2013 - Page 2 of 2 - Miranda Liasson Romance Author

Creativity and Productivity

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Apr 19, 2013 | 2 comments

I read something this week that has been churning in my mind ever since. It's a fabulous blog post on creativity done by Margarita Tartakovsky and you can view the entire post here: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/14/9-illuminating-lessons-on-creativity/The entire thing is fascinating, but the part that really stuck with me all week was the story about the pottery class. [...]

My Crazy GH Call Story

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Apr 5, 2013 | 8 comments

Well, I thought I'd share my Golden Heart® call story from last week. As you all know, The Romance Writers of America calls all of its unpublished manuscript finalists in its annual Golden Heart® contest every year on a designated day. I was picking up my 16-year old son’s friend to take them both to volleyball practice when the [...]

I am a Golden Heart Double Finalist

By Miranda Liasson on Tuesday, Mar 26, 2013 | 2 comments

I was just going to post some pictures from my trip to the lovely city of Savannah this past weekend but today I got a call from RWA that BOTH of the manuscripts I entered finaled in the Golden Heart contest. My friend and chaptermate Amy E Jones ( http://aejonesauthor.com/), also from Northeast Ohio RWA (NEORWA) also finaled in the paranormal [...]

Do you read to escape…or for something else?

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Mar 15, 2013 | 10 comments

Author David Shields got his new book How Literature Saved My Life written up last month in the New York Times Book Review. It's a memoir that discusses the reading and writing life of a distinguished man considered to be a genre-breaking author (see http://davidshields.com/).If interested, you can read the review here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/books/review/how-literature-saved-my-life-by-david-shields.html?_r=0. The reviewer, Mark O'Connell, [...]

Starting a New Story: Thoughts from Michaelangelo

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Mar 8, 2013 | 2 comments

Note to my dear characters: Yes, alas, it's time to say goodbye. I created you, amid much sweat and blood, and I know you now like I know my own children (except that you're both far more predictable than they are!).My hero, you were such a good guy, a real gentleman. And my heroine, so brave to [...]

Donald Maass: Tension, Tension Everywhere

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Mar 1, 2013 | 4 comments

I heard famed writing craft author and literary agent Donald Maass speak at a one-day workshop back in January. It was revelatory.So I went back to my copy of Maass's The Fire in Fiction and reread Chapter 8, Tension All the Time.How do you create the type of tension that keeps a reader reading every [...]

Perfectionism vs. Product in Writing (or, Just Turn the Damn Thing In!)

By Miranda Liasson on Saturday, Feb 23, 2013 | 0 comments

Do you struggle with trying to make your writing perfect? Gosh, I do, and it is the bane of my existence.It's what makes me a good writer and what makes me a terrible writer.The older I get, the more I realize that what makes you good also makes you crazy and bad. The same exact thing! [...]

What’s in YOUR Reading Pile?

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Jan 18, 2013 | 7 comments

What does your reading pile say about your personality? I had a few days of sickness (like the rest of America) this week where I had some time to stare at my bedside stash of books and contemplate why I read what I read. I don't know if I came up with any profound answers, but [...]

Eliza Knight on Editing

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Jan 11, 2013 | 6 comments

Today I'm proud to present a fabulous article on editing written by historical romance writer Eliza Knight, who gave me permission to post this today. For more about Eliza and her latest release,see the end of the article. Thanks, Eliza! Finished the Damn Book – oh no – Editing!By Eliza KnightCongratulations! You’ve written “The End.” I assure [...]

How My Writer’s Space Feng Shui Has Gone Awry

By Miranda Liasson on Friday, Jan 4, 2013 | 4 comments

Happy New Year--does your office embrace the principles of good Feng Shui for writers? I called upon the expertise of Pam Gaulin, Kerrie Flanagan, and Regina Paul who wrote online articles about this topic if you're interested in reading more.There is probably something to be said--a lot, actually--about having a tidy, neat, calming writer's space to cause [...]