Author Archives: aliceaudrey
The FanLit Journey
There are some who consider The Hero’s Journey to be a formula. At least, I have seen it referred to as such. Could they be the same people who think Romance is a formula? Poor, ignorant fools. Really, the hero’s journey is a way that Joseph Campbell worked out for drawing together the common threads in all the world’s greatest stories. Campbell was a professor in Mythology who picked and gleaned and analyzed until he came up with twelve basic […]
The Hero's Journey and FanLit Forever
Ok, I suspect some of you have been waiting to see if I would blog about it – maybe in the hopes I would make more sense here than on the board. I’m going to make one last run at it, then let it drop. Check in here tomorrow for my last explanation. Alice
Themes – Making a Point
One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen in amateur writing has been the failure to make a point. I can only guess how often editors must suffer through pointless fiction. Most of the time the authors who are doing it doesn’t even realize their story has to make a point. They seem to think simply placing two characters on the page is all that is needed to create moving scenes. Hah! If you do not have a central theme […]
Soup Du Jour
Lately I have been packing a thermos of soup with me for work. I had been living off of peanut butter sandwiches, but really, soup is much more my thing. Soup, or rather stew, gives me a full feeling with much fewer calories, gets more vitamins and minerals into my system, can be kept interesting through variety, and does a darn fine job of cleaning out my refrigerator. I love it. Lately my boss has taken to visiting my desk […]
Cyber Space
Something weird is going on with my blog, and it’s got me intimidated. A few days ago I noticed that the number of viewings on my blog had doubled from my regular high. I’ve hit the number before, but not without stirring up trouble. I attributed it to May’s writer’s round up, which would be wonderful, because it could be repeated. It turned out Avon had announced the winners of it’s Bottom 503 Awards. One of my entries was included. […]
Critiquing Rant
If there’s one thing I’ve done a lot of over the years, it’s critiquing. I have come to the conclusion that most of the time when someone does a poor job of it, they simply don’t know how to go about it. In my experience, the most valuable thing a critiquer can do is simply write down how they react to the story as they are going along. Something confusing comes up? Say so. Don’t like the hero? Tell the […]
Rum Christmas Cake – giggle
This is not a recipe I have tried, but it reminds me of the Galloping Gourmet. Read all the way to the bottom before you try it. 1 cup of water 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup of sugar 1 tsp salt 1 cup of brown sugar Lemon juice 4 large eggs Nuts 1 bottle rum 2 cups of dried fruit Sample the rum to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the rum again. To be sure it is […]
Bloging Fiction
I’m toying with the idea of posting an ongoing story here, like maybe each Friday put in an episode. What I have in mind isn’t likely to be warmly received by editors with an eye to publication anyway, so I’m not concerned about using up my First North American Serial Rights on a blog or anything. What I’m afraid is that I’m not good enough to pull it off. Oh sure, I could write it easily enough. But could I […]
Naughty Joke. Don't Read This.
I get all kinds of things in my email. Now and then I’m bound to share some of it with you. Forgive me. Fred and Mary got married but can’t afford a honeymoon, so they go back to Fred’s Mom and Dad’s for their first night together. In the morning, Johnny, Fred’s little brother, gets up and has his breakfast. As he is going out of the door to go to school, he asks his mom if Fred and Mary […]
Avon FanLit
Apparently Avon liked one of my entries after all. Scalawag! won “The Thrill Ride” award as “Best Action Sequence” in their Bottom 503 Awards. I am honored and thrilled, but… it wasn’t even my best entry. Oh well. Alice
Avon FanLit
Apparently Avon liked one of my entries after all. Scalawag! got an honorable mention type award as “Best Action Sequence” in their Bottom 503 Awards. I am honored and thrilled, but… it wasn’t even my best entry. Oh well. Alice
Challenge 2 for FanLit
It is indeed going to be a Holiday story. Any Holiday. I’ve already put my dibs in on the 4th of July. Maximum of 15,000 CHARACTERS including spaces, and no more than 3 submissions. For details, click on FanLit Forever Alice
Challenge 2 Tonight
FanLitters, I will be closing the poll and announcing the rules for Challenge 2 tonight both here and on FanLit Forever. Get out your pens. It looks like it’s going to be a Holly Jolly St. Patrick’s Day. Alice .
Reading Through Writer's Eyes
Warning! Taking this advice may significantly reduce the number of books you enjoy reading. Do not try this if you are not willing to do anything and everything necessary to become a good writer. Those who are already published may or may not see the same benefits as those who are not. I still clearly remember the day a writer on a panel at a Science Fiction convention announced that becoming a good writer had ruined her as a reader. […]
How do you email to someone you only know through their blog? So far I’ve only gone looking for an email link from a blog in two cases, where I really should be able to figure the email out if I go looking in my ancient email folders. Still, it seems people expect you to be able to contact them, but don’t make the info easy to find. Is there a secret handshake I don’t know about? Alice
