Names It may not be possible to win when it comes to names. I just (as in “last week”) found out that Rhys is pronounced Reese. This broke both Torchwood and the Deryni series, for opposite reasons. With Torchwood being TV, I only heard the name “Reese” and assumed the spelling. With Deryni being print,Continue reading “Learning 2 Write – VII”
Author Archives: Mark
Learning 2 Write – V
Time This may be the hardest part about writing a novel – other than actually typing it out. Authors get this wrong a LOT. Time in novels must be “stretchy” simply due to the medium. As a counter example, movie scenes must run in real-time because we’re watching people do things – including talk toContinue reading “Learning 2 Write – V”
Hang It or Throw It Away
We planned to leave Denver about 18 months before we decided where we were going. For that time, “frame it or throw it away” became a mantra. We had so much stuff in boxes (or art tubes) that we decided that if it were not important enough to be framed in Denver, it was notContinue reading “Hang It or Throw It Away”
Learning 2 Write – IV
Structure I’m talking about paragraphs, chapters, and books, not plot structure. At least paragraphs are straightforward: Nominal English paragraphs. I will cheerfully admit that I am not aware of the exact details and corner-cases of English paragraph structure. I do know that quote-source changes need new paragraphs. I also know that a paragraph should beContinue reading “Learning 2 Write – IV”
The Cactus of Theseus
The picture is of the Christmas Cactus that was abandoned here when we bought the house. It’s obviously doing well. One could say “in the pink of health” even, if one were Dad-Joke inclined. That’s the Cactus of Theseus. It’s a clone of a Christmas Cactus that goes back at least to my grandmother, ifContinue reading “The Cactus of Theseus”
Challelujah
I felt like making something different. Colonial House makes excellent challah so I thought that I would give that a try. Besides, Jesus probably ate challah, if it had been invented by then and admittedly unlikely on the day after his birth. The recipe, from The Joy of Cooking (directions edited for brevity): Combine inContinue reading “Challelujah”
Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXV
Peppermint Cookies This was an experiment. It sort-of worked. I wanted cookies that looked like the round peppermint candies and tasted like peppermint cookies. They sort-of look like the candy and they sort-of taste of peppermint. To get the red and white swirl, I dyed half the dough red, rolled out a red layer andContinue reading “Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXV”
Tourist Singing
I’ve been wondering how to find this. How convenient that it showed up on Behind the Black‘s Evening Pause.
Learning 2 Bake from Scratch – LXXXIV.V
Apple Pastry Roses, Again Much better. Notes: I ran some tests with the scrap. I think a thicker crust par/blind baked without beans might be the path to a light, flakey crust. Christmas cookies, next week. I’m getting a bit tired of pies. Maybe it’s time for some cakes?
Learning 2 Write – III
Genre As an aside, I started numbering these, too, because it generates unique URLs that are under my control. Otherwise, they do get numbered, but it’s not my numbering scheme. There is no Roman Numeral for 0, so the Introduction must be I, which makes this III. There are two assumptions that must hold trueContinue reading “Learning 2 Write – III”
Marked Up 