Tips on Tuesday: Already Missing Robin Williams

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

Writers: let’s take a little break to consider what other artists have given us. The one I have in mind today is Robin Williams, whose passing I was so heart‑broken to see in yesterday’s news.

We could all consider the legacy he left behind that lifted us all, and come up with ways to celebrate his life, our lives, the lives of those we hope to touch. Each of us will have our own memories, but I’d like offer a list of some of my favorite films and/or TV shows starring this gifted actor — and perhaps you have some favorites of your own.

Dead Poets Society touched me as a teacher, a human being, a writer.

Good Morning, Vietnam brought me some new clarity — and even closure — about some “old news” while reflecting on a portion of my life when I, along with the rest of the country, was conflicted and confused.

The World According to Garp showed of crazy and quirky from almost every character in it, challenging my reactions to a world I knew nothing about.

Good Will Hunting brought out the teacher in me, again. And the humanity. And the writerly instincts.

Mork and Mindy was a not‑to‑be‑missed weekly jaunt into silliness and laugh‑out‑loud moments.

Patch Adams introduced me to a doctor I wish I had met and grown to know well . . . a brilliant mind and an engaging manner.

Not to mention the many, Many, MANY zany “interviews” on late‑night television.

Which of his works touched you? How can we learn to reach out, as he did, to “our” audiences?

Thanks, Robin Williams, for the zaniness, the smiles, the many laugh‑out‑loud moments, the surprisingly tender touches, and, yes, even the heart‑breaking moments, not least of which is this last one.

See you next for Thinkin’ on Thursday!

Tips on Tuesday: Find a Character Voice

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

On March 25, 2014, I wrote a blog about a lesson in “kid‑speak.” After hearing praises for Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones stories, I finally broke down and read one. Then seven, seven more, and another ten. So I’ve read all but 2 or 3. I mentioned how the author nailed the sounds and thought processes of a child. Hilariously!

Now, as an example, let me share a line or three:

“Just then the bell rang and Mrs. (that’s what this kindergarten kid calls her teacher) marched out the door. Then everybody else marched out too. Except guess what? I didn’t.”

or

“. . . First, I got the sponge from under the sink. Then I made it soaky wet with water. I pointed it at the target. “Ready…aim…fire!” I said. Then I throwed the sponge with all my might.”

or

“Peekaboo. I see you,’ I said. Then I laughed and laughed. ‘Cause I’m a laugh a minute, that’s why.”

In just a few words, Park demonstrates how a young child substitutes a title for a name, constantly asks questions like “guess what” and answers them herself, slips in grammar mistakes while she’s still figuring out how English is constructed, thinks of her place in her world, and picks up phrases she hears “grown-ups” commonly say ‑‑‑ not to mention the “logic” a child applies to actions an adult will take as being “naughty.”

Any of the old Eloise books by Kay Thompson, do much the same with a more “affluent” flavor.

Today, I’ll also show how Rick Riordan manages much the same thing for a slightly older hero (and readers). If you ever devoured mythology like I did, and you haven’t read his Percy Jackson series, this will give you a lesson in “kid speak” as well as in the thought processes for an adolescent. And a lot of laughs. Start with The Lightning Thief and the table of contents:

1. I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre‑algebra Teacher

2. Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death

7. My Dinner Goes Up in Smoke

11. We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

13. A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

Clever, funny, somewhat mysterious chapter titles . . . and you’re almost guaranteed to remember what the whole chapter was about by just reading the titles, even days, weeks or months later. And that’s a Good Chapter Title!

Here, try the book, and study the level of kid‑speak, as well as the adolescent perspective:

“See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth‑grade school, when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn’t aiming for the school bus but of course I got expelled anyway. And before that, at my fourth‑grade school, when we took a behind‑the‑scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrong lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that . . . Well, you get the idea.”

The ideas, the thought processes, the choices of vocabulary all combine to help create memorable characters. And besides, what a great way to study “kid‑speak”: The laughs, the lessons in mythology, the imaginative stories ‑‑‑ they’re all just icing on the cake!

See you next for Thinkin’ on Thursday!

