There is much to say about Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, but today I will focus on one specific detail: assembling the troops. In her novel-writing manual, Brody breaks down the grand finale into five beats, or moments, so that writers have a checklist of sorts to follow. The first of these…
All posts in July 2025
What I’m Reading: Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
Although published in 2014, I just finished reading Susan Crandall’s Whistling Past the Graveyard, and I loved it. It is one of the best books I’ve read in a while, comparable to Demon Copperhead and To Kill A Mockingbird, with a little of The Help thrown in as well. Starla is the nine-year-old protagonist and…
Reading for Reflection: Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Posted on Author Jill M SmithPosted in Care Givers, Reading for Reflection, What I'm Reading, Writing InspirationLeave a Reply
Who among us has gone to the ocean and found peace, energy, joy, and rest? Any of us lucky enough to visit the coast, any coast, I would wager. We go to the beach not necessarily looking for an answer, but we find answers none the less. What will we feel? What will we learn…
Summer Reading: Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White
Whether your vacation includes swinging on a hammock or reclining under a beach umbrella, reading a classic novel is the perfect complement. Reading E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web is a vacation in itself from the troubles of the world today. Go back in time with Fern who saves Wilbur, the runt of the litter, from Papa’s…