For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

Z is for Zero Sum Game

Zero-Sum Game: A game in which the winnings of some players must equal the losses of the others. Zero-sum games are mentioned in a political context when it is believed that resources are limited, and every decision will produce both winners and losers. In such situations, political decisions will be made on the basis of trade-offs between competing interests.

In Rightfully Ours, the messy resolution to discovered treasure could be called a zero sum game. No party is completely satisfied with the end result. Compromises are made, deals struck. But in the end, it’s mostly favorable to all. Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

Y is for Young Adult

I didn’t begin writing Rightfully Ours as a Young Adult (YA) novel. Of course, I didn’t really know what I was doing, but in the start, my youngest protagonist was barely a teen. Once I’d completed a draft, I knew what the book was – a coming of age story. Because my main characters were teens, people wanted to put it into a YA category (well, duh), which I resisted at first. I think the idea of writing for teens intimidates me a bit, since I take seriously the responsibility to “get it right,” particularly if I’m writing about sensitive subjects. Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

X is for Xmas

Is it cheating if I’m technically using the Greek letter Chi for my X-themed post? At this point, I’m not looking to get bumped from the A to Z Challenge, but I’m sticking with my Xmas post.

I’ve heard of some people taking offense to the use of “Xmas” as short hand for Christmas. Not sure where that originated, but it is, in fact, the use of chi, which is the first letter of “Christ” in Greek, so, unless someone is using “Xmas” with the specific intention of Xing out Christ (is that thing?), there’s no room for offense. It’s just a timesaver when writing “Christmas” longhand. Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

W is for Williamsport

Williamsport, Pennsylvania, is the setting for Rightfully Ours. This northern central Pennsylvania city in Lycoming County is best known as the home of Little League Baseball. It’s also the site of many natural gas drilling wells, which is part of the reason I set my novel there. (See F is for Fracking.) For a long time, my husband spent several weeks each summer working in the Williamsport market, and many years, I would take the kids to visit him. While he worked, we amused ourselves by visiting local attractions. Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

V is for Virtue

Simply put, a virtue is a good habit. Sporadic good deeds don’t cut it. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “A virtue is an habitual and firm disposition to do the good.” (1803) (Can I just say how much the use of the article “an” with a pronounced H sound annoys me? Okay, I’ve said it. Moving on . . .) Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

U is for Underground

When I began writing Rightfully Ours during NaNoWriMo 2010, without a clue as to what I was doing, I knew I was creating a story about, in part, buried treasure. Buried implies underground. I set the story near a natural gas well in an area with prevalent fracking. Fracking implies underground. Add the danger of a sinkhole – underground, naturally.

The connection seems quite obvious, but I didn’t put it together as I was writing. It wasn’t until many subsequent drafts later that my underground theme came to the surface. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist.) Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

T is for Treasure

Discovering treasure is the theme of Rightfully Ours. There are several ways in which the theme resonates throughout the story, including the discovery of actual lost treasure and the figurative recognition of that which is valuable. In this case, it is authentic love. Treasure brings to mind buried treasure and pirates, and you’ll find that in the book as well.

In looking up “treasure” before I began this post, I was surprised to learn that the word comes from the Greek and Latin “thesauros/thesaurus,” then through Old French (tresor) to English. I’m sure all writers would agree that the thesaurus (a repository or collection) is a treasure! Continue reading →

For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic  starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.

S is for Siblings in Stories

I have a thing about writing siblings in stories. I love it.

While I’m not particularly close to my brothers due to the large gap in our ages, we share a history. When you grow up in the same household, where you make shared memories, you share a bond. Continue reading →