 

Thinkin’ on Thursday: Women’s Wise Words by the (Baker’s) Dozen

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

I’m thinkin’ about women: women of power—women writers, women movers and shakers, women artists of all types. I’m thinkin’ about women I’d like to emulate, follow, know, and have a sit‑down lunch with. Women whose wise words have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, made me think. Made me take action. Here are a few of the best of them:

A woman whose books touched me in so many ways: “[My mother] said that I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understand of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. ~ Maya Angelou

A woman whose songs touched me, and a whole nation, a whole world: “It seems to me that those songs that have been any good, I have nothing much to do with the writing of them. They words have just crawled down my sleeve and come out on the page. ~ Joan Baez

A woman whose voice and twinkle of the eye I still miss: “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.'” ~ Erma Bombeck

A woman whose legend inspired me: “It is necessary to try to pass one’s self always; this occupation ought to last as long as life.” ~ Queen Christina of Sweden

A woman who made herself what she needed to be to flourish in her own lifetime: “It always seemed to me a sort of clever stupidity only to have one sort of talent—like a carrier pigeon.” ~ George Eliot

A woman who only became more beautiful as she aged: “I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they’re good—or there because they’re lucky.” ~ Katherine Hepburn

A woman whose strength grew over time into a towering figure: “I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” ~ Helen Keller

A woman who inspires me to keep writing: “If you’re going to write, don’t pretend to write down. It’s going to be the best you can do, and it’s the fact that it’s the best you can do that kills you.” ~ Dorothy Parker

A woman whose words I loved even before I could read: “Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality.” ~ Beatrix Potter

A much admired woman whose life matched her words: “You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

A woman whose soaring voice made my soul soar as well: “There is a growing strength in women; but it’s in the forehead, not in the forearm.” ~ Beverly Sills

A woman whose strength encompassed a nation: “One only gets to the top rung on the ladder by steadily climbing up one at a time, and suddenly all sorts of abilities which you thought NEVER belonged to you—suddenly become within your own possibility and you think, ‘Well, I’ll have a go, too.'” ~ Margaret Thatcher

And finally, an unnamed woman who offers hope in times of stress: “Fear gives intelligence even to fools.” ~ Anonymous

See you next on Saturday’s Spellbinder!

These quotes came from a Treasury of Women’s Quotations, by Carolyn Warner, Prentice Hall, 1992, in 1998, through the hand of a strong woman whose friendship and laughter I still treasure: Connie Burrup.

Tips on Tuesday: Food for Thought . . . AND Sustenance

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

One of the really thought‑provoking things which was brought to my attention at the LTUE (Life, the Universe and Everything) conference this month was that “Everybody must make a living.” So said the panel on “Why Economics Matter,” made up of Robison Wells, David Ferro, Eric Swedin, L. E. Modesitt, and Sandra Taylor.

I think I usually just write blithely along without thinking about the “expense” of just living. Now, I usually write fantasy, but does that make a difference? No. A character may live out in the woods, but how does he make that “living”? He may eat a thin gruel with a chunk of hefty bread‑like something . . .

But who supplied the grains and/or plant matter that went into the pot? And whence came the pot? Who brought in water, and from where? Was there any protein in the gruel? Who robbed the butcher, or butchered the squirrel, or skinned the snake? And how did that person have the knowledge of what could and should not be consumed?

Then there’s the “bread” or bread substitute: where did the ingredients come from? How good are the pickings if your MC has to depend on begging? How does he fuel his body enough to get close enough to habitations to find someone to beg from?

So many things need to be considered when creating your “world.” If your characters don’t live in the backwoods on “their own,” where is the village or city or country?  Why is a city in that specific place? Someone — perhaps years and years ago found a way to make money by setting up the village or city. What was it? What drew other people into that place? Job opportunities? Availability of food? Compatible “others”? Natural resources? Beauty?

If it’s a ghost town now, why? What killed it off? Why is it no longer extant?

No matter where people live, congregate, or whatever, there must be a flow of resources into and out of that specific place. Families need to be fed and nurtured. Even “magic” must have to follow some economic rules.

