Arsenic, cyanide, and strychnine are the classic poisons. The seemingly innocent little old ladies in Arsenic and Old Lace, one of my favorite movies, used these three poisons together in their deadly elderberry wine. One gallon of their elderberry wine contained one teaspoon of arsenic, half a teaspoon of strychnine, and just a pinch of cyanide.…
If something has been done previously, has it been done all ready or already? If everyone goes to the movies together, do they go all together or altogether? Would a magician perform an allusion, and elusion, or an illusion? Does one kneel to pray at an altar or an alter? Is an analyst or an…
St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17. When going to school, I would always find something green to wear on this special day. I really didn’t want to be pinched, and if I failed to wear green, the inevitable happened. Who was St. Patrick, and what does green have to do with this day? St.…
What was it about Sofonisba Anguissola and Juana the Mad that caught this author’s attention? What did she do to learn more about these two fascinating women? How old was this author when she began to write? How supportive is her family of her writing? What advice does she have for aspiring authors? Sofonisba Anguissola…
Every little girl dreams that one day her prince will come and sweep her off her feet. After all, Cinderella and Snow White were each rescued from their dreary existence by a prince, and they lived happily ever after. But does this ever happen in real life? Meet Juana of Castile. In many history books,…
If you turn and see a box of Lucky Charms, does the picture of Lucky the Leprechaun on the front of it cause you to panic? Do you shy away from parties where others might be dressed as leprechauns? If so, then you might have leprechaunophobia. The world can be a terrifying place to live…
What exactly is dialogue? It is simply a conversation between two or more characters. Nothing fancy, just a conversation. But the mere mention or thought of dialogue scares a lot of writers who will do just about anything to avoid it. The fear of writing dialogue must be conquered. We practice dialogue every time we…
If you are confused about what dialogue tags are and how to use them, they are simple to learn. Ready?
Have you ever wondered what your own special color was? What about the characters you create when writing fiction? Would you like to assign each one a special color that can be used to describe their personality and affect their actions? Astrology is not a science. It is a study that assumes and attempts to…
I must not have been paying attention during English class when we were learning about the colon. I have discovered that it is one busy little punctuation mark with several different jobs. At first look, all of the things the colon does can be a bit confusing. Once you read about all this classy punctuation…
