genevieveturner I was tagged for the Liebster Award! Both Badass Romance and Emma Barry were kind enough to nominate this little blog. The Liebster Award is a way to pay it forward for smaller blogs. But I have to do some work to earn this award. I must: List 11 random facts about myself. Answer 11 … Read more
I really, really enjoy making my own bread. There’s nothing to equal the taste of bread fresh from your own oven, whether it’s white sandwich bread (which is so completely unlike white bread from the store, it’s entirely another species), crusty French bread, or soft, spongy pita bread, there’s nothing in the store to rival … Read more
No, not the kid from the Little Rascals. Or the Eddie Murphy impression from SNL. When describing the overall look of the chaparral, people often use the word “scrub”, meaning the low, bushy types of plants that make the mountains look as if they are covered with fur. California buckwheat is one of those plants … Read more
Yesterday, I finished my second full length novel! Well, to be honest, finished is maybe kind of too strong. When I write first drafts, they are very terrible–it’s really only dialogue and telling at this point. I force my characters to run the course of the plot so that I can figure out how they … Read more
My first experiment in homesteading–or at least the DIY spirit of homesteading–was with cloth diapers. Now, I had absolutely no experience with cloth diapering before that. It’s very popular now (I think Amalah’s series on cloth diapering is now longer than the Wheel of Time series), but I can certainly see why previous generations left … Read more
Homesteading, which was all the rage in the late 1800s, is now back in style! Much like fashions from the 80s, it’s time has come again. Well, not actual, traditional homesteading, where the government gives you 160 acres if you can sit your butt on it for five years, a la Little House on the … Read more
I’ve decided that this will be the end of The Science of Writing series for my blog. The idea for this series came about when I was debating in my head what aspects of my scientific career had helped me with my writing. (I have quite a bit of time during the day to … Read more
Coyotes have been a part of the legends of the West ever since man began creating stories about this region. In Native American stories, the coyote is often portrayed as a trickster, and you could say he’s played the ultimate trick by surviving–and thriving–in humanized environment. You could call him the ultimate adapter, since he’s … Read more
So, I’ve blathered on about what a scientist does, but now we can get into the nitty gritty of the science of writing. And we’re going to start with something that is fundamental to writing, and that is storytelling. Storytelling is everything in fiction writing. Readers will forgive all manner of writing sins if you … Read more
So, I finished the novella I was working on, the one that is a companion to Summer Chaparral. (Which also happens to be my very first finished novel!) I intended this novella to be a romance about two nice people, whose very niceness gets in the way of them getting together. But as I was … Read more