They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, but this one . . .

. . . is worth more. 51,067 words, to be exact.

Every year I buy I handful of writing books. OK, this year it was more than a handful. I found Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s 45 Master Characters in a trip to Borders last week.

My verdict? It’s the best book about writing I’ve read all year. I haven’t read all of it (yet), but it is packed with wonderful information. The outline of the Feminine Journey has helped me shape my WIP. Amazing stuff–my episodic story is now a story with a backbone. If you’re a writer, I encourage you to check it out.

I’m participating in a multi-author scavenger hunt. More than 15 authors have posted this image at their websites, and you can enter the contest by finding out where the images are hidden.

The prize: e-books from the participating authors. You can get more details here:

http://blastinthenew.blogspot.com/

You’ll find this image somewhere on my site.

The contest ends December 31, 2007.

At long last, I’m updating my Sven word count. Here it is.

32,094 / 70,000 (45.8%)

Writing is keeping me very busy these days. I can’t believe it’s already mid-November. How did that happen?

Something wonderful did happen this week. My boss’s boss had a drawing to give away a laptop she no longer needed. I put my name in the drawing because I have been thinking about getting one that I use only for writing. Guess what? I won! I love the new laptop, and I’ve found it’s very productive to write on one that doesn’t have internet access. (I’m on the internet one now.)

Can I just say how much I love Shakespeare? I saw a production of King Lear this week, and it reminded me how much Shakespeare refuels me. I could watch one of his plays every week and not be tired of them.

What refuels you?