Many YA novels today seem to exist in isolation — nothing goes in, nothing comes out. How, then, do they sustain themselves? At the very least, some kind of agricultural surplus is necessary to create a societal economic system.

As you build your world, whether real or fanciful ask yourself three questions:

What does it cost?

Where did the money (or other type of sustenance) come from?

Why is the supplying entity willing to pay for it?

See you next for Thinkin’ on Thursday!

Monday Moans: What’s to Moan About? It’s Christmas!

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

1.  One can never have enough socks.  Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books. ~ J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

2.  A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. ~ Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home

3.  Always winter but never Christmas. ~ C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

4. It struck him that how you spent Christmas was a message to the world about where you were in life. ~ Nick Hornby, About a Boy

5.  The real Santa Claus is at the mall. ~ Lemony Snicket, The Lump of Coal

These book quotes about Christmas were borrowed from http:ebookfriendly.com/20‑book‑quotes‑christmas‑pictures/

To be continued when we see you day‑after‑tomorrow for Wednesday’s WIPs!

Wednesday’s WIPs: Still WIPpin’ It Up for NaNo!

EASY AS A, B, C . . . from A, B and both C’s

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo.org) is a little over half‑way finished. How’s everyone doing? And if you’re NOT doing NaNo, where are you with your current WIP? Is it part (or all?) of your NaNo? If you could pick one line (well, OK, maybe two) or one idea for your WIP that you’re most proud of in the last two weeks, what would it be?

H.A. The Other Siders: I have crossed the half‑way mark at NaNo. I have over 20,000 words‑‑‑not quite half‑‑‑but it does equate to 76 new pages for November. We’re about to embark on the rescue of our Hero who has been transported to “the other side.” Her kidnap was a new idea that just “sort of happened,” when the story took off on its own.

B.B. gElf and the Legend of Jarra‑Jen: Since I can only send in 7,500 to 10,000 words for the Dark Crystal contest, and I now have well over 16,000 words written, I need to cut, Cut, CUT — judiciously, of course. I have now written to a little past where I want to end the contest piece, so that it leaves at a point of great tension. I want those judges to want to see more! My recent favorite moment so far: Three young boys are teasing gElf, our intrepid Hero in a very mean way. They take his big stick which he’s dragging through the desert toward the village for heating and cooking that evening. As they fight over the stick, he does an almost magical‑looking trick jerking his stick out of their hands, as he calls “Come on, Cudgel, you can do it.” As he drags it toward him by hidden strands, he says, “Good boy, Cudgel, good boy!” and pats the upraised, jagged top edge of the wood as he would a pet dog.

C.C. Ezzy Bear: NaNo is trying to kill me! I asked a friend the other day, if it was OK to take a day off. All I’ve done is sit in my room for two weeks from morning to night. I yell at the anybody who knocks on my door, because I’m in my own world called “NaNo” ‑‑‑ BUT I am making very good progress on my story. I think NaNo will enable me to finish it. I wrote a poem about Ezzy ‑ I didn’t even know I could do that. It’s surprising to me that everyone I have read it to is left in tears. What came to me during this last two weeks, is how to resolve the lack of tension at the end of chapter 1.

J.C. The Shadow Master: I have chosen not to participate in NaNo. I completed chapter 1, and re‑read chapter 2 which I found to be extremely boring, plotless, dry, with no action, no interest, no hope, no tension . . . and it’s no longer in my book. It looks like chapter 2 is a total re‑write. I shall begin!

See you day‑after‑tomorrow for Friday’s Friends!

Monday Moans: It’s About Time!

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

How annoying is it to wake up on Monday morning and find your whole world has been turned upside down?

I forgot to change all my clocks.

Over the whole weekend!

In the kitchen my oven and my microwave always disagree. And they change their minds: the oven is two minutes faster than the microwave; then the microwave catches up over a few days’ time and is three minutes faster than the oven.

In my bedroom, the TV doesn’t agree with the dead land‑ line clock/ radio, which I use only as a clock. The “land‑ line” is purposefully set about 3 minutes fast. The TV changes, I think, with the weather.

In the garage, the Cooper doesn’t agree with the Subaru . . . and both of them are wrong anyway. And I can’t remember how to change the one in the Subaru. You know, “my” car. And I’ve NEVER known how to change the Cooper, “his” car.

