Prologue1636 A.D.Chilling cold settled itself more fully upon the barren landscape. A bone-chilling type of cold that seemed to fuse itself into the marrow of one’s being with an almost human bitterness. Not even the solace of falling snow …

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SECTION ONE1638 A.D.He was an uncommonly attractive, intriguing man. And, yes, even beautiful, though the first person to tell him so would probably find a sword thrust through his or her gut. Well maybe not her gut. He was a gentleman. Per…

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ExcerptThe following is an excerpt from the book Flora Segundaby Ysabeau S. Wilce Published by Harcourt, Inc.; January 2007;$17.00US; 0-15-205433-2Copyright © 2007 Ysabeau S. Wilce ONEMamma. Sleeping Late. An Overdue Library Book. The Elev…

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. . . Thomas made no sound. It was challenge enough for him to continue to put one foot in front of the other-forward little by little. Nom de nom! It felt good to allow himself to think in French again. He was old of a sudden. Or at least he felt …

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What is writer’s block?Well, I just can’t think of a single darn thing tosay. Oh well, I’m outta here!Sound familiar? No! Oh, get real! We’ve allexperienced this phenomenon when we absolutely have towrite something, particularly on deadline….

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Fantastic news, you’ve finally taken the plunge, I know you wish you’d done it years ago, but a spouse, three kids, two dogs, a full time job etc, etc, ……aarrgghh!! Tell me about it! Better late than never is what I say.Is it a novel, perhaps a …

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Submitting articles to article directories is a great way to show your knowledge on a particular topic and promote your website at the same time. While article submission guidelines may seem like a nuisance, they can make the difference of a poorly writt…

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Article submission is a proven, effective method of promoting your website and increase search engine rankings. By publishing quality content to article directories, and various other online locations, you benefit y…

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. . . “Impatient and cocky,” Porthos commented to no one in particular and then decided to take his version of pity on the young lad. He slung a brotherly arm around the youth and began a long narrative about when he had joined the musketeers and first me…

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The hardest part of writing is the first sentence.When you look at the whole project, it seems like animpossible task. That’s why you have to break it downinto manageable tasks. Think of climbing a mountain.You are standing at the foot of it and l…

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I was editing a passage in my novel CONDUCT IN QUESTION, the first in THE OSGOODE TRILOGY. The villainous Florist was about to march down the stairs to kill the young man, Donnie, hiding in the cloakroom. The boy had soaked the stair carpet with gasoline and was about to set it on fire. Would that, I debated, cause the impressive explosion of flames I had described? Who could give me advice on pyrotechnics? Moments later, when the doorbell rang, I was stunned to find two fire…

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. . . As soon as he could manage it, the man known as Mickael or Péale snatched away Christophe from his father. Wry amusement sparkled in Mickael’s eyes. “You have always had quite a way with words. But you had best watch that colorful vocabulary of you…

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Even if your best friend owns a top publishingcompany, giving you an immediate “in,” this does notguarantee publishing success.First, you have to write a quality book that has aclear target audience. And your book must answer acommon problem o…

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Ever wonder why so many lawyers write novels? And very successful ones at that? Just think of John Grisham and Scott Turow, both of whom have written exciting, entertaining stories that grab hold of us until the very last page. Both men have had active legal careers in the criminal courts. Every day, they have dealt [literally] with life and death issues. Every day, they have witnessed the brutal effects of crime upon victims, families and upon the lives of the perpetrato…

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Have you ever been haunted by a character, one who inhabits your imagination for days, months or years? Acquiring a life of his own, he leaps from the page and burrows inside us.Think of Dickens Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge or Shakespeares King Lear or Macbeth? And then, of course, more recently, Hannibal Lector bursts from the mind of the novelist Thomas Harris and frightens us from the screen in the movie The Silence of the LambsWhere did these characters come from? And w…

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I revised my Civil War novel Hearts of Stone many times before selling it to Dutton Childrens Books. My editor only had one major suggestion: Consider a new beginning.If youre revising a novel, considering the first scene should be one of your last steps. Its hard to know how best to begin until youre sure how the story ends. And although everyone needs to revise in a manner that works for them, writers who perfect every sentence along the way can fall in love wit…

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A good article ghost writer is hard to find, especially one that writes an optimized article only for you, and does not sell it to anyone else. Once found, an article ghost writer can be a boon, and help give you a massive boost to your traffic with the increased income these extra visitors mean.

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For many reenactors, military and civilian, one of the pleasures of a weekend spent in the field is that elusive moment when everything works. Ive heard the sensation called the bubble, or simply the magic. Theres no way to predict exactly when it will happen. The feeling may last only seconds. But once youve experienced a moment that suddenly looks, smells, sounds, and feels so real that you completely forget your modern existence, youll be hungry for more.I know…

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As commanding general of the Army of Califa, Mamma is in charge of just about everything, so she is not much home — she’s always off on an inspection, or maneuvers, or at a grand council somewhere, or just working late. Thus, Crackpot’s crumbling is no particular bother to her. Idden, too, is nicely out of it, even if her current post, Fort Jones, is the back end of Nowhere. At least she can count on having someone else do her laundry and cook her supper.

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The votes have been counted and the winners announced for the Plain English Campaign’s 2006 ‘Golden Bulls Awards’, in recognition of outstanding achievements in gibberish and gobbledegook.This year’s competition has been one of the hardest fou…

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Self publishing might be the best way to publish your book. There are several advantages to self publishing that you might not have considered.First, and most important, self publishing places you firmly in control of your book. When someone else is paying you to publish your book then they make many decisions regarding the editing of the manuscript, the cover, the title and the marketing that can impact not only how well your book will sell but also how it will be receiv…

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Your e-mail messages can become more effective by using a simple element called a “Signature File.”If you already use one, please continue reading to review the proper components of a “sig file.”If you don’t use one or don’t know what it is, pleas…

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When people ask me when I started writing, I tell them it was in 1980. My first story was published in the high school literary magazine, my next story won second prize at the National Honor Society’s 1981 Florida State Convention, etc.This week, I re…

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Let’s face it, memory is a hazy thing. Before you know it, the years have passed and you have forgotten key things in your life. Writing out a year end summary is a way to preserve your life. Writing to Preserve 2006Perhaps it is just me, but is…

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Let’s face it, memory is a hazy thing. Before you know it, the years have passed and you have forgotten key things in your life. Writing out a year end summary is a way to preserve your life. Writing to Preserve 2006Perhaps it is just me, but is…

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. . . As soon as he could manage it, the man known as Mickael or Péale snatched away Christophe from his father. Wry amusement sparkled in Mickael’s eyes. “You have always had quite a way with words. But you had best watch that colorful vocabulary of you…

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I used to make this joke in my Advanced English Writing classes. I’d write on the board, “There are no new ideas” and attribute it to Plato, and then say in my lecture that he probably stole that quote. Are we allowed to do plagiarism humor in China? They…

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Throughout the internet, there are hundreds of free article directories to choose from to submit your article to. Some have more benefits than others, but they all offer similar benefits making it worth your time to submit to. From free advertising to en…

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So you want to write an exceptional historical fiction novel? Of course, you will need to dedicate a significant amount of time to the process of crafting the story and developing both endearing and dislikeable characters. But that’s not enough. Ev…

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When writing a fiction novel, the author must craft a convincing, interesting story and create endearing or even dislikeable characters. However, creating a credible world backdrop for the characters and the story is just as crucial for writing a first-ra…

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