by Charli Mills | Nov 29, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Imagination fills the gaps. Sometimes I struggle because I want to be right. When writing history, it’s easy to slip up and include an object not yet invented or miss a social cue that today would be non-existent but back then ever so important. The temptation...
by Charli Mills | Nov 27, 2014 | Flash Fiction Challenge
The trouble with having one’s children spread out across the nation at Thanksgiving time is that they are all contacting me for recipes. Of course, the day before Thanksgiving is actually the one that requires the cooking muscle. It started last night with...
by Charli Mills | Nov 26, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Trust your sense of taste. Cooking a book is a lot like kitchen cooking. We have recipes from the masters like Chef of the Day and Author of the Year, but learn to trust your own taste. It’s nearing my favorite feast of the year and I’m pecking away at the...
by Charli Mills | Nov 26, 2014 | Flash Fiction Challenge
Tales of toilets are truly stories of luxury, one we often take for granted. This week, writers plunged into the prompt and crafted 99-word stories around basic sanitation. From dunnies to stalls, writers were flush with ideas and piddled around with dogs, antics,...
by Charli Mills | Nov 25, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Your story is both unique and part of something greater. It’s snowing tonight and I can’t help but compare stories to snowflakes. Each storm is new, fresh. No matter how many stories go out each one is a fresh new voice. Like snowflakes, each story is...
by Charli Mills | Nov 23, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Write books. I mean this in the same tone as Michael Pollan wrote, “Eat food.” Like our modern food system burdened with factory farming, GMOs, organic labels, disappearing honey bees our trip to the market is fraught with complexities. So is the book...
by Charli Mills | Nov 21, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Relax. Breathe. You’ve got this! I don’t know about you, but I need a massage. I type one-handed so my right shoulder is starting to burn with marathon writing sprees. I’ve surpassed 33,000 words so I feel like I deserve something relaxing. Without...
by Charli Mills | Nov 20, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Is your spark already smoldering? If you sign up for NaNoWriMo, then you know all about the Pep Talks from authors that are emailed to your dashboard. I’ve been waiting for this one from Brian Sanderson since I first found out that he was slated for a Pep Talk....
by Charli Mills | Nov 20, 2014 | Flash Fiction Challenge
Privileged in my pissing, I sit upon my porcelain throne. Outside, remnants of wooden outhouses covered with moss and void of original paint decay with age. Primitive reminders that school children once doubled-up for potty breaks in these two-seater relics. The...
by Charli Mills | Nov 19, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
Stories are powerful. A great reminder today from Geoff Le Pard over at Tangental with his post on the chemistry of storytelling. Be sure to visit and watch the Ted Talk with SJ Murray. It’s Tuesday, so Carrot Ranch also has stories to share from the Rough...
by Charli Mills | Nov 19, 2014 | Flash Fiction Challenge
What works visually isn’t easy to capture in words. Yet, that is what writers do. We tell stories that create mental pictures. Photo bombs are funny and have been with us probably since the first caveman painted his children on a wall with one giving another the...
by Charli Mills | Nov 18, 2014 | NaNoWriMo WIP 2014
I’m a writer, not a mathematician. If you’ll notice, I missed counting a day in my Coffee for WriMos. Somehow numbers go missing from my calendar, the clock, the checkbook. I’m the buckaroo scratching my head, re-counting the herd three times and...