Neither bathroom has a clock. But there’s my phone. Well, “there’s” my phone, when I can find it. When I can’t, I have to find “his” phone and get him to “call” my phone‑‑‑because he’s got a smart phone and I’ve got a dumb (and lost) phone.

From “time” to “time,” I rush‑‑‑ in desperation‑‑‑ for the sun room. My FAVORITE room in the house. My “new” office, since I remarried and gave up the “extra” bedroom to be “his” office.

At LAST, I know what time it is: this is an ATOMIC clock. Whatever that means. I keep hoping I don’t get some dread skin‑ disease from it, or have one of my limbs fall off.

OK. It says 6:05. But . . . does it change automatically when we lose or gain the hour in spring and fall? I’ll have to check one of the other clocks that changes automatically. But which one (or ones???) do that?

I can’t remember.

And it did no good to check my computer which DOES change automatically: it died last night.

I forgot to plug it in.

And the battery’s totally dead.

See you day‑after‑tomorrow for Tuesday’s Tutor!

Tuesday’s Tutor: Is Your MC Smarter than a Fifth Grader? Part III

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

In today’s final-of-a-series post, Nikki Trionfo will discuss how to make a smart character do all sorts of dumb things. (Parts I and II were published here on 10/15 and 10/25, or see her unabridged version at http://www.realwriterswrite.com/ 2013/08/is-your-mc-smarter-than-fifth-grader.html

Did I just label a character as smart? Sorry, to reiterate from Part II: no character (or human) is smart. Characters (and humans) merely do things that are smart (or not). And, obviously, they can never do things that are smart all the time and in every sphere, because smartness partially depends on viewpoint. Don’t believe me? Start with a basic Western view of intelligence using the following basic “smart” building blocks:

1.  Logic

2.  Abstract thought

3.  Self-awareness

4.  Communication

5.  Emotional knowledge

Endow your character with all of them. When this character bumps into a reader who values something else, you’ll find the character’s smart-factor starts to dip.

A.  Polynesians might mock the character’s lack of spatial awareness.

B.  Eastern thinkers might demand problem-solving using spirituality, meditation, mysticism, or tradition.

C.  Westerns might stab your character with their literary set of small knives. Who likes a know-it-all?

Even if you could make your MC do smart things all the time, why would you?

A general recommendation (for Western stories especially) is to invent an MC with plenty of smarts in their back pocket, but with an intelligence failure that can be defined clearly and early in the story. Some examples:

PRIDE: Couldn’t Rhett Butler have been nicer to Scarlett? You know, after he knew he loved her? Sure, but she would have used that weakness to mock and manipulate him. The price of love was humility. He wouldn’t cultivate that trait because Scarlett wouldn’t either, damn it.

PERFECTIONISM: Anne Shirley defined romance too narrowly and almost missed out on Gilbert Blithe.

PHYSICAL WEAKNESS: Um, can anyone say femme fatale? Hooking up with that long, cool tube-of-lipstick is asking for trouble. But plenty of characters are “asking,” if you catch my drift.

LOW SELF-ESTEEM: The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things features “larger-than-average” Virginia, who has a “plus-sized” inferiority complex. Virginia doesn’t under-stand why the guy who sometimes kisses her would want to hang out with her in public. She doesn’t get it because she sees herself from her point of view, not his. The reader can see she’s pushing away the very thing she needs most: someone who cares about her.

PASSION: If you want something so, so bad, but can’t have it without a terrible cost, it can drive you crazy (Captain Jack). You can make your character’s thoughts spin until they don’t make sense. Start the story while they’re still sane and let them spiral into madness. Or start the story after they’re loopy and give careful hints so that we see their madness is actually rational thought(?) about a desperate goal (Catch-22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). You can even have your character obsessed with catching a whale (Moby Dick). Reason doesn’t matter to these characters.

