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Simone and Dean: A Complex Teen Romance Unfolds
Simone raked a pile of horse manure into the scooper, then looked at her watch. Five-forty-five. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at the scooper, not wanting this…
4 min read
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The Struggle for Survival: Andre’s Journey Through Poverty
Author’s note: This was the original opening, but my editor, Caprice Hokstad, recommended a rewrite. The published chapter one is much stronger, but this was a good chapter…
4 min read
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Talkin’ about dialogue
I love dialogue. Effective dialogue brings the story to life. It is literally the starting breath of all my novels. A snippet of conversation bounces around my brain…
4 min read
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Rax quits the team
OUTTAKES I realized as I developed characters, I literally had hundreds of scenes written just to get to know them. These scenes would never be used in any…
4 min read
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Griping supernatural journey-The Wringler doesn’t disappoint
I’m currently reading “The Wringler: A Letter from Home” by Daniel Swarthourt. It’s a supernatural thriller that is well written with good pacing. Great cliffhangers between storylines that…
4 min read
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That annoying word
Pet-peeves. We all have them, but writers seem to possess an extra dose of grammar and syntax idiosyncrasies that drive us bonkers.
4 min read
S.M. Kirkland 2024