The little things

I haven't gone back to writing my dark fantasy short story yet. I've been editing one of my novels this week. I found a few tips from an agent's blog. They have helped a lot in making my dialogue feel more natural. It's amazing how the little things that you think are helping your reader aren't. I'm guilty of having characters use each other's names too often in conversation. I thought I was helping the reader by letting them know who was being addressed, but in real life, we don't often use each other's names in conversation except to get the other person's attention or to be snarky. Pet names we use more frequently, but they're meant to endear. It's demeaning to use a person's name repeatedly while talking. You're treating them like a child. It's common sense now that I think about it.

I was happy to receive an email from Colette at A Buckeye Girl Reads today telling me that I won a giveaway. Yay! I won a copy of Misty Evans' book Witches Anonymous. I can't wait to read it.

To all of you who are going to see the new Harry Potter film this weekend, please know that I'm jealous. I might get a chance to see it next Friday if we can find a babysitter, but I'm sad that I won't be able to go during the big release weekend. Enjoy the movie!