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#MGMonday... Middle Grade Settings

 Middle Grade Settings: An Introduction Having photos in front of you can help you write about your settings I’m going to make a confession. Settings are not something I often spend time planning. Perhaps my stories are the poorer for it, but the settings come as I’m writing or editing. The Glass Room, in Taking Wing, is not something I planned before I started writing. Personally, I’m a very visual writer, seeing my characters as though they are a video in my head, and I write what I see. As such, the setting just happens! There are benefits and drawbacks to this. The main benefit is that the writing process is more interesting. Not everything is set, and my story can still give me surprises. The drawback is that, similar to AI, I cannot know that I’m not stealing settings from films and books I’ve seen/read previously. I certainly don’t mean to plagiarise but the concern is a real one! With that in mind, I have started to at least have a vague idea of my settings before I start t...
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#AuthorOfTheWeek - Communicating Through Writing

Here's another blog from Susan Crow, our Author of the Week. This time, Susan is addressing the significance of using her writing as a form of communication.

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Writing is a marvellous way of communicating ideas and opinions, experiences and memories. I enjoy sharing the positivity in my life in such a way as to rekindle old, happy memories in the reader. I also want to communicate my concerns for causes and to reassure the reader that there is something we small people can do to improve all life on this planet. I'm uncomfortable standing in front of a large group of people and telling them this. I dislike telephones. I gave up on Facebook when someone pretended to be me. The very thought of it! That there might be two of me. The world may be old and ailing but it still isn't ready for two of me. 


So, since I love words and using them to express myself in writing, it follows that I communicate that way. I have a very real need to offer some of my life experiences to the reader as I know there are people who will find them recognisable and encouraging. 


I appreciate poetic language in others' writings. I like to dabble with poetic language myself. But sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes it inhibits communication. In "Child of the Earth" I have mixed and matched and, if you read it, you will understand why. I wish to communicate, to the reader, my part in the natural world with all its richness and depth. I also need to get over the stark truth about where we need to go from here. That requires economy of language and carefully worded optimism. Hopefully, I have communicated my world of nature AND my concerns for the future of our planet.

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Available as both an ebook and a paperback.

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