Managing the holiday season
As I write this, we’re at the beginning of December and on a fast track into the holiday season. Which means there is just one month left in the year. What are you going to do with it? Will you start to wind down and get ready for the holiday season or will you remain focused […]
Conquering Self-doubt
As a writer have you ever thought: I hate what I’ve written. It’s not really important, it’s just a hobby. I’m a perfectionist, I have to get it right. This is a stupid idea, I should give up now. Who would want to read this anyway? If you’ve never had any thoughts like these, then […]
Voice in ‘The Bridge-Builder’
My last article was about the writing voice and what it is; you can read all about it here. In this article, I use the short story ‘The Bridge-Builder’ by New Zealand author Margaret Mahy to illustrate voice. ‘The Bridge-Builder’ was originally published in 1988 in The Door in the Air and Other Stories, a […]
The Writing Voice
By Katharine Derrick Once upon a time, I used to teach creative writing at a local community college. I loved my job until I didn’t. What I loved most was working with students to help them develop their writing skills. What I began to hate were the assessments and grading. It felt as if I […]
Book Review – The Diamond and the Boy by Hannah Holt
It’s time for my next book review but a bit of a preamble first. For those who don’t know me, I trained as a chemical engineer before I started writing. I also have a science-obsessed daughter who had us read The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs to her when she was four, and who […]
Toulon – more than just rough charm
Over a year ago now, in November 2017, my husband and I set off from New Zealand to France, destination Toulon on the Mediterranean coast. This is what Lonely Planet online says about Toulon: “It has a certain rough charm, and although it’s getting progressively more attractive, most visitors just pass through.” Perhaps it’s a […]
Book Review – The Mapmakers’ Race by Eirlys Hunter
Happy New Year and welcome to Pendants and Paperbacks 2019. Holidays are the perfect time to catch up on reading and I have been doing a lot of that over the past week or so. As part of my regular book review series, I’d like to share with you my thoughts on Eirlys Hunter’s junior […]
Book Review – Once Long Ago
Once Long Ago, the book I read as a child until it fell apart, is the book I have chosen for my first review. Once Long Ago: Folk and Fairy Tales of the World, first published in 1962 by Golden Pleasure Books, is a collection of 70 traditional tales from 49 different cultures retold by […]