THE FATAL BLIND SPOT: Indulge me, because you’re about to read an excerpt from my own manuscript. In this scene, Salem is sitting in a high school class, processing the fact that her sister Carrie’s supposedly accidental death may have been a murder committed by gang members. The boy sitting behind her has just said her name:

       At the sound of my name, I snap around to look at the guy. He’s accessorized in gang paraphernalia, not caked with it. His only completely visible marking: an upside down V inked onto his cheekbone.

Expressionless, dark eyes stare at me . . .

Terrified, I whirl around to face forward.

A gang member.

And he knows my name.

Up to this point, Salem has narrated faithfully; the reader trusts her. She says the gang member Cordero is ominous—we believe. When we see evidence, later, we hate Cordero as much as Salem does. But what happens when Salem runs into Cordero’s positive qualities?

  “Cordero is dangerous,” I warn her. “He was trying to kill the guys in the car.”

  “No, no. He just chased them away,” AddyDay answers.

  “He was shooting at people,” I insist. “He wanted to kill them.”

  She cuts me off and I haven’t told her what she needs to hear. She needs to be afraid of Cordero—she needs to hate him. He took Carrie. He took everything.

  “He saved my life,” AddyDay repeats.

In this scene, Salem refuses to consider evidence—even from an eye witness —which redeems Cordero. MC-smartness flips off because the reader can see what Salem can’t: She’s got a blind spot. When it comes to Cordero, she’ll see what she emotionally needs to see.

MC’s all need to make mistakes like this occasionally. It makes them human, provides foreshadowing, and allows for personal development. In the example, it provides suspense as well. Salem trusts the wrong people. She’s the girl metaphorically walking down the lonely, dark alley and the music’s getting scarier the more the reader is able to see what she can’t.  Will Salem figure out her blind spot before it’s too late? Yes: happy ending. No: a tragedy.

This question about the MC figuring something out about his- or herself is so important it overshadows every other question—even the mystery of who killed Carrie. Attention, authors: no one cares who killed your characters, saved a dying world, whether there’s poison in the wells. Not until readers love or hate potential suspects, that world, or the drinkers at the wells. Which takes time—it can’t all be checked off in chapter one. But ten or fifteen pages is enough space to give us something we can love: a character. We love smart ones, dumb ones. Characters we know, see their potential, ache for them, put ourselves in their shoes. We love them when they make us laugh, hate them when they ruin everything. Like they’ve really hurt us. Like they’re dearer than family. Give us those characters, and we’ll stick with the story to the final page and beg for more.

Final Note: I said I’d address all the “exceptions” to my rules nixing clichés as a shortcut to establishing intelligence. There’s only one: Use clichés (dumb blond, fact-spouting nerd) to quickly introduce side characters who do nothing but advance plot.

Now I’ve addressed it.

Thanks again, Nikki!  You’ve presented us with some great ideas on creating characters who are smart, and not-so-smart, but three dimensional.

 See you day-after-tomorrow for Thursday’s 13!

TUESDAY’S TUTOR: Hungry for the Hunger Games?

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

Last February, one of the panels at Life, the Universe and Everything (LTUE) took on an interesting question: why the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins had become so popular.  Patricia Castelli, Bree Despain, Allison Hymas, Diann T. Read, and J. Scott Savage all had interesting opinions.

Have you read the series?  Actually read all three?  Personally, I couldn’t put it down—which was amazing, as I was pretty traumatized at the time, having just found out I had cancer . . . again.  After 25 years of being clean.  I handled it well on the outside: teaching, participating in my life, taking care of business.  But on the inside I was apparently a bowl of quivering jelly.  And that gripping series got me through the biopsy, the surgery, the beginnings of radiation, along with the Holidays—Thanksgiving on into Christmas/New Year’s.  Well, they didn’t take me that long to read, but they stayed with me.

As writers, we can learn something from that.

The panel in question opined that YA is usually about HOPE.  One reason for popularity within dystopian literature is that in a dysfunctional, broken world, the reader can HOPE for even the little people to effect a change.  The Hero/Heroine will have the strength/skill, etc., to change his or her world.

