Writer’s Block: Rejections?
July 22, 2011 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives tagged as Bill Zeilinger, cartoons, writer's Life
by Bill Zeilinger
You can find Bill’s other doodles online at http://thosedesigners-drawing.blogspot.com/
0 0 Read moreWriter’s Block
June 22, 2011 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives tagged as Bill Zeilinger, cartoons, writer's block
Writer’s Block
May 22, 2011 by Marianne H. Donley in category Archives tagged as Bill Zeilinger, cartoons, writer's blockby Bill Zeilinger
My JEM Interview: “Roxy Rumbles†for Literacy by Jina Bacarr
June 11, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as books, cartoons, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, JEM, kids' TV, literacy, reading
Imagine if you couldn’t read.
You’d miss out on connecting with friends at Facebook, couldn’t check your bank account (though at times you’d rather not), never be able to write a grocery list (can’t forget the chocolate chip cookies), check out the menu board at Starbucks for the latest latte sensation.
Or read the fabulous posts here at OCC Slice of Orange.
Hard to imagine that at one time in history being “literate†meant that a person could sign his name. It later evolved to mean that you could read Latin. During the early days of Queen Victoria, close to fifty percent of all women signed their marriage certificate with their “mark†on their wedding day because they couldn’t write.
It wasn’t until later in the nineteenth century that books became affordable to everyone.
Yet literacy is still a problem. According to a story in USA Today by Greg Toppo, a study in 2009 estimates that “…32 million adults in the USA—about one in seven—are saddled with such low literacy skills that it would be tough for them to read anything more challenging than a children’s picture book or to understand a medication’s side effects listed on a pill bottle.â€
More than ever, it’s important to read, read, read. It spurs our imagination, educates us and gives us the opportunity to explore new and exciting worlds.
Reading books is just as important today as it was when I wrote a cartoon script for the girl band series JEM and the Holograms called “Roxy Rumbles.â€
Roxy, the “bad girl,†can’t read, which gets her into all kinds of trouble.
You can see the first part of my “Roxy Rumbles†episode here (next 2 parts are listed on this same page):I am delighted to discover that JEM is still popular–and my message about reading more important than ever.
I was recently interviewed by Steve Savicki on his website devoted to JEM.
Read my interview here and find out all about this fab series!
Best,
Jina
The Blonde Samurai: “She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha ,
Cleopatra’s Perfume, Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs
visit my website: http://www.jinabacarr.com/
0 0 Read more5 Tips to Writing Fiction that I learned from writing kids’ cartoons for TV by Jina Bacarr
April 11, 2010 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as cartoons, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, Inspirational fiction, TV, writing process
When I was preparing for a teleconference with author Heidi Richards for her publishing series about writing fiction, I thought about my early days in TV and the valuable lessons that I learned from writing scripts.
I discussed this topic in depth with Heidi in the teleconference, but I’ve included my 5 tips for writing fiction for you at the end of this blog. But first–
How did I start writing sexy fiction?
When I wrote a monthly column for a computer magazine called Sweet Savage Byte, who knew years later mainstream would meet bitstream, making e-books (including sexy fiction) available at the click of a mouse. The Internet’s easy access and anonymity made it all possible.
It also gave the opportunity for so many writers to bring out those stories from underneath their beds and see their works published.
My sexy coming-of-age story “The Blonde Geisha“ was published by Harlequin Spice during that time. That novel was followed by several other titles that I’ve written for Spice as well as a non-fiction book for Stone Bridge Press, “The Japanese Art of Sex: how to tease, seduce and pleasure the samurai in your bedroom.”
Here is the short version of my 5 Tips for writing fiction that I learned from writing kids’ cartoons for TV:
1. Beat It: know your story beats
2. You gotta have heart. What is your emotional theme?
3. Dialogue is king (or queen).
4. The white rabbit syndrome: getting into the scene as late as you can and out as quickly as you can.
5. Writing is rewriting.
So the next time you sit down to watch your favorite TV show, watch it with the eye of a television writer: note the story beats, boil down the emotional core of the story to one or two words, listen to the dialogue, watch how they get in and out of a scene, then press rewind and watch it again.
And don’t forget the most important tip of all when you write your story: let your imagination soar.
It’s the magic that makes the elephant fly.
The Blonde Samurai
“She embraced the way of the warrior. Two swords. Two loves.â€
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