I tend to be “catch and release” when it comes to
quotations. I enjoy them but I don’t remember them much beyond the moment.
I do remember “I have not yet begun to fight,” “Give me
liberty or give me death,” “Damn the
torpedoes, full speed ahead,” and “Remember the Alamo.” I guess that shows my
warlike nature or something! And I have
some movie lines in my head, mostly from “Aliens”,”Terminator” and “Star Wars.”
Most Wednesdays I write a whimsy column, where I share
photos of my Victorian trade (advertising) cards that relate to one subject,
like rowboats or peacocks, and I research appropriate quotes to share, which
may come from any period of history.
So I’ve gone web surfing to find a few pithy quotes about writing
to share, ones that struck me as useful. This first one speaks to me because
part of what I like about writing is that I control the stories and can ensure
there’s a happily every after for my
characters:
Let me back up a
little and tell you why I prefer writing to real life: You can rewrite. A
novel, for example, can be cleaned up, altered, trimmed, improved. Life, on the
other hand, is one big messy rough draft. Harlan Coben, American author of
mystery novels and thrillers
I agree with thus next quote, because I did the same things
as a child – read voraciously and had a
vocabulary that was terrific for acing the standardized tests! Of course
none of my books have reached the pinnacle of world fame like hers LOL. Not yet
anyway!
The most important
thing is to read as much as you can, like I did. It will give you an
understanding of what makes good writing and it will enlarge your vocabulary. J.
K. Rowling
And I just flat out LIKE this last quote:
Good writing is supposed
to evoke sensation in the reader - not the fact that it is raining, but the
feeling of being rained upon. E. L. Doctorow
Now there is one I try to live by, but I have no idea where
I found it, or who said it, but the gist was that nothing is stressful in and
of itself, the stress comes in how you react to the event. So I do my best not
to overreact, catastrophize or otherwise brew anxiety in myself about every
little thing. I save the stress for the biggies!
And may I just mention that my new novella Healer of the Nile was released this week as part of a multi author anthology HERE BE MAGIC? The blurb for Healer:
When Pharaoh sends injured warrior Tadenhut home to die, his
noble family asks Mehyta, the local healer, to ease his path to the Afterlife.
Mehyta discovers he’s trapped between Life and Death, caught in the dreamspace.
Touched by his fighting spirit and will to live, Mehyta vows to use all the
powers Shai, god of fate, gave her. Together Tadenhut and the brave healer
battle to overcome his injuries, as well as threats from devious family
members. While struggling to rescue her patient, Mehyta comes to realize he
matters more to her than any man ever has before. But even if his life can be
saved, what do the omens say about a match between a highborn soldier and a
simple healer?
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