A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

Scribbles I have enjoyed writing ever since second grade when my teacher liked one of my stories so much she had it published in the school newspaper. I have stacks of notebooks and scraps of paper with stories or ideas for stories scribbled on them. I have lists of names of people and places I like or have found intriguing with the intent to use the names one day in my writing. For example, we have a veterinarian in Cincinnati named Steele Mattingly. What a great name. Or how about the road in Columbus named Needmore Road? I can just imagine some farmer standing there saying, “We need more road.” I have stories I wrote for my classroom, teen novels I drafted to entertain my three daughters, and short stories based on the oral history my grandmother shared with me as a child. I have written numerous professional papers (including a master’s thesis and a doctoral dissertation). I published educational articles and submitted proposals...

  I learned in elementary school about how to tell if a book was written in first person, second person or third person. It was a simple matter of pronouns. “I,” “me," and “my,” or a "we/us" approach  indicate a first person point of view. “You,” “yours,” or where I come from “ya’ll,” is indicative of a story written in the second person while “he,” “she,” “they” tells the reader the story is written in the third person. Most works of fiction (most, not all) are written from a third person point of view. I have used this technique to weave my story, but now I am learning there are different layers of that third-person narrative. For example, I can tell the story as if I am on the outside looking in. I can tell the story from several characters point of view. The best way to successfully do this is to use one perspective per scene.  Another sort of third-person point of view may be described as “limited.” That simply means that I need to const...

I have been thinking a lot about first impressions lately. How does the saying go?  My Own Experience I haven’t always made a “good” impression, I’m sure. But at least I have made some memorable ones. I am thinking of my first year in graduate school. Actually, the first class when I drove myself to the University of Cincinnati for an evening course. I got lost on the campus, parked in unfamiliar territory, and wound up climbing a hill to find the classroom. I looked at my watch. I would be late but I pressed on. I found the assigned room only to discover the class had moved to a different building.             “Come on in,” the bearded professor beckoned, when I arrived at the door ten minutes late.             Of course the only available seat was near the front on the other side of the room. Somewhat embarrassed by my tardiness, but relieved t...

A couple of weeks ago two fellow authors asked me to review their debut works. I was honored. I respect both of these women and know they have that same deep desire I hold to develop a writing career. The first work I read is a compelling work of fiction by R.A. Giggie titled Stella’s Plea . The second is a devotional by Rose Chandler Johnson called God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea . Two very different types of books. I decided to review both here and then share what these books mean to me as a writer. Stella’s Plea by R. A. Giggie Stella Brigg has had her share of pain and suffering. Her three-year-old daughter is deaf due to an illness a year ago, her husband is serving a military stint in Korea, and she has pulled away from God. Now, her child is missing. A simple day at the park turns into a crime scene. Isolated, Stella must battle her pain and her fears. Giggie weaves a tale of despair and grief. Her heart-pounding tale of the abduction of the deaf child is...