Address Unknown Now Available on Kindle

My novel Address Unknown is now available through amazon.com as an eBook for Kindle and other eReaders.

Praise for Address Unknown:

“Right on target with what homeless students and families go through.”

       Dee Dee Wright, Homeless Liaison for Students in Polk County, Florida

 "A compassionate and engrossing story about homelessness in America. Its vivid descriptions bring each character and scene to life, helping the reader to experience some of the pain and anxiety the homeless endure. I highly recommend 'this read'!!

    Ms. Joyce K. Viscusi, MA, 28 years in education.

 This novel will help promote awareness and empathy for an ever growing problem that families often keep secret due to shame and fear.  It is a great story and a timeless social commentary for students, teachers, and community members.

Bernice S. Warren, Elementary School Counselor for 30 years, National Board Certified

Great Websites for Dealing with Bullying

Here are some great websites for learning how to deal with bullying.

www.PacerKidsAgainsBullying.org

www.StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov

www.StopCyberbullying.org

www.Safeteens.com

Do you know of some other websites you would like to share?

Homeless Statistics Aren't Just Numbers, They Have Faces

        The numbers of homeless people continues to increase every year. In the 2008-2009 school year the Hearth Project identified 2,038 homeless students in Polk County, FL. In the 2009-2010 school year the number increased to 2,289. For the 2010-2011 school year it continued to increase to 2,453.

         We must never forget that these are not just numbers. Each of the 2,453 has a face. Most of the homeless are single moms with small children.

         My soon-to-be-published novel, Address Unknown, speaks to this issue and encourages discussion. Perhaps it will lead to more being done to assist those in this very difficult situation. That is my hope.

Tips for Young People Who Want to Write: Building Strong Characters



     To write strong characters requires that you know them well. One way to do this is to write out a description of your characters before you begin writing your story. This means your description will include how they look and act as well as details of their background. 
    

        Much of your description may not be used in your story, but it will help you to know them. By doing this, you will know how they will react to the various situations they face in the story. 
    

        Make sure each character has their own personality and they are "real" people. By this I mean that they have some good traits and some not so good traits. For example, none of us are perfect. Most readers want to read about someone who struggles through difficulties, not someone who is perfect and solves every dilemma easily. 
    

        Likewise, every villain should have some good qualities also. Most of us aren't all good or bad.
    

        Here is a list of some things to consider when  developing your characters. The list is far from complete. See what you can add to it. 


Age
Birth place
Educational background
Physical description
Likes
Dislikes
Left or right-handed 
Hobbies
Habits
Siblings and your character's relationship to them
The culture in which they grew up
What their parents were like and your character's relationship with them.  


What else can you think of?


Knowing these details of your characters will help you to know how they will handle the challenges your story throws their way. 
  

Plot Development



        The question I am asked most frequently is: Where do you get your ideas for stories? This question is not easy to answer because there is no one answer.

        My ideas come from everywhere. From reading the newspaper, to observing what's going on around me, to my imagination, to dreams, to conversations, to movies, to...well, you name it. Once I get an idea, I write it down before I forget. 
       

        But an idea for a story is not a story; it is the seed from which a story might grow. 
How does one go about developing an idea into a story? Again, there is no one way to do this and everyone has a different technique that works best for them.
       

        Following are some ideas you might want to try:

Work Backwards--If you know how you want the story to end, try working backwords, developing the events that would lead up to the ending. 
  

Conflict--For a story to be interesting, the main character must have some conflict or trouble to resolve. His/her problem could be internal like shyness, or external, like getting lost in a scary forest.What problems can you create for your characters?
  

Link the Events--The events and characters you write about must be linked in some way. In other words, everything in the story must have a reason for being there that ties it to the story.
  

Suspense--Your writing should suspenseful, making the reader want to know what is going to happen next.
   

Make a List--Another way to come up with a story is to make a list of five events and/or people that are not connected. Now think of interesting ways to connect these events and people. 

                                             

  

        Suppose you list an old woman selling vegetables by the side of the road, a beautiful mansion with a gate around it, a fancy red sports car, a rich young girl, and a squirrel. 
   How can you combine these five things and people to make a story?
  

        Suppose the young girl is riding her bike when a fast moving red sports car swerves to miss a squirrel in the road, knocking the girl off her bike. The car doesn't stop, but the old woman comes to her aid. 
  

        The old woman manages to get her to the front door of the mansion. The door opens mysteriously and once they enter, strange things begin to happen. Or, perhaps, the driver of the car lives in the mansion. 
  

        You can take this anywhere you want--it's your story. 
       

        I hope this has been helpful. Have fun and write often.    

        What ideas do you have for developing stories?

Putting Emotion in Your Writing

         We want our readers to relate to the characters in the stories we write. One way they do this is by feeling the same emotions as the characters in your story. 

        To help your reader feel that emotion, try this: the next time you read a passage that evokes an emotion within you, study that passage.

• What words did the author use?
• What sentence structure?
• What kind of detail was included?
• How was body language described?

Then try to write a passage of your own to evoke that same emotion.
       

        Also, you can learn by observing others around you. The next time you see someone become emotional, study the body language of that person and others around her.

         How would you write about that incident so that the emotion was conveyed to your readers?
       

        Remember--the more you write and the more you re-write (edit), the better writer you will become.

        Have you written a paragraph that contained emotion? Send it to me--I would love to read it.  

Becoming a Writer

        

Do you think you would like to write well enough to have your writing published? If so, here are a few tips to get you started:

• Write some every day. Like anything else, it takes practice to do something well. But writing by itself isn't enough. You have to learn to write well.
• Have someone, preferably someone who writes better than you-a parent or teacher for example-critique your work
• Don't take their critique personally, learn from it.

      Read books that have won awards and magazines that interest you. Notice how the author expresses action, dialogue, develops characters, begins the first page, and develops the story.

• Observe. Observe. Observe. Observe life all around you, the colors, sounds, smells, how people interact, how we talk, how animals behave. Apply what you observe to your writing.

• Keep a journal to record your observations and ideas. Keep your journal with you at all times so if a story idea comes to you, you can write it down. I write down all my ideas, interesting names, and anything that I might use in a story.  

• Again, write every day, even if you don't feel like it. You never know when an inspiration might creep into your mind.

• When you read something that causes you to feel some emotion, whether it be sadness, anger, or laughter, study the author's writing to learn how he made you feel that emotion. What words did he use? How were the sentences formed? Look at the details. Then, try to write something of your own that will bring that same emotion to your readers.

        What suggestions do you have for developing your writing skills? 

(Check back later, I'll be adding more suggestions on Becoming a Writer)