Happy Independence Day!

July 4, 2016June 29, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 12 Comments

Two hundred forty years ago on July the 4th 1776, thirteen colonies declared their independence from England, which lead to the formation of the United States. On that day, the Declaration of Independence was adopted. You can download your copy here. I encourage everyone to read it.

“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Click to Tweet.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Click to Tweet

On this Independence Day, we find ourselves in a dangerous and divided country. Faced with one of the most contentious presidential elections in my lifetime, and terrorists who are out to destroy our country, we are in trouble. But, we the people have choices.

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” Click to Tweet

Understand this election is not about your side or mine. It’s not about gender, glass ceilings, or dynasty politics. It’s not about an outspoken businessman. This election is about us, our future, our children and grandchildren’s future. It’s about the security of our nation both physically and economically.

So, while you celebrate our country’s independence with barbecue, and fireworks, realize we are at a crossroads.

Our choices are limited this year but think, carefully, my friend – the spin is in and whichever lot you cast will determine the future and direction of our country. Independence is not free.

Be safe this July 4th and don’t forget to thank those who serve to keep us safe and independent every day. To those men and women, I say: images-2

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram.

Dark Cloud Hovering

July 2, 2016October 21, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 9 Comments

DAILY PROMPT: Clouds

She couldn’t remember the last time she noticed the clouds. One day, like a magician’s trick, they disappeared – poof. She missed the metallic smell of rain and scared didn’t begin to describe what the country was feeling. The first and last words on the radio or news channels were, “The worst drought since …” Blah, blah, blah.

Shit, for that matter, all the heat made it difficult for her to remember the year. Her brain felt as fried as the landscape. Dead shrubs, grass that crumbled into sawdust under your feet, and flowers with their blooms bowed and shriveled was all that was left. A rose is a rose until it’s no more. Damn, that sounded sad.

Sweat beaded on her forehead and trickled down her sides. She slipped on her sunglasses, moved to the curb and raised her hand praying for a cab and the comfort of air-conditioning.

Her hair fluttered across her face in the same instant a gust of wind lifted her skirt, and a breeze tickled her sticky thighs. Wind!

The air turned nippy, and the sky darkened. Removing her sunglasses, she watched the large dark cloud moved overhead and hovered. The whole country had prayed for rain. Maybe, God had heard.

She checked for the small pocket umbrella hiding in the bottom of her bag; it wasn’t there. Why add the weight of something you don’t need to an already bulging bag? Who cares at this point, she’d love the chance to dance in the rain.

The cloud grew darker and expanded. Something about the way it swirled and danced made her shiver and nervous. The electricity in the air was palpable making the hairs on her arms stand at attention. Bouncing on her toes, she scanned the streets for her rescue. Jesus, where were the cabs?

The earth shook with a sudden roar and rumble. The sound was deafening. The wind rushed against her back, pushing her into the street. Flailing against the invisible assault, she dropped her purse and portfolio into the street. Papers flew into the air and scattered. Jesus H Christ!

She scrambled for the pages littering the landscape, grabbing what she could and running after the others as the wind lifted them skyward beyond her reach. Her ragged breath echoed in the middle of an empty street. Fear slithered down her spine like a snake. Everyone was gone. The familiar storefronts blackened as if they’d never existed.

She whirled around searching for anyone. Her heart pounded as she let the last piece of crumbled paper fall from her fist and covered her ears as the dark, angry clouds roared.

The ground shook, knocking her to her knees. She clawed at the pavement and tried to hold on as the darkness of Hell enveloped her, robbed her of oxygen and the rain of a thousand years drowned out her cries. Why me?

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram.

Are Your Commas in the Wrong Place?

June 17, 2016August 30, 2017 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 25 Comments

One would think with years of education stored in my brain I would have conquered sentence structure and those damnable commas – I haven’t. If you’ve been following my blog, you may remember I wrote about this some time ago in Confessions of a Comma Whore.

Recently, I had the opportunity for an editor to review the first chapter of my novel. I was pleased with his comments and surprised to see only a few red marks on the pages.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

“You need to review participial phrases, which is quite a common mistake. Additionally, I recommend learning about restrictive VS nonrestrictive phrases, which will help you better place a few troublesome commas.”

Well, Hells Bells! It looks as if those damn commas will haunt me till I die. Thank God for editors. Forgive me if I’m insulting anyone’s intelligence but I thought I’d review these “quite common mistake’s.”

Participial Phrases

A participle is a verb used as an adjective, and they end in – ing, d, t, or n.

An example: Barking dogs (Bark = verb)

A participial phrase is a group of words containing the participle and any complements or modifiers.

Thanks to Grammar Revolution, here’s how a participle phrase looks diagrammed:

Restrictive versus Nonrestrictive Clauses

A restrictive clause is part of a sentence that explicitly restricts the noun.

Dogs that jump on people annoy me.

The words “that jump on people” restrict the kind of dogs I find annoying. Restrictive clauses do not require commas.

A nonrestrictive clause provides additional information but when left out doesn’t change the meaning of the sentence.

My, fluffy white, Bichon Frisé is a lap dog.

Removing the words “fluffy white” doesn’t alter the meaning of the sentence. It just provides more information. Non-restrictive clauses require commas.

I did well in college. English was one of my favorite subjects. The fact that commas remain my nemesis can only be explained in one of two ways – This Southern gal likes to write the way she talks, or my brain cells just aren’t what they used to be.

Many thanks to James from Storymedic for his feedback and encouragement.

“… very minor corrections. I could immediately tell that you possess a more developed craft, well beyond average.”

Want to know more about those pesky participles and clauses? Check out these resources:

Do you still struggle with certain grammar issues? I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram.

What’s Your Favorite Thesaurus? Share It To Unlock The WHW Prize Vault

June 13, 2016June 6, 2016 / Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 13 Comments

It is a writer‘s job to draw readers into the fictional story so completely that they forget the real world. Our goal is to render them powerless. Despite the late hour, the mountain of laundry, or workday ahead, they cannot give up the journey unfolding within the paper-crisp pages before them.

Strong, compelling writing comes down to the right words, in the right order. Sounds easy, but as all writers know, it is anything BUT. So how do we create this storytelling magic?

How can we weave description in such a way that the fictional landscape becomes authentic and real—a mirror of the reader’s world in all the ways that count most?

Well, there’s some good news on that front. Two new books, released this week may change the description game for writers. The Urban Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to City Spaces and The Rural Setting Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Personal and Natural Spaces.

These books look at the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds a character might experience within 225 different contemporary settings. And this is only the start of what these books offer writers.

In fact, swing by and check out this hidden entry from the Urban Setting Thesaurus: Police Car.

And there’s one more thing you might want to know more about…

Becca and Angela, authors of The Emotion Thesaurus, are celebrating their double release with a fun event going on from June 13-20th called ROCK THE VAULT. At the heart of Writers Helping Writers is a tremendous vault, and these two ladies have been hoarding prizes of epic writerly proportions.

A safe full of prizes, ripe for the taking…if the writing community can work together to unlock it, of course.

Ready to do your part? Stop by Writers Helping Writers to find out more!

Do you have a favorite thesaurus? I can’t wait to add these two new resources to my library. What about you? I’d love to hear what you think and let Angela and Becca know too.

Talk to me. Tell me your story and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram.