INK Sisters Write

Dear Alison, Last night, I stayed up late. I was three quarters of the way through Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, and I wasn’t about to put it down. Sleep could wait. Sleep was for the weak. Nora wasn’t weak. Nora wouldn’t sleep. She would push through blurry eyed and gritted teeth until the end. Around 2 am, I set Burn Baby Burn on the nightstand and turned off the light with full intentions of waiting until the morning to write my review, but Nora kept me awake. She refused to let me sleep until I poured my emotions onto the page (Or dictated into my phone.) Imagine Burn Baby Burn on nightstand in the pitch dark.  Nora's strength blew me away. I’ve always thought strong female protagonists are females who fight, who voice their opinions loudly, who don’t take one iota of crap from anyone. Women like Stiller, Nora’s protest loving neighbor. But Nora’s different. She doesn't fight. She doesn't confront. She possesses a quiet strength that help...

Dear Alison,  In early January, my blog, All Things Writing, became INK Sisters Write, and you became my official blogging partner in crime. (You’ve been my writing partner in crime much longer.) We decided to write letters to each other. Letters that share Writer love about writing habits, the writing craft, writing inspiration, or really anything else that struck our writerly fancy.  A month or two ago, I sent you the link about the A to Z Challenge with the grammatically correct question: Do you wanna? Your answer was a resounding YES!! And so, we entered INK Sisters Write into this amazing and possibly daunting blogging challenge. A to Z sent us updates and tips to prepare for the challenge. They suggested themes, guests posts, etc.  Sure, we roughly planned out a blogging schedule, but it was more like—I’ll take A, you take B, and on and on to Z…Not exactly inspiring, but at least we had something. Then Tuesday night, you sent me a cryptic text me...

Hi! Does it seem weird to start with Hi in my first writer love letter to you? It does to me, but in school we were taught to ALWAYS start with a cordial greeting, and I ALWAYS follow the "STANDARDIZED RULES of WRITING." Well, sometimes, I accidentally break one or two rules, but I like Rules. I really do. Well, actually I don't. I'm an octopus when it comes to rules. I don't have eight legs if that's what you're thinking--although that would be REALLY convenient when it comes to writing and texting and eating chocolate and drinking chai. I could probably write two different novels at same time or eight--imagine being able to write EIGHT different novels in one sitting? But alas, I have only one brain, so multiple, simultaneous writing endeavors will just have to wait. Sigh... I guess I went a bit off topic there. Where was I? Oh right, I am an octopus when it comes to rules. Shove me in a box or a cage or a room with only a crack of light creeping...