March Madness 2: Making a Noise

The brown and grey Song Sparrow isn’t very big. The Cornell University’s Ornithology site describes song sparrows as medium-sized but bulky, and says they are one of the most familiar sparrows in North America. If I sit quietly down by our marsh on a summer day, I’ll sometimes hear their chip-and-trill song from somewhere in

How does perspective affect mood in a novel?

. The word perspective has several synonyms including perception, angle, outlook, and viewpoint. Granted, each of them carries a slightly different nuance, but how often do we consider the importance of that when deciding which point of view to use in our stories? After we decide on the main characters, there is always the question

New beginnings… or, please not another revision!

. Now that spring is officially underway, I think most of us are wishing for signs that winter is giving in and retreating. We all realize that where we live has a bearing on how soon we can expect to see buds bursting, but we’re more than ready for the return of springtime with its

Achieving Our Personal Style

“Style Gets Personal” says a headline on the cover of one of my favourite design magazines, “Canadian House and Home”. I smile because in my opinion style has always been personal. But as I thumb through the pages I realize that’s not entirely true. Sometimes we deliberately imitate someone else’s style because we like it.