Writing Wild with Verna McKinnon

Hello Familiar Friends: As the holidays explode and Christmas cookies and truffles destroy my healthy eating plan, I am still working on my tales. I have been writing a chapter a day of late. A good friend (Chris W you know who you are) acts as my unofficial editor as I burn up my keyboard. Thank you, Chris.    I do not use a strict outline when I write. I have a basic rundown of what I want to happen and to whom, and rough chapter outlines as guides. But when I am writing, that's when everything clicks together and I take the story onward to its conclusion.  I know exactly what needs to happen to my characters for the whole series of "A Familiar's Tale," as I do for the newest series I am working on for Sky Warrior Books. The new series is about a Dwarven female heroine named Rose Greenleaf, ( Bardess of Rhulon ) and it should be out next year sometime. Am excited. Kudos to to my favorite editor, Carol Hightshoe, for editing my novels. She is the best. But I...

  DANA SCULLY, X-FILES HEROINE Hello Familiar Friends! Of course I am not done with honoring the heroines of science fiction and fantasy. There are so many worthy of mention.  Speculative fiction is chock full of amazing female characters in TV, film, and books.  So I am continuing my tributes after a long hiatus. This week we pay tribute to one of my favorites-Dana Scully of the X-Files. Dana Scully is one of the best heroines in sci-fi TV & film history. From the beginning in 1993 with her baggy 90's suits on her tiny 5'2" frame, to her style evolution with sleeker suits and better haircuts, Scully is one of our favorite heroines. Let's face it, a real busy career woman on the FBI with a load of college degrees never fussed about fashion or spending an hour on her hair in the morning. She did not have time to shop for hours. She had a busy important life. I am glad they did not try to glamorize Scully too much. Her confidence and...

Hello Familiar Friends, I have not blogged in a long time. I feel bad, because I need to blog more, but then I get involved in the work of writing or editing, plus day to day life. Time slips. To reboot let me say I am upgrading my website again (thanks to help from my wonderful friend, Sally Hoss) and look forward to a fresh start for new year. This year have completed my edits for new new novels with Sky Warrior Books. Tree of Bones and Bardess of Rhulon . Watch for them. I am waiting for my next novel to come out, so I will post updates as I get them. I am currently writing two books right now, so I am a bit crazy (more than usual). I have been eating way to much chocolate and drinking way too much coffee, but  it fuels my writing and holds back the cranky moods. I am learning to promote on social media. Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/VernaBard2015)   Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/verna.mckinnon Will be adding another top 10 list of my fa...

Hello Familiar Friends, Writing is a bloody business. It is demanding and draining. It makes you feel alive and it makes you feel hopeless. Can you tell that I have been busy writing? it does make you a little mad and after sending a mass of query letters to agents for another novel, I feel just a little tetchy. Because of this, I have been bad about blogging to my friends. I should be better at blogging, as it is a means for writers to share our thoughts and what we are up to, but I was immersed in telling stories. That is the business of writing for me. Because of this I have some good news to share. I did a polish edit and major revisions on Tree of Bones (2nd entry in my Familiar's Tale trilogy) and submitted it to my publisher at Sky Warrior Books. Now I just need to wait for my favorite editor to have time on her schedule. I submitted my high fantasy novel, Bardess of Rhulon , about a female Dwarven bard heroine named Rose Greenleaf to Sky Warrior books and ...