The Hunger Games series offers several lessons:

— Katniss was sympathetic, volunteering in order to save her little sister

— The role “reversal” made it interesting: the girl with the bow and arrows; the boy with the bread

— Even with the female author and heroine, boys still liked it because fighting, etc., were so strong; while the “romance” became less and less important

— The “triangle” was handled believably

— Damage to survivor characters was realistic: after such traumatic incidents, they would be damaged

— Katniss is broken down in a different way in each book because of the difference in her trials

Spoiler alerts: (I’ll be a non-specific as I can.  READ them!)

— an Assassination was well done

— when one major character dies saving another, the motivation was brilliant

Which of the points above can we writers emulate today, without being derivative?  Appeal to male and female readers with sympathetic characters; keep the story riveting; handle human relationships in realistic, believable ways; be sure characters’ reactions synchronize with the events happening to them; give your major characters a variety of challenges throughout the story; keep your characters motivated in a consistent way.

There was some opinion that the series was modeled after Spartacus.  As a teen, I think, I read the book before the movie starring Kirk Douglas was made—yikes, I’m old!  I kept waiting for something to “happen” in the book, which I hated.  But I remember the film as being one of the few ever that was better than the book—so I had a rather visceral reaction to that opinion, though I might change my mind now if I either read or saw them again.  Well, I’m not going to.  But they recommended a few other books which might serve as models: the “early” dystopian, The Giver, by Lois Lowry (though the sequels weren’t considered as good); The Book Thief by Markus Zusak; and Suzanne Collins Overlander series.  Happy Reading, Happy Learning, followed by Happy Writing!

See you day-after-tomorrow for Thursday’s Thirteen!

Tuesday’s Tutor: What’s Your MDQ?

Easy as A, B, C . . . from BB

At June’s WIFYR conference (Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers), Cheri Pray Earl, my excellent teacher, asked us to identify our current book’s MDQ.

Our what?

Our MDQ—Major Dramatic Question.  I’d never had it put that way to me before.  She pointed out that many genre’s have a rather obvious MDQ: the major dramatic question in a Romance is “Will they get together?”  For a murder mystery—no surprise here—it has to be “Who Dunnit?”  For a Western, “Will Good triumph over Evil?”  (Which will often be the question in fantasy or sci-fi as well: the characters just wear different costumes there.)

So I was writing a fairytale mash-up: kind of a combination of The Princess on the Glass Hill, which I was surprised to learn almost none of my writerly friends were familiar with, and Cinderella with touches on an old Greek legend, three magic tinder boxes, and a possible whiff of East of the Sun and West of the Moon.  I realized, pretty quickly that morning, that it was all about getting the MALE “Cinderella”-type and the Princess together.

Oh, no!  I was writing a Romance!

I don’t normally even read romances.  On the other hand, most of my favorite historical novels contain a good dose of romance, so I guess . . .

Anyway, figuring out my MDQ—will Ashlad and the Princess ever get together—has been very instructive.  The answer—SPOILER ALERT, SPOILER ALERT—is, of course they’ll get together . . . after much travail!

Which brings us to the next questions:

ROUTINE:

What are their lives like before they get together?

•  She lives with her wicked King/Father in a glass “castle”
•  He lives —well, think a mild version of Harry Potter: poor, picked on by brothers, alienated from struggling father

DISRUPTION:

What interrupts their “ordinary” lives?

• He meets a witchy woman who gives him 3 magic tinder boxes, tells him to follow his heart
• She refuses the demands of her King/Father to choose a suitor

DRAMA (or THE STRUGGLE):

How will he escape his mundane existence and get to see the world?

How will she escape her imprisonment and avoid marrying a “prince” she doesn’t love?

• He will have to master . . . hmmnnnn
• And she will have to . . .

Check with me as I discuss my WIP on July 31 . . . OR . . .

Wait a little longer and read my book: Glass Mountain Princess

And, BTW, what’s your MDQ?

See you day-after-tomorrow for Thursday’s 13!

 Have questions about writing (grammar, punctuation, getting published, etc.)?  Brenda Bensch, M.A., a teacher of multiple decades’ experience in Utah’s university/high school/community ed. classrooms (English, fiction/non-fiction writing, study skills, drama, humanities, debate, etc.), invites you to “Ask The Teacher” at http://BenschWensch.wordpress.com