Writing

10 Gift Suggestions for the Writer

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 4 Comments

It’s hard to believe that we are coming up on Thanksgiving and the inevitable Black Friday Christmas rush! Buying for kids and grandkids that already have the latest gadgets is becoming more and more difficult, but I refuse to resort to the dreaded gift card.

Unlike our children, there are lots of great ideas for the writers in our life.  So, to help you get a start on the madness, check out these great gift ideas.

My ten top suggestions for the writer in your life.

  1. I would be remiss if I did not plug my own short story collection – Maybe Next Time – available on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback.

 

 

2.  Carve Magazine Gift a one-year subscription plus an extra goodie.

 

 

 

 

3. Available on Amazon:

3d-Rose, Please Do Not Annoy The Writer Black – Two Tone Black Mug, 11.oz

       3d- Rose I Write What’s Your  Superpower?  Two Tone Black Mug, 11 .oz, Black/White

4. The Writer’s Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the ‘Write’ Side of Your Brain.

 

 

 

5.  Ernest Hemingway Engraved Quote Pen – “In order to write about life, first you must live it.”

 

 

 

 

6.     5-Pc.Typewriter Coaster Set          

7.  On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft  Special Edition by Stephen King.

 

 

8. Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft: A step-by-step guide to a better novel by Janice Hardy.  

 

 

 

9.  Say What? Second Edition: The Fiction Writer’s Handy Guide to Grammar, Punctuation, and Word Usage by C. S. Lakin.

 

 

 

10.  a must-have collection from Writers Helping Writers. The Emotion Thesaurus, The Positive Trait Thesaurus, The Negative Trait Thesaurus, The Urban Setting Thesaurus, The Rural Setting Thesaurus, The Emotional Wound Thesaurus.

      

  

Happy shopping!

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Gratitude a Too Often Missing Ingredient

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 5 Comments

We all look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving. It’s a favorite holiday for most everyone I know. I mean, what’s not to like? Turkey, dressing, gravy, sweet potato casserole,  green beans, pecan pie, and the lists of mouth-watering foods go on and on.

We gorge ourselves on great food and conversation, but by the time our meal is over we’re on to the next thing – specifically, Black Friday and grabbing up all those wonderful deals for Christmas! We have lists made and our plans laid out in detail from what time to start out to the stores to hit first.

Yet, during all of this Thanksgiving preparation and activity, we tend to leave out the most essential ingredient – genuine gratitude. 

In all the hustle and bustle, we forget that the reason we are able to sit around a beautifully decorated table with food from end to end is that we are blessed.

We are blessed with the freedom to pray as we wish, to love those we choose, and a rich and prosperous nation.

We are blessed with a roof over our heads in which to present such a bountiful spread; blessed to have family and friends to in which we share this bounty. We are blessed with health, happiness, and a warm fire to sit by as the evening draws nigh.

So, this Thanksgiving let us truly be thankful when we gather together around the table. Share laughter, fond memories, and the love of gratitude we hold in our hearts for each other.

Happy Thanksgiving and may you and your family be blessed in abundance now and in the coming year.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Ask the Experts: Tips for Self-Editing

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / 16 Comments

 As many of you know, I have been hard at work on my first novel. Currently, my focus has been on getting the story down and for once, have not disappeared down the rabbit hole of editing while I write, although the temptation has been great. After more than two years, I finally can see the end in sight and couldn’t be more excited!

I do plan to hire an editor for this novel, but in the meantime, I will clean up some of the apparent errors.  As a practice, I use three-four editing tools for all my work, and I must say, I find them an essential tool in my writing.

  1. The Writer’s Diet is one of the first tools I use. A free resource, this tool provides an overview of your writing. Insert 100-1000 words to find out if your is writing is lean or flabby.
  2. The Hemingway Editor  – available for both MAC and Windows, provides an incredible array of convenient tools:
  • Use it anywhere;  even without internet connection.
  • Format your prose
  • Publish directly to WordPress & Medium
  • Export to Microsoft Word or other editors – a New feature
  • Send Hemingway highlights to colleagues –  a New feature

3. Grammarly –  an excellent grammar, punctuation, and vocabulary tool.

4.  Autocrit – A manuscript editing software, specifically for fiction writers.

These are my tips, but, since I’m still learning, I checked with the experts.

Jacqui Murray offers specific and detailed tips in her article, 19 Self-editing for Your Writing.  Tips include:

  • eliminating weak/waste  words – very, was, it, but, just;
  • eliminate redundancies and word repetition, and as many dialogue tags when possible.
  • Limiting adverbs, gerunds, qualifiers, prepositional phrases,
  • Secure place and time in each chapter; verify timeline.
  • Change passive to active words and phrases.

To read more from Jacqui and get the details, as well as other resources she can recommend, check out her article.

Other resources you might want to check out, include:

What about you? Do you have some advice for this writer on self-editing? I’d love to hear all about it.  I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Four Stories to Share and Pass On

/ Sheila McIntrye Good, Author / Leave a comment

I realize it has been a bit quiet here at the Cow Pasture, but I haven’t been idle. I have been hard at work completing my first novel, Hello Hell. I’ve also been reading and enjoying the stories of many new authors.

You can follow my progress and read the works of other fine authors at ChapterBuzz.

Stories whether in the short form or a 500 page novel, have always transported me and brought me great pleasure. I am still amazed at the talent of another to move me to laugh or tears with their words. So, without further ado, here are four stories that I hope will move you.

  1. From Atticus Review – Secret by 
  2. From the Carve Magazine – the winner of the Fall 2017, Raymond Carver Contest –  Richard by David J. Wingrave.
  3. Every Day Fiction brings us, A Grain of Salt by Dianne Majzoub.
  4. And, last but by no means least, one of my favorites: The 3rd place winner of the WOW -Women on Writing’s Spring 2017 contest: Coma, Comma by Maja Malgorzata Zmyslowski.

The weather is finally turning cold. So, curl up in front of the fire with a hot toddy and enjoy a good read. As always if you enjoy them, pass them on for others to enjoy.

I’d love to hear your comments. Talk to me. Tell me your story. I’m all ears and look for me on Facebook at SheilaMGood,  Pinterest,  Bloglovin, Twitter@sheilamgood, Contently, and Instagram. You can follow my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.