing man with an amazing body. I've been accused (and not unfairly so) of...
by toby | Nov 22, 2011 | The Writing Life
I wrote my first romance novel when I was sixteen and had hardly even been kissed—I’d got all my education on the subject from Barbara Cartland and Joan Collins. I wrote it at camp as a series of installments I read aloud each night to my giggling cabinmates. Called...
by toby | Nov 11, 2011 | Life
RatHunter on the job (video above. Be careful you might find it amusing) Day 1: Liko, our ridiculous Shih-Tzu, detects a rat behind the stove. He stands in point position, watching. He digs at the stove. He barks. We pull out the stove, the rat makes a dash for it,...