If you're an aspiring writer, let me recommend attending a
retreat/workshop. You might consider something like Clarion or Viable
Paradise, but even better would be something you can attend on an
annual basis. I go to a weeklong workshop every summer with 5-8 other
writers at Gibraltar Point on the Toronto Islands.



For one week
every year I am able to leave my other responsibilities behind--father,
husband, innkeeper--and focus 100% on being a writer. I write in the
mornings, read othe… Continue

Just as it is foolish to gauge the general fitness level of Americans
by walking the aisles of Walmart, so it would be wise not to make
assumptions about the intelligence of flatlanders based on their
behavior when they come north. So whenever I want to shake my head at
someone’s foolish behavior, I’m reminded that it is usually another,
more intelligent guest at the inn who points it out to me.



Yet
there is no denying the ability of one person to create unnecessary
work for another.… Continue

I've mentioned before that some of my best idea gathering comes when
I'm walking around the beaver pond, taking a shower, or lying in bed
before falling asleep. This is when I come up with snippets of dialogue
or interesting plot developments.





The other thing I do during these times (and used to do during boring
work meetings or when listening to an especially boring professor) is
wander into imaginary places in my own life. I imagine myself in some
ruined castle or speaking fluentl… Continue

I'm just finishing my Carl Hiaasen book and one thing that is top-shelf
about his novels is the sense of place he brings to the story. I've
only been to Florida twice, both times to Disneyworld, yet after
reading one of his novels feel like I really know Florida. An illusion, of course, but it's one I happily enjoy.





While I have stated before that I need a good plot and characters to
keep me interested in a book, a sense of place might… Continue

I understand why people use snakes in books and movies. They elicit a
primal fear learned from our ancestors and their ancestors before. You
don't have to walk upright and use tools to know better than to pick up
strange slithering things. Still, can you at least get the science
right?



Movies are the worst. The anaconda, normally a creeping
thing that almost never emerges from the water in its adult form,
becomes a lightning-fast hunter. Boas and king snakes--favorites of
hobby… Continue