I know there are a lot of aspiring writers out there. Do y’all want me to continue to post how-to bits now and then? Are they helpful? Any preferences on topic? Dialogue, characterization, naming, plotting, point of view, etc etc. Let me know.
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My name is Rosina Lippi. I'm a former academic and tenured university professor, writing full time since 2000. Under the pen name Sara Donati I am the author of the Wilderness series, six historical novels that follow the fortunes of a group of families living in upstate New York from about 1792-1825. A new series based on later generations of the same families was launched September 1, 2015 with The Gilded Hour. The next volume in the new series, Where the Light Enters, was released in 2019.
Please see the pinned post for an overview of what you'll find on this weblog, and what has been moved to the wiki (including the FAQ page).
I love the how-to bits – please, keep them coming! Pretty much everything is a great read…I personally struggle with connecting various elements of plot, but that of course doesn’t mean that everyone else is interested in this. :o)
okay, I’m working on a few bits and pieces that might be of interest. And Stephanie (I love the look of your pages) — how in the heck do I get that white space closed up under the date?
Yes, keep them coming! I can offer stylesheet help in return, if you like – I’m a webmaster during the day.
definitely keep up with the how-to bits!
thanks! Characterization would be my problem area, so that’s my vote!
On whitespace – heading elements come with built-in margins, and then you have the margins for the date class added to that. Try adding margin: 0; to your h2 declaration, and then adjusting the margins in .date to suit. Or vice versa. You want to be controlling the whitespace in one style instead of two (or you’ll go nuts, as I’m sure you’ve noticed).
If I’m going to do a complicated stylesheet and I know I’m going to fiddle with *all* the page elements, I’ll usually put this at the top of the CSS file to save myself a lot of headaches:
h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, li, label, form { margin: 0; }
But this could have… shall we say… unexpected results with an existing layout.
Please do continue with the writing how-tos! I’m a writer surrounded by non-literary types and your site has really been helping me to stay connected to my own interests.
I’ve recently discovered your books, starting with “Dawn on a Distant Shore” (which I could not put down long enough to drive to the bookstore) and now I’m starting at the beginning with “Into the Wilderness.” It’s so nice to find a good series to curl up in, particularly one that has a few titles already published. I always suffer desperately waiting for Ms. Gabaldon’s next one, and I can see that I’ll soon have you caught up, as well.
I have to agree with you about the titles – “The Farthest Shore” has a nicer sound, to my ear, than “Dawn on a Distant Shore”, and “Thunder at Twilight” sounds just fine to me, too.
Either way the books are fantastic. I specifically want to commend you for the way you appreciate and understand babies in your writing; I laughed out loud at some of your descriptions of the Twins and the way they see and react to things.
I also study your dialog carefully, or at least I try. The story hijacks my attention and makes it difficult to concentrate on the mechanics, but I admire the easy and very realistic way that the conversations flow in your books.
So thank you, and yes, please do continue with the how-tos.