Last week, I tweeted my blog post about stereotyping characters with the #MondayBlogs hashtag. The user in the pic loved it, retweeted it, and had some questions for me. This is part of the conversation that occurred. I’ve been thinking about the last question ever since. Is defying expectations the key to a good story?…
The great thing about Funny Friday posts is they make me find all the funny in the world. Today’s post takes something that can be uncomfortable and turns it into something that could brighten someone’s day: the tip jar. I think tip jars are a mainly American thing, and to be honest, I don’t always…
This will surprise some writers in my critique group, but I’ve been on the fence about writing on this topic. I’m such a POV (point of view, in case anyone’s lost) stickler that this should be a piece of cake. I’ve had writers in the group see my crits and ask me to crit their…
Happy Halloween!! Today’s post is all about costumes, mainly funny or awesome costumes. I’ll start with me and my boys posing in our minion costumes – because it’s my blog, and I can. Ha. Now that we have that out of the way, I bring you a collection of costumes I found from around the…
I’m writing this post on my phone and in the darkness of my room. See? Dark. My boys think I’m asleep. There’s no school today or tomorrow (I want to kiss whoever decided teachers don’t have to deal with roomfulls of kids on Halloween. That is true mercy.) Anyway, I don’t have to be up…
Welcome to Part 3 of my contribution to Eclecticali’s Masquerade blog party. This might be it. But I’m not sure. If you missed Parts 1 and 2, you might want to start there. The Presence James re-entered the hallway, baffled. Something had pulled Taliana into the library, but the room was empty and dark, neglected on what…
Welcome to Part 2 of what is becoming a multi-part series of stories for Eclecticali’s Masquerade Ball blog party. Click here to read Part 1, if you missed it. The Pursuit James followed Taliana back into the foyer. She moved quickly, almost jogging, the click of her heels echoing through the space. She seemed to…
The following is my contribution to Eclecticali’s Masquerade Ball blog party. I confess; I’ve been terribly confused about the whole thing. But Allison (Eclecticali’s actual name – I’m not referring to myself. I’m not that weird) assured me that I couldn’t mess it up, so here goes. It’s the first part of a longer story.…
A couple weeks back, I wrote a post about dialogue, in which I listed some shoulds and should nots in writing dialogue. If you missed it, you might want to click on the link and get caught up. Go ahead. I’ll wait here. *munches popcorn* Two points I didn’t address in that already-long post were tension…
Okay, so this has been a really busy week and I didn’t have adequate time to think of an original Funny Friday post. Ergo, I bring you funny signs! I know these aren’t new. I’ve been around the interwebs long enough to realize this. So my goal here is to present signs that are new to…
Allison Maruska 