Catégorie : Writing Tips

Ah, the famous writing tips! For the last ten-fifteen years, aspiring authors, authors and creative writing coach have been sharing writing tips online. Writing books about it. Lauching podcast about it. Nothing but the writing tips that make sense and address the fact that humans are better than computers!

« Mémoires de la forêt T.01 : Les souvenirs de Ferdinand Taupe »: Magnifique histoire, superbe écriture

Mickaël Brun-Arnaud, auteur passionné de manga qui a fondé sa propre librairie en France (quel joli nom d’ailleurs, Le Renard Doré) après des études en psychologie et après avoir travailler une dizaine d’année auprès de patient atteint de la maladie d’Alzheimer, est l’un de mes nouveaux auteurs préférés.

L’histoire superbe, qu’il partage avec poésie, tendresse et délicatesse, avec un sens du rythme indéniable, m’a complètement captivée.

Quel monde magnifique, quels personnages attachants, émouvants, que les illustrations riches, tout en douceurs et en fins détails de l’artiste Sanoe soulignent superbement.

En effet, en effet, je l’avoue, je le confesse: j’ai adoré cette magnifique histoire et j’ai été charmé jusqu’à l’âme par l’écriture et les illustrations de « Les souvenirs de Ferdinand Taupe ».

Les deux autres tomes sont sur le dessus de ma pile de livres à lire. J’attends avec impatience mes prochains jours de congé pour m’y plonger sans interruption.

À bientôt, chers lecteurs.trices !

What Happens in The Void Between The Paragraphs Written Before Dawn

Despite my best efforts to be on the extra-quiet side, the door I was pulling back creaked unexpectedly. I froze.

« Please sleep, please sleep, please sleep… » I murmured.

It didn’t work. The creaking door prompted kiddo out of our grown-ups’ bed.

I gently guide the little one until we reach the bed, still warm underneath the comforter. A little kiss, then one last then woosh, back to dreamland.
Geez, it was long before dawn would even attempt to shine, and kiddo, of course, needed to sleep some more.

I tried to convince myself I heard a faint snore before I got up again and went back to my homework.

Deadline for this online class on romance literature is coming up and I can’t procrastinate anymore… says the mama who played video games for two hours before bed last night.

Moving on.

Since we have relatives staying over for the last bits of the Holidays, and since the writing nook is invaded by laundry to fold, I decided to settle down in the kiddo’s bedroom. I climbed back into the tiny bed, gently woke up the laptop and started typing.

Not a half-an-hour later…

Yep, kiddo paid another visit. « I can’t close my eyes anymore ». It was nearly 4:30am by then.

Again, got kiddo to our grownup bed (I know, this detail was mentioned before but still, I felt sort of an urge to point it out again) – and got back to work.

Then, half an hour later…

It’s not kiddo’s fault. Obviously.
The poor wonderful thing couldn’t fall back asleep, despite all the best efforts put in.
However, by the end of this weird back and forth, I felt a bit frustrated about the whole unfortunate situation.

… my first in a very long writing session was interrupted barely halfway through…

In the middle of the night !!! I woke up in the middle of the night to write in peace at home !!! What more can a writer do !!!

I admit, the good writing vibes took a hit… but not for long. To my great relief!

Later on, I was able to get to work again. Better yet: I wanted to get back to work.

The best part: I was able to share this little writing adventure with you all, dear fellow writers and readers.

Thanks for tagging along.

May all the good words be with you!

Books to Read, Stories to Write in 2024

When does the morning start?

« It depends », was part of the answer a search engine gave us, dear writers and readers.

On Saturdays, the dog’s morning starts at 4:30am with the visit of newspaper boy… who is an actual grown man driving a car around in this little town nestled by a roaring river, to deliver a real newspaper.

Sometimes, one sleepy « woof » seems to satisfy her sense of hospitality. However, she usually welcomes him with a concert of barking.

Our dog has no taste for people merely dropping stuff on our doorsteps without having the courtesy of coming in to pet her.

Getting her to understand that, in this house, we do not indeed entertain before the crack of dawn will take time.

On the other hand, this lovely furry dog-beast of ours is the perfect can’t-snooze-wake-up-call I needed to get out of bed to start the 2024 New Year a couple of days before the bell strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

Books to Read in 2024

I’m very glad to be a libraire again (and for good this time).

Being surrounded by books, from beautiful children’s picture books to intense geopolitics essays, is a blessing in itself.

(Nope. It doesn’t pay well to be a bookseller in a bookshop, and it will never pay well.)

(I made my peace with that.)

It also means making a choice within all the wonderful stories waiting to be read is haaaaard.

When I say waiting to be read, I do mean the majority of the books on my list have been out in the world for a while or might have been forgotten too soon.

Here’s a tiny preview of my list of books I wanna read in 2024, from novels, essays and biography, YA novels, graphic novels, kids novels:

Stories to Write in 2024

To write stories in 2024 is gonna be a real big, humongous challenge for me.

For a long while now, I’ve been struggling through a thick fogginess that left me mostly sad, anxious, empty.

Everything… making lunches, driving to Saturday’s activities, going to a family thing… everything was taller, colder, scarier than the tallest, coldest, scariest gigantic mountains you can imagine.

Every progress made was followed by a long, slow fall down a long, long, looong, sloap.

Sometimes, for a short period, say two-three days, my energy level was good enough to open my notebook, take my pen and write.

And then, craaaaash.

After a particularly dark December, a few days before Christmas, sparkles shined through.

Then grew stronger. Brighter.

Very slowly.

Now, holiday music is playing, kiddo is dancing. People are coming over in a few hours. I’m wearing the softest clothes anyone can imagine. And I’m writing this post without wanting to throw everything in the garbage.

Improvement comes in many kinds of forms and shapes, isn’t it, dear fellow readers and writers?

I wish you a very happy New Year. May 2024 bring you joy and laughter. May you stay safe, and healthy.

May you feel loved, even when the thickest fog comes crawling your way.