Outside my RV windshield, birds soar and swoop and dive. Not just once or twice a day but again and again and again. Pelicans glide into view in arrow-tight formations. Seagulls burst skyward, wings pumping against the wind. Crows chide and ravens rave as they skim the waves. What drives this constant motion? Dogs, sometimes….
Category: About Writing
Topics useful to writers.
Always Another Story
Recently, I’ve been writing short books for an educational publisher. There are no advances or royalties for this kind of writing. It’s flat-fee, work-for-hire writing and the writer gets a lot of input from the editors and series “authors” who, in this case, are big-name educators. This kind of writing can be an amazing teacher….
It’s a Journey…not a destination
One of the toughest things for me about writing a cozy mystery series is the need to know quite a few important things about upcoming books…before they’ve been written. Editors want a synopsis that describes the characters, plot, and setting with as many juicy pertinent details as possible. Before cozies, when I sat down to…
Every Word Matters
I once posted a review on Goodreads about Laini Taylor’s book, Strange the Dreamer. I love the book (read it!), but the review led to a really funny moment, thanks to my ex-boss and the late great editor-in-chief of Highlights children’s magazine, Christine French Cully. “Kim,” she wrote, “In your most recent post, I think you…
Chocolate Whipped Cream
Today I’m thinking about chocolate whipped cream and that, sometimes there really can be too much of a good thing. I asked the young barista at Bloomsbury Coffee House in Ashland for “just a little” whipped cream. She proceeded to pile a chocolate whipped-cream mountain atop my almond milk mocha. I’m not quite sure why…
Highlights and Me
I’ve met many a writer who first broke into print by publishing a story or an article or a craft or a recipe in Highlights for Children. I was not one of them. It was not for lack of trying. I sent many a tale across the desks of the likes of Christine French Clark…
A Favorite Chautauqua Quote
While pulling together bios for this year’s Chautauqua attendees, I became entranced by this quote from Dora Yuet Lan Tsang of Hong Kong: My best advice came from Max, a seven-year-old. One day I asked, “Max, when you grow up, what would you like to become?” Bewildered, he frowned and answered, “Of course, I would…
Hello wonderful writers!
Intro to Kim’s Blog
Cozies & Kim Griswell 